Exploring Departmental Heads’ Leadership Actions and Perceptions in a High School Setting

Shepherd Fato

doi:10.63081/uejtl.v3i2.154

Authors

Shepherd Fato University of KwaZulu-Natal https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1334-2787

Departmental heads, School leadership, Departmental head leadership, Teaching and learning

Abstract

Departmental heads (DHs) are at times the quiet and unsung leaders behind school success. School principals act as instructional leaders who are accountable to parents, educational officials, and other stakeholders. However, principals heavily rely on DHs to inform them on how educational instruction is being enacted. In this study, the researcher recognised this DH’s indispensability but was more interested in obtaining specific leadership actions. Importantly, too, the researcher wished to establish how six DHs in a high school perceived their own leadership in relation to working with subordinates and the top leadership. A qualitative approach helped gather findings that showed the school showed an inclination towards distributed leadership. This allowed productive leadership that organised both human and other resources. The DHs made important school-wide decisions regardless of praise and acknowledgement. This proved that the DHs were more task-oriented, empowered to be proactive, and perceived work as more important despite challenges and frustrations. This study recommends empowering DHs to be central in school leadership aspects, and they must, in turn, extend their leadership to other department members to empower their subordinates to improve school performance.

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