Abstract
One of the more frequently cited cultural dimensions within the field of cultural research is that of cultural strength (Cameron & Ettington, 1998). Early published works on organisational culture argue that there is an absolute need for a “strong” culture for organisations to be effective. This study has examined the contradiction between the strong school culture and academic performance in Mpumalanga Province under the Bantu Education (DET) school system. The aim of the research was to examine the dynamics of school culture strength (measured as values and norms); leadership; and the organisational performance of schools. A quantitative research approach was used. A total of 1130 questionnaires were completed by principals, School Management Team (SMT) members and educators. The findings show that the schools in Mpumalanga had a strong organisational culture, yet their performance was the lowest of all the provinces in South Africa. The paper argues: Mpumalanga schools should deconstruct their original organisational culture paradigms which evolved out of the DET system of education and that they should reconstruct their organisational cultures with renewed energy and enthusiasm for a better educated generation in the future. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p2405
Highlights
Vociferous protests greeted the Bantu Education Act of South Africa when it was introduced in 1953
The perceptions of principals, School Management Team (SMT) and educators suggested that schools in Mpumalanga had strong cultures as the strength of the culture (3 < C mean < 4) was indicative of a strong culture
The study has examined the contradiction between school culture and school performance in Mpumalanga which reflects the damage that was caused by an ineffective Department of Education and Training (DET) system that was designed to create a skilled labour force
Summary
Vociferous protests greeted the Bantu Education Act of South Africa when it was introduced in 1953. Its expressed aim was to educate Africans according to their ethnic identities and to provide basic literacy and numeracy skills that were needed by a burgeoning economy. The architects of apartheid developed their system by employing the assumptions of a “functionalist” paradigm whereby education merely responds to the demands of society’s technological-occupation structure (Nkomo, 2009 p.55). Bantu education was intended to produce subservient individuals with skills that were needed to minister to the needs of the white economy rather than to develop critical leaders. Education appears to have become one of the principle disintegrative agents of the South African system
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