PRINCIPALSHIP LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES

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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

INTRODUCTION

This chapter dealt with the research methodology and outlined the steps and procedures used to conduct the research. The purpose of research according to Berg (2004) is to find answers to the research questions through the application of systematic procedures. In this chapter I also discussed the research design and paradigm, the data collection strategies, analysis and sampling techniques employed in the study. Creswell (2013) explains the three research approaches generally used by researchers in scientific studies. These approaches are the qualitative, quantitative as well as the mixed-methods research approaches. The researcher cannot choose the research approach randomly. Instead, it is the study topic, aims and the research questions that in most cases determine the research approach the researcher ought to follow. For the purpose of this study, a qualitative research approach was preferred and found to be appropriate in answering the research question through the examination of various social settings.

RESEARCH APPROACH

“Qualitative research is an umbrella term used to describe” forms of enquiry that assist in understanding and interpreting the meaning of social phenomena of the natural setting with as little description as possible (Merriam, 2009). I was convinced that a qualitative research approach will provide some meanings that could be helpful during data analysis and also prevent the study results from being too technical, but instead be constructed from personal interaction with the participants. Hancock, Ockleford and Windridge (2009) state that qualitative research entails developing explanations for social phenomena with the aim of understanding the social world in which we live. Principals are social beings, and I wanted to understand their experiences with regard to school leadership and management which formed part of their world of work.
By using the qualitative research approach, I was able to receive information directly from the responses of participants (McMillan & Schumacher, 2014) as this approach offered direct contact with the participants. The qualitative research approach allowed for time to be spent in direct interaction with the participants in the schools. I found the approach to be appropriate as Creswell (2014) indicates that researchers use qualitative research to explore and to understand the meaning of individuals or groups ascribe to their social or human problem. Qualitative researchers typically study people or systems by interacting with them and by “observing the participants in their natural environment (in situ) and focusing” on their meaning and interpretations (Holloway & Wheeler, 1996). During the study, I had to visit participants at their workstations to see and interpret their natural environment to a certain extent. In order to maximise data collection and research findings, I found the qualitative research methodology to be suitable especially in addressing the research topic and answered questions pertaining to the study phenomena (Creswell, 2014).
A qualitative research approach allowed me to link the different approaches that he used to collect and analyse data and also answered the research question (Wilson, 2009). The justification for selecting the qualitative research approach over other approaches was that the approach outlines the purpose, procedures and the techniques suitable for the research topic. I employed qualitative research so that I could understand the social life and the meaning that the people attach to their everyday life. Using a qualitative approach in this study, I aimed to elicit the participants’ accounts of meaning, experiences or perceptions about leadership and management in their work environment (McMillan & Schumacher, 2014; Creswell, 2008), and also because it explores the “why” question (Maree, 2011). I used a qualitative approach to investigate the experiences of beginner principals and the way they behave in their new roles and how they are affected by what they are doing. The attitudes and practices of beginner principals towards leadership and management were explored through the use of the interviews.
This qualitative study capitalised on using semi-structured interviews for becoming acquainted with the phenomenon being studied (Merriam, 2009). The qualitative approach attempts to uncover meaning via the analysis of non-numerical data that comes from multiple participants. Qualitative data does not include interpretive judgements about whether what occurred was good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate; the data simply described and explained what had occurred. The qualitative research approach was appropriate for this study because its design, was naturalistic, preferring to study people and events in their natural settings (Punch, 2011). Berg (2004) indicates that by using qualitative research, the researcher is able to access unquantifiable facts about the actual people. In this case, I conducted interviews and established the availability of documents that supported what the respondents said.
The purpose for using a qualitative research was again to produce the findings that will lead the reader to an understanding of the meaning of the experience or phenomenon being studied (De Vos et a.l, 2005) and an attempt to discover the meaning of the phenomenon and the world of the participants (David & Sutton, 2011). Leedy and Ormrod (2015) indicate that a qualitative research study is typically focused on the phenomena that are occurring or have previously occurred in a natural setting. This approach was used because the experiences of beginner principals are an ongoing phenomenon in our schooling system. As long as schools are employing principals, it is necessary for the department to know about their experiences as novices in the new field of work as school leaders and managers. In effect, the qualitative research approach was chosen base on the belief that it would enable me to listen to the beginner principals from their natural settings that is, in their “real world” (Leedy & Ormrod, 2015).

