Success Through Leadership Resilience: Qualitative Exploration of a Selected Rural High School

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 3, 576 - 598, 25.09.2023

Chinaza Uleanya

https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1264412

Öz

Failure and drop-out rate in rural high schools (RHSs) in South Africa remains a prevailing crisis. This has been attributed to issues such as poor/limited infrastructures, poverty, unemployment, among others. Thus, this case study explores the issue of a purposively selected South African Rural High School (RHS) with 15 years’ success rate at terminal examination known as Matric. Qualitative method was adopted, hence, interviews were conducted with eight purposively selected staff members of the school: one principal, one deputy principal, three departmental heads, two teachers and one senior admin clerk. The collected data was coded, categorised, thereafter thematically analysed. The findings of the study showed that resources in the selected rural high school are limited, and dropout impacts the school negatively. Nonetheless, with resilience and collaborative efforts of the school leaders: principal, deputy principal, teachers and other staff members, as well as limited reliance on government learners can be supported to succeed, thus increasing pass rate. The study therefore, recommends among others the need for school leaders to believe in their abilities, be resilient in their pursuit of ensuring learners’ success and if need be, rely minimally on support from the government.

Anahtar Kelimeler

leadership, resilience, rural high school (RHS)

Proje Numarası

RED project with the Grant Application Number A130885

Kaynakça

• Brewer, J., & Hunter, A. (1989). Multimethod research: A synthesis of styles. Newbury Park: Sage, Sage Library of Social Research Series, Vol. 175.
• BusinessTech. (20 January 2023). South Africa’s ‘real’ matric pass rate is under 55%. https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyle/657849/south-africas-real-matric-pass-rate-is-under-55/
• Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches (4th edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• de Hart, K.L., & Venter, J.M.P. (2013). Comparison of urban and rural dropout rates of distance students. Perspectives in Education, 31(1), 66-76. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/1795
• Dyomfana, B. (8 February 2022). Drop outs still a crisis in South African schools. https://www.careersportal.co.za/news/drop-outs-still-a-crisis-in-south-african-schools
• du Plessis, P., & Mestry, R. (2019). Teachers for rural schools - A challenge for South Africa. South African Journal of Education, 39(Suppl. 1), s1-s9. https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v39ns1a1774
• Erlandson, D.A., Harris, E.L., Skipper, B., & Allen, S.D. (1993). Doing naturalistic inquiry: A guide to methods. London: Sage.
• Fergus S., & Zimmerman M.A. (2005). Adolescent resilience: A framework for understanding healthy development in the face of risk. Annu Rev Public Health, 399-419. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144357
• Forero, R., Nahidi, S., De Costa, J., Mohsin, M., Fitzgerald, G., Gibson, N., McCarthy, S., & Aboagye-Sarfo, P. (2018). Application of four-dimension criteria to assess rigour of qualitative research in emergency medicine. BMC Health Serv Res. 18(1), 120. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-2915-2. PMID: 29454350; PMCID: PMC5816375.
• Fraser, M.W., Galinsky, M.J., & Richman, J.M. (1999). Risk, protection, and resilience: Toward a conceptual framework for social work practice. Social Work Research, 131-143. doi:10.1093/swr/23.3.131
• Gatsi, R. (2021). Understanding the process and impact of school dropout among early school leavers in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Journal of Educational Research, 33(1&2),
• Gubbels, J., van der Put, C.E. & Assink, M. (2019). Risk factors for school absenteeism and dropout: A meta-analytic review. J Youth Adolescence, 48, 1637–1667. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01072-5
• Hartnack, A. (2017). Background document and review of key South African and international literature on school dropout. https://dgmt.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/School-Dropout-Background-Paper-Final.pdf
• Herrman, H., Stewart, D.E., Diaz-Granados, N., Berger, E.L., Jackson, B., & Yuen, T. (2011). What Is Resilience? La Revue canadienne de psychiatrie, 56(5), 258-265.
