Educational leadership and leadership development in Africa

Abstract

The literature on educational leadership and management is dominated by authors from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. This inevitably means that researchers seeking evidence on aspects of leadership are drawn to this dominant body of literature. However, these contexts are very different from those in many other parts of the world and most readers of this journal are well aware of the dangers of ‘policy borrowing’; applying models from Western contexts to very different settings, for example in Asia or Africa. This special themed issue of EMAL provides a valuable opportunity to build the knowledge base in Africa, where resources are often very limited, teachers and principals may be inadequately trained, and classrooms usually contain large numbers of poor and disadvantaged learners (Bush and Oduro 2006, Bush and Glover 2013). Many African states are also patriarchal, making it difficult for women to access leadership positions. The first four papers in this issue explore aspects of gendered leadership. In the opening article, Pontso Moorosi discusses leadership identity construction through a leadership development programme in South Africa. She notes the gender inequity in school leadership and argues that inter-sectionality is helpful in addressing leadership diversity as it reveals the multiple identities of participants. She reports on a national leadership development programme, piloted from 2007 2010, and notes the intention of the Department of Education to enrol equal numbers of women and men on this programme. She concludes that leadership development experiences were characterised by a complex intersection of gender, race, context and background. Bhaigiavathie Naidoo and Juliet Perumal examine the role of female principals in disadvantaged schools in Johannesburg. They note the impact of redress policies in enabling women to access school leadership positions, where they were once ‘rarely seen’. In 2012, one-third of principals in the Gauteng province were women. They explore the experience of three such principals, drawing on interviews, observation and field notes. They show that these women subscribed to a leadership style which is relational, inclusive and compassionate and conclude that the social expectations of women need to change. Gauteng is a relatively advantaged province but it still has many disadvantaged schools, as the title of the paper discussed above suggests. However, socio-economic problems are far greater in Eastern Cape, South Africa’s poorest region. Nolutho Diko explores gendered leadership in one rural secondary school in this province, led by a male principal but with female representation in the School Management Team (SMT). She comments that gender equality at this school was interpreted as the ‘token inclusion’ of women in leadership structures while they remained outside the informal networks. She concludes that ‘the selective implementation of gender equality is a way of defending male authority and perpetuating past practices’. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 2014, Vol. 42(6) 787–791 a The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permission: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1741143214549135 emal.sagepub.com