South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) 311 The role of the pricipal, teachers ad studets i restorig the culture of learig, teachig ad service (COLT) i black secodary schools i the Pretoria regio M.X. Lethoko Departmet of Educatio Maagemet, Uiversity of Pretoria J. Heystek Departmet of Educatio Maagemet, Uiversity of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002 South Africa (To whom correspodece should be addressed) J.G. Maree Departmet of Educatio ad Traiig Studies, Uiversity of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002 South Africa Political ad social istability over may years has led to a crisis i the South Africa educatio system. Oe of the crucial chages ad challeges that the ew democracy faces is to recostruct a society ad a educatio system that will be able to establish a culture coducive to learig, teachig ad services i schools (COLT). This article examies factors that have led to a loss of the culture of learig ad teachig (COLT) i South Africa schools, ad the characteristics of a positive culture expected by pricipals, teachers ad studets. Results idicate that although pricipals are attemptig to ifluece this culture, there is little support for such chages from teachers ad studets. Itroductio: The crisis i South Africa schools Oe of the crucial chages ad challeges, that the post-apartheid South Africa democracy faces, is to recostruct, agaist may odds, a society ad a educatio system that will create excellet coditios for teachig ad learig (Masitsa, 1995:111). Yet schools i South Africa, especially black 1 schools, are still characterised by poor Grade 12 results, high abseteeism, pupils beig late for classes, ad irregular attedace of classes by both teachers ad studets (Nxumalo, 1995: 55). The issue of the absece of 'a culture of learig, teachig ad services' (COLT) i South Africa schools, especially i black secodary schools, is a major cocer, to which Sauders (1996:18) aptly refers as "a crisis of gargatua proportios". This lack of a appropriate eviromet is apparet i the low pass rate of the Grade 12 examiatio, the high drop-out rate, ad the high percetage of studets who must repeat a grade. As Tsedu (i Sauders, 1996:18) puts it: "The crisis i black educatio has... become somethig that o oe takes very seriously aymore. As we drive aroud the towships ad villages, we see childre, either i school uiform or ordiary clothes, roamig the streets durig school hours." Political ad social istability that existed i the coutry i the past has led to a crisis i the South Africa educatio system. This crisis was characterised by protest marches, strikes ad boycottig of classes by studets ad teachers, who protested agaist the so-called Batu Educatio system (Mashile & Mellet, 1996:223). Schools were viewed as political grouds where studets held meetigs to pla strikes, class boycotts ad stay-aways. Durig this time, the studets developed a egative attitude towards schoolig ad popular slogas such as "Liberatio first ad educatio later" (Dekker & Va Schalkwyk, 1995:457) became everyday fare. Due to the frequet disruptios i schools by studets, the climate was ot coducive to teachig; hece the teachers also lost their morale (Hartshore, 1991:68). Durig this political turmoil school buildigs were burt; furiture ad equipmet were destroyed ad stole by the studets ad by the commuity as a whole. I the meatime the studets developed "a ati-academic attitude towards schoolig" ad they lost their dedicatio ad willigess to lear (Kitche, 1988:57). Teachers lost their 1 Although the authors realise that classificatio by ethic group is a artificial way of distiguishig betwee people, they oetheless deem it ecessary to poit out meaigful implicatios of iequalities ad differeces alog these lies. professioal ethos because the climate i schools was ot coducive to teachig ad learig. Pricipals lost cotrol of both teachers ad studets, ad the pricipals were viewed by society as 'sell-outs', for their loyalty was tor betwee the Departmet of Educatio (DoE) ad the commuity. They had to carry out the orders from the Departmet (e.g. the use of Afrikaas as a medium of istructio) i a hostile ad rebellious climate. Towards a ew dispesatio The passig of the Batu Educatio Act (1953) caused dissatisfactio amogst blacks. This led to the struggle ad disturbig evets that characterised the period betwee 1976 ad 1980 (Behr, 1988:36). However, durig the 1980s calls were made by leaders such as Madela ad Sizulu for pupils to retur to schools, while their educatioal problems were beig egotiated by commuity represetatives ad the authorities (Hartshore, 1991:70). I support of this, accordig to Chisholm ad Vally (1996:5), there has bee much emphasis i South Africa sice 1990 of the eed to shift from "a culture of resistace" (due to the fact that before 1990, schools teded to be political battlefields) to "a culture of recostructio ad developmet". All the stakeholders i educatio have to realise that the past culture of resistace has to go the way of the apartheid system. It is ow time for the recostructio ad developmet of the culture of teachig ad learig i South Africa schools. The culture of learig ad teachig will be discussed i the ext sectio. A culture of learig ad teachig (COLT) A public debate regardig COLT characterises curret discussios o educatio i South Africa. Nxumalo (1993:55-60) coducted a survey of studet, paret ad teacher perceptios of COLT i Kwa-Mashu schools. The study idicated that although everybody agrees that there has bee a erosio of COLT, each of the three parties blames the other for the situatio. For may restorig a culture of learig ad teachig meas brigig the coditios ad disciplies of compulsory schoolig regular attedace, puctuality ad acceptace of authority to bear o teachers ad studets. However, sice the mai aim of this research is to shed light o factors that would potetially cotribute to restore, recostruct ad build a culture of learig ad teachig, it is crucial to highlight the broader pricipal aims of COLT here: To foster creative, critical ad idepedet thikers with skills ad competeces that are trasferable. To foster attitudes ad values that are compatible with the ogoig trasformatio of society. To promote values of critical thikig, self-disciplie, empowermet, respect for the digity of others, ad a commitmet to lifelog learig. To develop ew social relatioships i schools fouded o ew forms of disciplie, commitmet ad accoutability of all stakeholders i educatio (Chisholm & Vally, 1996:1). The presece of COLT ca be also idetified by a more obvious ad public measure, such as the matriculatio examiatio results. They are appallig. From the 1976 Soweto uprisig up to 2000, six years after the democratic electios, the pass rate at matric level has deteriorated dismally. This state of affairs is oe of the may idi-
312 South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) catios that a culture of learig ad teachig does ot exist i our coutry. Accordig to Chisholm ad Vally (1996:2-3), as far as teachers are cocered, COLT refers to their professioalism ad motivatio to teach, which is depicted i their puctuality, regular school attedace, lessopreparatio,beigdisciplied ad as role models, ability to disciplie learers ad havig a healthy relatioship with the pricipal, learers, parets, ad the wider commuity. The Recostructio ad Developmet Programme (RDP) has itroduced a ew dimesio to COLT, which focuses o rebuildig the material, ad social coditios ecessary for schoolig to take place (Chisholm & Vally, 1996:3). This has resulted i the reovatio of school buildigs ad the provisio of the eces-sary facilities ad ifrastructure such as electricity, water, libraries ad sciece laboratories to selected schools. This is the so-called 'services' part of the COLT campaig. There is also the capacity buildig of goverig bodies whereby the school maagemet team, parets, teachers ad learers are give a chace to cotribute to school related matters. Attetio will ow be focused o a umber of factors that have a egative impact o COLT i South Africa schools, particularly i the Pretoria regio. Factors that have a egative ifluece o the learig eviromet Studets lack motivatio to lear, ability to cocetrate i class, laguage skills, self-disciplie, ad puctuality. There is dodgig of classes, use of drugs ad weapos, alcohol abuse, ad cheatig durig tests ad examiatios (Smith & Schalekamp, 1997:4-8). May studets have o-supportive homes, little paretal care ad ivolvemet, few resources i the homes, little itellectual stimulatio, ad illiterate parets (Misi & Shilubae, 1998:6; Smith & Schalekamp, 1997:4). The school eviromet lacks disciplie, respect for teachers, proper role models withi the school ad society at large; the ifrastructure is poor, classrooms are overcrowded, ad teacher to pupil ratios are high (Masitsa, 1995:21). There is a lack of professioalism amog teachers ad pricipals, poor maagemet of the school by the pricipal, ad lack of preparatio for lessos by uder-qualified teachers (Smith & Schalekamp, 1997:23). Dea (1993:151) poits out that beig a successful pricipal depeds very largely o relatioships with teachers, soud relatioships ad effective commuicatio i our schools. Factors cocerig the DoE that have a egative ifluece o the learig eviromet iclude iefficiecy ad lack of fudig i the Departmet to rebuild schools, reovate buildigs, supply books i time, ad supply teachig aids ad materials. Aother problem is that pricipals fid it difficult to implemet certai policies outlied by the departmet, or the policies are implemeted ad ot moitored to see if they have are successful (Heystek, 1999:56). Problem statemet With this sceario as backgroud, the followig research questio will serve as the primary research questio guidig this research: What is the role of pricipals, teachers ad studets i restorig COLT i black secodary schools i the Pretoria regio? The followig questios will receive attetio: What are the reasos for the loss of COLT i schools? I which ways ca the pricipal, teachers ad studets esure a positive COLT i schools? How ca the school pricipal, the DoE, teachers, studets, parets ad the wider commuity cotribute to esure that the culture of teachig ad learig is restored ad maitaied i South Africa schools (particularly i the Pretoria regio)? Aims of the research The curret research was udertake to determie the egative cultural factors i the schools ad the role of the pricipals, teachers ad studets i the process of restorig a appropriate learig eviromet. The overridig aim of the research was to determie how all the stakeholders i educatio, especially pricipals, ca help with the restoratio of a pro-educatioal culture. The aims of this study ca therefore