Tshepo Magabane examines the extent of parents’ participation in decision-making on school governing bodies in relation to teacher employment
A study exploring issues around school governance found that parents from upper and middle socio-economic backgrounds actively participate in decision-making at schools.
The study examined six public high schools in the Bushbuckridge rural area in Mpumalanga. Twenty-five parents (four from each school) were selected for interviews.
The aim of the study was to assess the background of schools and participants; the dynamics and procedures followed in school governing body meetings; parental participation in decision-making; the role played by parents in decision-making around teacher employment; parents’ perceptions of their role in teacher employment; and communication between parents and the Department of Education.
The study found that the nature and extent of parental participation in school governance in relation to the employment of teachers is determined by the socio-economic background of parents at the schools studied.
Attendance at school-governing body meetings by parents from schools from upper and middle socio-economic backgrounds was high. Attendance at meetings by parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds was poor.
This study suggests that parents from upper socio-economic backgrounds should employ shared and consultative decision-making strategies. It also suggests that schools from middle socio-economic backgrounds should participate in decision-making strategies.
Participation in decision-making by parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds was passive. This study suggests that parents from lower socio-economic backgrounds should employ conditional bureaucratic and persuasive decision-making strategies.
The study found that parents from schools from upper and middle socio-economic backgrounds take a more active role in decision-making around teacher employment. It also suggests that participation in these schools should follow the notion of regulated participation, where the Department of Education regulates parents’ participation in decision-making.
The study also found that parents have a perception that they should be the people responsible for making the final decisions about teacher employment.
Communication between parents and the Department of Education in relation to information regarding school governance was found to be excellent in schools from upper and middle socio-economic backgrounds and bad in schools from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
This study concludes that there is scope for developing parental participation in school governance in relation to teacher employment. It recommends that the Department of Education should convene capacity-training programmes geared towards empowering parents participating in school governance.
The writer has completed a masters thesis on school governance entitled “Parental participation in the decision-making process in school governing bodies in matters related to teacher employment in South Africa”.
– The Teacher/M&Media, Johannesburg, August 2001.