Staff’s Perceptions of Vision and Long Term Principal Leadership in South African schools: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This article reports on the perceptions of school staff on vision as part of the long term leadership task of their principals. A quantitative study was conducted using the long term leadership model as a theoretical framework to guide the compilation of the long term leadership questionnaire. This investigation showed that the majority of respondents agree that vision is an important determinant of long term leadership in schools. Vision impacts on the involvement of stakeholders, the effectiveness of school management and the quality of teaching and learning. Another finding was that respondents’ perceptions of the vision of their school principals has statistically significant correlations in relation to vision communication, values management, staff development and empowerment as factors which also impact on long term leadership provision in schools. These findings have significant implications for the development of long term leadership training materials for principals. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n4p406