THE PRINCIPALS’ ROLE IN DEVELOPING SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR THE PROMOTION OF HEALTHY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS

Yıl 2017, Cilt: 9 Sayı: 2, 109 - 125, 01.06.2017

Siphokazi Kwatubana

Öz

School leaders’ individual and collective efforts are essential in the promotion of
healthy school environments. In this respect, the building of social capital is very
important for a school’s improvement. The aim of this paper was to determine the
role principals played in developing social capital to enhance healthy school
environments. The study was conducted in two districts, one in the Gauteng and
the other in the Free State provinces of South Africa. It was undertaken as a
qualitative research study that involved seven participants. Data collection
strategies employed included narratives, individual interviews and field notes. The
study was considered important in its application of the social capital theory to
determine the role of principals in soliciting economic resources for their schools.
From the findings, the main challenge that was common in all the participating
schools was the lack of resources for the Promotion of Healthy School
Environments. It was found that some principals were able to identify and
approach companies that could assist their schools but were then unable to build
trusting relationships. In view of the findings, this research recommends training
to equip principals with skills to enable them to mobilise resources by taking
advantage of social capital in their communities.

Anahtar Kelimeler

school leadership, economic capital, township schools, instrumental capital