Conceptual Framework

According to Rocco and Plakhotnik (2009), “a conceptual framework is important for situating the study in bodies of knowledge. Defining the main ideas in the study and the relationships between them” (p. 121). The conceptual framework for this study encompasses core concepts, namely, educational change, leadership and management, with specific reference to SMTs, professional development and personal development. The conceptual and theoretical frameworks enabled the researcher to enter, engage and conclude the study with an orientated, referenced

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framework that clarified what was being studied and how it was studied. The conceptual framework therefore grounded the study in the relevant knowledge bases that laid the foundation for the researcher to best answer the research questions. It also provided an informed structure for the data collection and analysis process, as it sensitised the researcher as to what to look for within the scope of the study. Figure 2.2 provides a graphic overview of the conceptual framework, depicting the concepts that formed the foundation for the research questions investigated.

Figure 2.2 Conceptual framework

Figure 2.2 above indicates how the four theoretical concepts relate to each other. SMTs are comprised of individuals who need to be developed on a personal level, as well as professionally, because they form a key organisational structure within the education system. SMTs hold leadership and management positions with specific roles and responsibilities that need to be developed. SMTs play a vital role in educational change as they are responsible for the implementation of new policies. SMTs therefore need to be developed, trained and supported in the implementation of these policies to effect educational change.

The four key concepts, namely, educational change, school leadership and management, professional development and personal development, emerged from my engagement with the

Educational change School leadership and management Professional development Personal development        

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literature and are briefly defined below and are expanded upon in Chapters Three to Five, in which key issues and discussions around each of the four concepts in this study are explored in some depth. The discussion chapter focuses on how figure 2.1 and figure 2.2 relate to each other.

2.2.1. Educational Change

Educational change is a process that occurs on a macro and micro level. It is understood to involve change in practice, including taking guided steps to empower and re-organise the work of individuals and teams both on an individual and collective level in an organisation. (Finnigan & Daly, 2010, p. 75)

On the macro level this change happens when policies are introduced to effect change in the system as a whole and on the micro level these policies have to be implemented at the school. These guided steps involve conceptualisation, initiation, mobilisation and possible adaption of the required change, followed by continuous implementation and institutionalisation of the change. When these steps are regularly supported and actively engaged with, the two levels of individual and collective change can be affected more effectively (Finnigan & Daly, 2010). Educational change and the literature relating to it are discussed in more detail in Chapter Three.

2.2.2. School Leadership and Management

School leadership involves engaging in processes that offer strategic direction to enable the organisation to reach its goals within specific timeframes. School management entails managing all the activities of the organisation to reach its goals within specific timeframes. Together, school leadership and management ensures that the organisation operates according to shared goals and produces targeted results within timeframes for optimal functionality. School leadership and management in this study is aligned to the DOE’s (2008b) Handbook on School Leadership and Governance, where schools are now required to change from only being led and managed by an individual school manager, the school principal, to being led and managed by a team of managers, the SMT. What this means is that schools now require the principal and a team, consisting of the deputy principal and heads of departments in the school, to work democratically and collaboratively to implement their shared policy-required roles and responsibilities. The most important function of the SMT is to manage change. All SMT members are now fully responsible and held accountable for all school activities (Taylor, 2009c).

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Literature relating to school leadership and management teams, roles, responsibilities and practices are expanded on in more depth in Chapter Four.

2.2.3. Professional Development

Professional development is the training one engages in or is exposed to, to improve and keep up to date with the latest knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and expertise required in one’s job. The main aim of professional development is to ensure that individuals are enabled and empowered to better understand and implement their respective job descriptions to deliver on job expectations. Professional development therefore needs to be a collaborative, contextualised and research-informed process to bring about desired sustainable changes within individuals and teams (NEEDU, 2013). It includes engaging individuals and teams in experimental learning experiences, mediated demonstrations, employing appropriate resources, coaching, and mentoring of the required change by focusing on professional needs within an enabling environment to establish regular networking opportunities for lifelong learning (Robinson, Hohepa, & Lloyd, 2009). Professional development is discussed in more depth in Chapter Five.

2.2.4. Personal Development

Personal development is a lifelong active learning and growth process that is grounded in knowledge and competence about oneself. When personal development becomes a discipline, it becomes integrated into one’s life, always clarifying what is important and continually learning how to see current realities more clearly (Haber-Curran, Allen, & Shankman, 2015). Personal development therefore focuses on enabling and encouraging individuals to better know and understand themselves and their value as human beings through developing their self-confidence, self-esteem, self-respect and self-worth on a regular basis. At the same time, personal development is also about gaining insights about the process of change and all its associated complexities (Brown, 2012). The literature relating to personal development is discussed in more detail in Chapter Five.