be summarised as follows: To idicate some of the egative factors related to pricipals, teachers ad studets that have led to a loss of COLT. To idicate the state of affairs i schools related to the roles of pricipals, teachers ad studets i the process of restorig COLT. To assist the stakeholders, especially pricipals, i educatio i gaiig isight ito ways of restorig the lost COLT. To make teachers, pricipals ad studets realise that, before blamig someoe else for the lack of COLT, it is advisable to assess oeself first. (This proved to be the most popular exercise as all the respodets foud it worthwhile durig both the pilot study ad the research proper.) Ethical aspects Permissio was requested ad obtaied i writig from the DoE to coduct the research ad to publish the research fidigs. Assurace was give that o idividual would be idetified. Limitatios of the study This was a limited, local study, ad the fidigs reported i this article have limited geeralisatio value; they do, however, have aturalistic geeralisatio value. Furthermore, the study was limited to pricipals, teachers ad studets, whilst it is clear that there are other sigificat stakeholders too. Lastly, due to fiacial costraits, the study was carried out i the Pretoria area oly. Research desig Two complemetary approaches, qualitative ad quatitative, were implemeted. The research reported here was ot a quatitative comparative study coducted with two groups of subjects, but a actio research study over a exteded period of time with participats i traditioally black schools. The qualitative research will be discussed first. Qualitative aspects of the curret research Observatio ad iterviews Durig the visits to all the schools observatio ad iterviews were coducted to assess the attitude of teachers, studets, ad pricipals with respect to educatio ad the restoratio of COLT. This comprised the qualitative part of the study. Report o the iformal iterviews I each of the 30 schools visited withi the Pretoria area the researchers maaged to have a coversatio with the pricipal or deputy pricipal whe the pricipal was ot available. Teachers ad learers were also iterviewed. Pricipals' opiios o COLT i their schools I some schools the DoE had already formally itroduced COLT, whereas i others the pricipals had oly heard about it the DoE has ot yet started implemetig it formally. Some pricipals metioedthedoe'sso-calledlinkadequipprogrammesaspartof those programmes that are restorig facilities ad buildigs i schools to improve COLT. However, the overall feelig of almost all pricipals is that although the DoE is capable of makig statemets, plas ad promises, these ever seem to be implemeted or moitored to esure their success. Secodly, pricipals experiece problems with their teachers ad learers i schools. They feel that these two parties are ot motivated to do their respective duties. Firstly, teachers are uwillig to help pricipals with the discipliary problems of learers. They tell pricipals that the govermet has disempowered them. Pricipals have expressed their cocer ad suggest that the govermet should empower teachers i some ways, e.g. by allowig them to disciplie
South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) 313 learers (puish them). Thirdly, pricipals complai that they have far too may roles to play i schools, icludig emergecy meetigs with the DoE. Therefore, as maagers ad teachers, their teachig roles suffer a great deal, maagemet duties become too demadig. They have little time to discuss teachig ad learig matters with both teachers ad learers, ad matriculatio examiatio results keep o deterioratig i most schools. Lastly, pricipals etreat the DoE to employ more people to moitor the restoratio of COLT i schools ad the implemetatio of positive COLT measures, e.g. registers for learers ad teachers. Teachers' opiios about COLT i their schools Most teachers sympathise with their pricipals whom they thik are overworked by the DoE. A variety of duties ad resposibilities are vested i the pricipals, ad as the pricipals are occupied with maagemet duties, teachers take advatage because pricipals are uaware that they do ot teach whe they should. Teachers agree that they have lost their professioal ethos. Their dedicatio ad motivatio to do their work efficietly is zero percet. Hece teachers have lost cotrol of the learers because they are irresposible adults who are ever puctual, who dodge classes, who are ot dedicated to their work ad lack professioalism. Teachers blame the DoE for ot icreasig their salaries i order to motivate them. However, teachers agree that they are the pivotal poits of a school. The teachers' willigess to work hard ca ease the pricipal's job ad also help t o cotrol learers withi the school. Teachers are the oes who do the actual teachig, who ca help to solve puctuality, truacy ad discipliary problems. If teachers are teachig from eight o'clock util oe/two o'clock, all learers will kow that they also have to be at school i time to be taught ad to lear. Oe teacher said "committed teachers make committed learers or vice versa". Teachers have the followig complaits ad egative criticisms to make: It is a waste of time that we ca use for revisio. Who is goig to mark those scripts ad whe? It is the DoE strategy to overwork poor matric teachers. The DoE promised to sed people to moderate these questio papers