The Role of Leadership in Organisational Regeneration: Incident of School Improvement

Abstract

In the schooling system there is still a perception with regard to the role of the school principals in facilitation change management. There is still some held belief that organisational modification can only yield results if lead by capable leaders. This paper reports on a study conducted at schools that were not performing prior to the leadership or principal change. The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the leadership change in the school renewal among the teaching staff. The present study of principals’ influence in the schools renewal and reorganisation, to perform better in their respective academic duties, was conducted among nine high schools in the Free State province. Of these nine high schools, six of them have had a change in principals in the past two years. A total of 167 teaching staff were selected to participate in the study; from the sample size of 167 teaching staff, the response rate was 128 (76.2%). In order to obtain a holistic view of the overall leadership influence on organisation renewal in the school system, a multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ) was used. As the methodological paradigm applied in this research is a survey method with the questionnaire constructed in the Likert-type approach, ranging from one to five, the study may be classified as quantitative research. Permission to conduct the study was requested from, and granted by the district management. Data analysis and interpretation were done using the interactive model of quantitative data analysis, which first involved sorting or sifting through the data and sequences. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics such as percentages and frequency. Findings of the study reveal that changes in the leadership brought about some new methods of supporting teamwork and the enthusiasm by the teachers to work hard. Trust, which the teachers had almost lost, was renewed through the appointment of the new principal. The study can finally confirm that, to a certain degree, change in the school leadership brings some organisational renewal, as the new leader motivated the majority of teachers. They felt that the new principal brought hope to the school, and for that matter, their commitment was renewed and they wanted to contribute more in the school environment.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p317