Browsing by Author "du Plessis, Andre"

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    Leadership competencies for teacher professional development: perspectives of Namibian principals, heads of departments and teachers
    (Perspectives in Education, 2023) So-Oabeb, Josef; du Plessis, Andre
    Using a blend of functional, distributed, and instructional leadership theories as a theoretical lens, this article presents the perspectives of Namibian principals, heads of departments (HODs) and teachers on the various leadership competencies that are required in their role of enabling school leaders to support their teachers’ professional development. The study was approached from a pragmatist perspective employing a mixed-methods methodology. The sequential explanatory design employed combined quantitative and qualitative data obtained from school principals, HODs and teachers. Analysis entailed the generation of descriptive statistics using SPSS and open coding of qualitative data to generate themes. It was found that school leaders require multiple competencies, such as accountability, effective communication, good interpersonal relations, subject-matter competencies, administrative competencies, digital competencies and listening skills to be able to support their teachers’ professional development efforts. This study provides insights into how school leadership competencies enable principals’ and HODs to support teacher professional development within a Namibian context. The study also provides a new knowledge base for Namibian policy makers, political office bearers and administrators to avail human and financial resources to capacitate school leaders with muchneeded competencies to be able support teachers’ professional development through training.
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    Strategies that leadership employ to support teacher professional development in Namibia
    (2024) So-Oabeb, Josef; du Plessis, Andre; Masenge, Andries
    Background: Namibian education is faced with a concern of poor-quality teaching and learning. One way of seeking to address this is through the professional development of teachers. Therefore, this study examined strategies used by school leaders to support teachers for improved subject knowledge and pedagogy. Aim: The study aims to provide a fresh repository of information tailored for policymakers, political leaders and administrators to avail resources to capacitate and support school leaders towards innovative and creative strategies geared towards teachers’ professional development. Setting: This article provides insights into the various strategies employed by principals and heads of departments (HODs) to support teacher professional development in the Namibian context. Methods: This was a mixed-method study in which quantitative findings were used to guide the development of questions used during interviews. During the quantitative phase of the study, data were obtained from nine principals, 32 HODs and 62 teachers, while 23 participants comprising school principals, HOD and teachers participated in the qualitative phase of the study. Results: The findings revealed that Namibian principals and heads of departments use multiple strategies employed by the leadership to support their teachers’ professional development efforts. Conclusion: Namibian principals and heads of departments play a significant role in supporting teachers’ professional development and hence have established various strategies for improved subject knowledge and pedagogy. Contribution: The study contributes to a body of knowledge on school leadership and teacher professional development by unveiling the current practices and relationships between school leaders and their teachers’ professional development in Namibia.