The Need for Creative Leadership in South African Schools

Abstract

As countries struggle to transform their education systems to equip learners with the knowledge and skills needed to function in rapidly changing societies, the roles and expectations for school leaders have also changed. School reform initiatives that are continually taking place necessitate creative ways of thinking with regard to our concept of educational leadership. Principals can no longer simply lead in the old and traditional ways. This article, based on a descriptive review of the literature, focuses on evolving school leadership within the changing school context. It portrays the South African school context as dynamic and characterised by the interaction of external and internal factors, with the latter dominated by issues such as school-based management and dysfunctional schools. Understanding this dynamic nature and the enormous challenges that emerge is a prerequisite for understanding the creative leadership approaches suitable for the new environment. The study concludes with a framework for creative school leadership to indicate leadership's response to the changing context and includes elements of emerging leadership approaches such as the school principal as community servant, as organisational architect, as social architect, as moral educator and as visionary leader.