RESEARCH PARADIGM

According to Blaikie (2009), research strategies are located within the broader frameworks of theoretical, methodological or philosophical perspectives, commonly referred to as paradigms. In research, a paradigm directs the researcher’s path and shapes the way the study will be undertaken. Johnson and Christenson (2009) define the research paradigm as a perspective about research held by a community of scholars or researchers that is based on a set of shared assumptions, concepts, values and practices. Myers (2009) adds that every research study is based on certain philosophical assumptions about the nature of the world and how knowledge about the world can be obtained.
These assumptions are made explicit even before the study unfolds for the researcher’s position or point of departure is known to the readers, supervisors and other scholars. These assumptions provide the foundation for everything that follows in any research process. Blaikie (2009) also indicates that each research paradigm presents a different way of making the linkage between ideas, social experience and social reality. The philosophical assumptions guiding this study are discussed in terms of the epistemological, ontological and methodological assumptions of the study (Creswell, 2009; Whitehead & McNiff, 2009).
The philosophical assumption underpinning this study was based on my previous knowledge and realities about the qualification requirements for the appointment of principals, which differed from one country to another. Based on my knowledge, as far as the requirements for the principalship post are concerned, South Africa included, are teacher’s qualification (teachers’ diploma) and at least five years’ teaching experience (EEA, Act No. 76 of 1998 (SA, 1998) and ELRC, Collective agreement No. 1 of 2008) (SA, 2008). The studies by Daresh (2006) and Oy (2012) showed that in Finland, a teacher who aspires to the post of a school principal must have a master’s degree over and above a minimum qualification in teaching.
“The epistemological and ontological assumptions underpinning this research” was that knowledge is constructed through participants’ social interaction with reality (Creswell, 2003). I understood epistemology as a core branch of philosophy that is concerned with “the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods” and the possible ways of gaining knowledge of social reality (Grix, 2001). Therefore, I moved from the knowledge obtained from the plethora of literature that when beginner principals are appointed into principalship and are not properly prepared to do the job. Whitehead and McNiff (2009) refer to epistemology as the theory of knowledge that involves two parts … a theory of knowledge (what is known) and a theory of knowledge acquisition (how it comes to be known). My rationale about the leadership and management role of beginner principals explained the knowledge and the reality on the procedures used by the Limpopo Department of Education when recruiting and appointing a school principal. The process was supported by the provincial prescripts (Collective Agreement No. 1 of 2008) (SA, 2008).

Declaration 
Dedication .
Acknowledgements
Abstract.
Ethics certificate.
Language editor 
List of abbreviations and acronyms
Table of Contents 
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.1. INTRODUCTION
1.2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
1.3. STUDYPURPOSE
1.4. RATIONALE
1.5. BEGINNER PRINCIPAL AND PRINCIPALSHIP
1.6. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1.7. AIM AND OBJECTIVES
1.8. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
1.9. EPISTEMOLOGY AND ONTOLOGY OF THE STUDY
1.10. RESEARCH PARADIGM
1.11. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
1.12. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE
1.13. TRUSTWORTHINESS
1.14. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
1.15. LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITIONS
1.16. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1.17. STUDY MAP
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION .
2.2 PRINCIPALSHIP LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA AND OTHER COUNTRIES
2.3. CAREER PATHWAYS IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
2.4. BEGINNER PRINCIPALS IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
2.5. CONCEPTUALISING LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
2.6. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF DEVELOPING BEGINNER PRINCIPALS
2.7. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND THEORETICAL FRAME WORK
3.1. INTRODUCTION
3.2. RESEARCH METHODS
3.3. RESEARCH PARADIGM
3.4. RESEARCH DESIGN
3.5. DATA COLLECTION METHOD
3.6. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
3.7. DATA ANALYSIS
3.8. TAPE RECORDING
3.9. TRIANGULATION METHODS
3.10. TRUSTWORTHINESS
3.11. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
3.12. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DATA ANALYSIS
4.1. INTRODUCTION
4.2. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION OF PARTICIPANTS
4.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THEMES .
4.4. DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS
4.5. EMERGING THEMES IN LINE WITH GRONN’S THEORY
4.7. LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE STUDY
4.8. CONCLUSION
CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1. INTRODUCTION
5.2. SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS
5.3. STUDY FINDINGS
5.4. KEY FINDINGS
5.5. STUDY CONTRIBUTION
5.6. CONCLUSIONS
5.7. RECOMMENDATIONS
5.8. CONCLUSION
LIST OF REFERENCES 
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