Challenges facing secondary school principals regarding effective implementation of participative management in patriarchal South Africa

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore experiences of secondary school principals pertaining to challenges facing school principals regarding effective implementation of participative management in patriarchal South Africa. The objective of this paper is to identify challenges of implementing participative management at secondary schools, and determine possible management development needs of school principals. The researchers reviewed literature on participative management practices. Empirical investigation based on quantitative data paradigm was used to collect data from school principals in the King Cetshwayo district of KwaZulu-Natal province. Questionnaires were used to facilitate the process of data collection. The findings revealed that there are too many administrative functions for principals which reduce time for participative management initiatives, and that gender imbalances in management and leadership positions tend to impact negatively on staff morale at secondary schools in South Africa.

Key words: staff participation, democracy, team building, team  performance, human capital, educational leadership