School Management and Leadership Education for Multi-Religious Schools

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15826/csp.2018.2.3.048

Abstract

Contradictions and contestations with regard to the implementation of religion-in-education policy have become a worldwide phenomenon. An increasing number of costly and protracted court and legislative battles between schools and parents over religion in schools has been reported. In this article, I aim to highlight some of the school management issues surrounding the implementation of religion-in-education policy in some selected South African schools. Based on mediation theory, the study uses individual interviews to gather data from twelve purposively selected school principals to investigate how they implemented the religion-in-education policy in their respective schools. The findings show that despite the implementation challenges of the religion-in-education policy, the majority of the selected school principals displayed the qualities of a transformative mediator. I, therefore, recommend that school leadership programmes for school leaders offer mediation, and transformative mediation in particular, as a leadership and management course. That is, South African universities should consider training school principals on the use of transformative mediation as a strategy they can use to resolve conflicts and handle disputes in schools as it holds potential benefits for fields such as education.

Author Biography

Maitumeleng A. Nthontho, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Dr. Maitumeleng Nthontho is a lecturer in the Department of Education Management and Policy Studies, Faculty of Education, University of Pretoria. She holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Education Management, Law and Policy. Her research interests include Human Rights in Education, School Management and Governance, Policy Studies, and Religious Diversity in Schools. Her fields of expertise are Education Management and Leadership, Educational Policy, Education Law and School Governance.

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Published
2018-09-30
How to Cite
Nthontho, M. (2018). School Management and Leadership Education for Multi-Religious Schools. Changing Societies & Personalities, 2(3), 292-304. doi:10.15826/csp.2018.2.3.048
Citation Formats
Issue
Vol. 2, No. 3 (2018): Special Issue: "The Politics and Pedagogy of Religion Education"
Section
Conference Paper