• Kosie, H. (17 May 2022). Learner-to-teacher ratio steadily inclines. https://www.careersportal.co.za/news/learner-to-teacher-ratio-steadily-inclines
• Kumar, R. (2019). Research methodology: A step by step guide for beginners. London: Sage.
• Kural, E. (26 January 2020). Interview techniques and how to record interviews. https://blog.scrintal.com/interview-techniques-and-how-to-record-interviews-d9bf0a9a19d4
• Li, P. (28 June 2022). Resilience theory in psychology (Definition & Characteristics). https://www.parentingforbrain.com/resilience-theory/.
• Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1986). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity in naturalistic evaluation. N Dir Eval., 1986(30), 73–84.
• Maila, P., & Ross, E. (2018). Perceptions of disadvantaged rural matriculants regarding factors facilitating and constraining their transition to tertiary education. South African Journal of Education, 38(1), 1-12. https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n1a1360
• Mandi, S. (2012). Factors contributing to high dropout rate in two selected Junior Secondary Schools in the Mqanduli Area of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Masters dissertation submitted to the Walter Sisulu University, Eastern Cape, South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/11260/d1007269
• Marongwe, N., Kariyana, I., & Mbodila, M. (2020). Determinants of student dropout in Rural South African Universities. Journal of Gender, Information and Development in Africa (JGIDA), 9(1). https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC-1c92b8c2e7
• Masten, A.S. (2013). Global Perspectives on Resilience in Children and Youth. Child Dev., 6-20. doi:10.1111/cdev.12205.
• Metelerkamp, T. (21 March 2022). South Africa needs a national education strategy to tackle the school dropout crisis. Dailymaverick. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-03-21-south-africa-needs-a-national-education-strategy-to-tackle-the-school-dropout-crisis/
• Mofokeng, S.K. (2019). An investigation of the school organisational climates of well-performing, previously disadvantaged secondary schools. Masters dissertation submitted to North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, South Africa. http://hdl.handle.net/10394/32251.
• Mohlouoa, M.M.N. (2014). Factors influencing the dropout rate in primary schools in the Teyateyaneng region, Lesotho. University of South Africa, Pretoria, http://hdl.handle.net/10500/18605
• Mokgosi, T.D. (2016). The causes and effects of learner's dropout at the selected secondary schools in Ngaka Modiri Molema District of North-west Province. https://repository.nwu.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10394/38571/Mokgosi_TD.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
• Mokoena, P., & van Breda, A.D. (2021). School dropout among female learners in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa. South African Journal of Education, 41(3), 1-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v41n3a1842
• Moore, C. (30 December 2019). Resilience theory: A summary of the research. https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-theory/
• Nkosi, B. (17 June 2022). There’s no learner-teacher ratio policy: Motshekga. https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/news/theres-no-learner-teacher-ratio-policy-motshekga-71d99032-a5a2-48bc-a371-c9d345ec1e8c.
• PsychCentral (2022). What resilience is and isn’t. https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-resilience
• Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: SAGE.
• Shenton, A.K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63-75. DOI: 10.3233/EFI-2004-22201
• Southwick, S.M., Bonanno, G.A., Masten, A.S., Panter-Brick, C., & Yehuda, R. (2014). Resilience definitions, theory, and challenges: interdisciplinary perspectives. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 1(5). doi: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.25338. PMID: 25317257; PMCID: PMC4185134.
• Stoltz, E. (10 April 2023). School dropout rate improved by 10% compared with pre-Covid levels. Mail & Guardian. https://mg.co.za/news/2023-04-18-school-dropout-rate-improve-by-10-compared-with-pre-covid-levels/
• Strumpher, C.S. (2018). Students’ perceptions of factors that contribute to drop-outs at a selected FET College in the Western Cape. Cape Peninsula University of Technology. https://etd.cput.ac.za/handle/20.500.11838/2821