Lecturers’ Perceptions of Leadership Traits which Promote Motivation in a South African Technical and Vocational, Education and Training (TVET) College

Abstract

Educator morale has been a focus of educational leaders and managers throughout the world, because without educator motivation and morale the learning and teaching in our schools would be grossly compromised. It is against this background that this research was carried out to find out lecturers’ perceptions of leadership traits which promote motivation in a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in South Africa. The research questions which guided this research were as follows: What are lecturers’ perceptions of leadership traits which promote motivation in an educational and training institution in South Africa? How can educational leaders and management in South Africa integrate their experiences and practices with what educators believe are the main drivers of high lecturer morale? A qualitative study was used to generate data that would be useful in answering the research questions. The nature of this qualitative study required in-depth interviews with participants where qualitative data was generated and interpreted. The researcher saw it fit to use in-depth interviews because this method of data generation would enable the researcher to capture the perspectives, views and opinions of participants about leadership traits which facilitate motivation in the South African TVET College in particular and the South African education system in general. The views of the participants showed that leadership traits such as accountability, responsibility, empathy, decisiveness, assertiveness, charisma, pro-activeness, motivation and communication are the life-blood, foundation and bed-rock of effective leadership and management in the TVET College.