The Roles of School Management Teams in Improving the Academic Performance of Grade 12 Learners

Abstract

The lack of implementation of School Management Teams’ (SMTs) roles by SMT members creates uncertainty about whether or not they understand their roles. This lack of implementation is reflected by the poor academic performance of Grade 12 learners. This study was conducted to examine the roles of School Management Teams (SMTs) in improving the academic performance of Grade 12 learners, to eventually probe the solutions that may be used by SMTs in improving the academic performance of Grade 12 learners at Malamulele North-East Circuit, South Africa. The study employed the interpretive research paradigm, which also informed the use of the qualitative research methodology. An Exploratory research design was used as a blueprint for the study. The population of the study included principals, deputy principals, departmental heads (DHs) and educators. To achieve the objective, purposive sampling method, as a non-probability sampling, was used to choose ten (10) participants, four (04) principals, two (02) deputy principals, two (02) departmental heads and two (02) educators who were teaching Grade 12 learners.  Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and thematically analysed. The findings revealed that SMTs must lead and manage teaching and learning by monitoring lessons, providing teaching and learning resources, and ensuring stakeholder collaboration. The findings would contribute to the body of knowledge on the roles of SMTs in improving learners’ academic performance. From the findings, it is recommended that SMTs should provide learning and teaching support materials (LTSM) and effective leadership and management in schools. It is further recommended that other studies may be conducted on the experiences of deputy principals as heads of curriculum and departmental heads as curriculum managers, to cab knowledge gaps and to come up with practical solutions around curriculum management implications.