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The role of the SGB in a matrix organisation
At the heart of the South African Schools Act (SASA), is the idea that parents should take responsibility for the education of their children in partnership with the government (EasternCapeProvince, 2012). A governing body is elected to govern a school and the members represent the school and community. Its main objective is to promote the welfare of its school. SGBs determine the policies and rules for organising, managing and controlling of the school affairs. An effective SGB works as a team, has a good relationship with the principal, manages time effectively, for example at meetings, delegates to committees, knows the school through visits, and takes its own development seriously (EasternCapeProvince, 2012). A democratically elected SGB should improve the quality of education, ensure good governance and that the school serves the interests of the community, spreads the cost of education across users and combats all forms of discrimination and intolerance (DoBE., 2014).
The SGB controls the financial resources of the school and carries the responsibility for financial sustainability of ICT facilities in a school. If the State provides funding for ICT, it is up to the management to decide how to distribute the funds. This implies that management should have a good understanding of ICT requirements. If the State does not provide funding for ICT, management has to decide how much is required to maintain the current technology and how much is needed for things like additional electricity usage, staff training, upgrades, software, licence fees and additional software (Van Wyk, 2009). These are fundamental imperatives that require the SGB to be fully involved in the project and to support it and allocate the necessary funding. A sustainability plan is essential and it is the responsibility of the principal to ensure that all members of the SGB understand the importance of ICT and the reasons for ongoing financial support of technology. SGBs have to adopt a constitution stating how they will operate, adopt a mission statement to set out the values of the school, adopt a code of conduct which sets out disciplinary procedures, help the principal and other staff members to perform their professional duties, decide on the school’s admission, language and religion policy, manage the school buildings and grounds, decide on the times of the school day and give recommendations to the provincial Head of Department about the hiring of teachers (EqualEducation, 2011).
SGBs are responsible for school governance, which has to do with making decisions about how the school will be run, and the creation of policies and rules for the staff, learners and parents. School management, however, has to do with the actual dayto day running of the school, which is the responsibility of the principal, together with the School Management Team (SMT) (Equal Education, 2011).
The role of the school management team (SMT)
The SMT consists of the principal, deputy principal and HODs. It is their role to ensure that the school ethos is dynamic and supportive of an effective teaching and learning culture (Ndou, 2009). The SMT’s functions range from planning and budgeting to organising and staffing, implementing policy, controlling discipline, problem solving, monitoring and evaluating plans and motivating staff (Clarke, 2007).
It is expected from school managers to be more than managers of schools; they are required to become agents of change, visionaries, effective problem solvers, consensus builders, and role models of practice (Kozloski, 2006; Leonard & Leonard, 2006). The GDE places emphasis on the role of school managers in managing ICTs in schools and has developed guidelines for school management on how to implement, manage and sustain the usage of ICTs in public schools in Gauteng (GDE., 2011). In the Mpumalanga Department of Education, such guidelines do not exist. In addition to setting goals and policies relating to ICT, having a shared vision is critical to managing ICTs in a school setting. The SMT’s vision for ICT practice in a school affects the school’s vision for ICT practice and determines the kind of ICT resources used and how ICTs are managed within a school (Bialobrzeska & Cohen, 2005).
CHAPTER 1: AN OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Situational context and research setting
1.3 Rationale for the study
1.4 Problem statement
1.5 Statement of purpose
1.6 Research questions
1.7 Research design
1.8 Delimitation of the study
1.9 Significance of the study
1.10 Outline of chapters
CHAPTER 2: THE MANAGEMENT OF AN ICT NETWORK
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Leadership and management
2.3 Strategic management in education
2.4 School leadership to maximize the impact of ICT integration
2.5 Management of an ICT network
2.6 Systems thinking approach
2.7 Theoretical framework: matrix management
2.8 Other management models worthy of consideration
2.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Epistemology and ontology
3.3 Choice of paradigm
3.4 Qualitative descriptive approach
3.5 Case study design
3.6 Research methods
3.7 Research ethics
3.8 Conclusion
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Context of the study
4.3 Analytical framework
4.4 A priori coding
4.5 Emergent coding
4.6 Critical incidents that occurred in the project
4.7 Constant comparison of interviews in the management of the project
4.8 Document analysis
4.9 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Discussion of the main findings
5.3 Recommendations for further research
5.4 Conclusion
6 REFERENCES