to esure that they are o matric level, but such people ever came. (This is especially the case i the Soshaguve area). Most examiatios start late, as questio papers are ot delivered o time i schools. The level of questios asked is below matric stadards, thus givig a false picture to the learers. Furthermore, most teachers complai that the DoE, the Gauteg MEC ad the Miister of Educatio have made impressive speeches ad promises that are ever fulfilled. These teachers say that they have heard about COLT o the radio, they have read about COLT i ewspapers ad magazies, but othig has bee doe i their respective schools. They complai about the poor facilities ad ifrastructure i their schools, overcrowded classrooms, poorly equipped laboratories ad o-existet libraries. The teachers say that each year the DoE promises to deliver textbooks ad other materials to be used for teachig i time, but this ever happes. The textbooks are delivered late or ot at all. It seems as if the DoE has lost its credibility as far as teachers are cocered. This situatio is likely to hamper progress ad the implemetatio of ew policies i schools, for teachers are iclied to thik that the DoE will always make empty promises. This i tur weakes the teachers' willigess ad dedicatio to teach ad follow the DoE's policies. Learers' opiios about COLT i their schools Most learers do ot kow about COLT at all, some have heard about it while others have oly see this acroym writte somewhere but do ot kow what it meas. I some schools, the learers are happy that the buildigs are beig reovated while some techical schools have more equipmet ad computers doated to their schools. However, learers do ot kow that it is the RDP's attempt to restore COLT i schools. However, learers express serious cocer about teachers. Oe learer regretted to say that if teachers from their eighbourig school, which produced good ad desirable results, could come ad teach them, their school would be better. Lastly, all learers like ad are i favour of the mock examiatios for matriculats. They say it is a good practice, especially because some schools ever had such practise before. Teachers do ot teach matriculats after the Jue vacatio, they give them old questio papers, while they atted to their persoal ad private matters at the expese of the learers. Learers agree that they are lazy, dodge classes ad are ill-disciplied. They blame it all o the teachers ad i some cases parets. They urge ad beg teachers, pricipals ad parets to lead them ad show them the right way. O the whole, schools eed to itroduce a culture of success. Successful schools have a positive attitude towards teachig ad learig; everybody i the school hopes for a brighter future. Report o the observatioal studies The Pretoria area is divided ito four districts, that is N1, N2, N3 ad N4. Some kids of behaviour are typical i some areas. For istace, i all the Atteridgeville areas that the researchers visited, the gates are locked durig classes ad oly opeed durig break periods (some Mamelodi schools ad Soshaguve schools do ot lock their gates, though). Whe the researchers asked about the logic behid this practice, the followig reasos were give: To provide safety to the people ad property withi the school. Durig this research outsiders o the school premises killed two learers; To esure puctuality of both teachers ad learers; To esure that o trespassers eter ito the school grouds uivited; ad To hider dodgig of classes by learers ad teachers. All these learers who dodge classes ca easily be foud withi the school premises. Those learers who wat to go out of the school grouds have to produce writte permissio from teachers, whereas teachers have to produce writte permissio to the security guard at the gate. The researchers were always escorted to the pricipal's office ad asked to produce the studet card as a form of idetificatio. Safety seems to be a priority i all schools. Secodly, learers i most schools wait outside their classrooms whe their teachers do ot come to classes. Atteridgeville schools do ot have the same problem ad it looks as if disciplie is ot much of a problem i this area. Teachers are ot always puctual; they arrive at classes 5 20 miutes late, especially i Mamelodi ad Soshaguve. Accordig to the researchers' observatio, i all the schools visited the followig aspects deserve attetio: Puctuality ad disciplie of teachers ad learers; Safety of the people ad property withi the schools' premises; ad All visitors, like the researchers, have to report to the pricipal's office ad provide idetificatio before coductig their busiess. All these factors will cotribute to the positive restoratio of COLT i schools, because safety, disciplie, puctuality ad dedicatio provide a climate coducive to teachig ad learig. This i retur ca help ehace COLT i a school that will be reflected by good matric results ad the success of all learers. Attetio will ow be paid to a explaatio of the quatitative part of the research desig. The quatitative aspect of the research Pilot study A questioaire was developed ad refied by meas of a pilot study.
314 South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) Twety teachers were selected for the pilot study. Testees were requested to circle the umbers of the items they did ot uderstad, ad to uderlie phrases ad words that were either uclear or uitelligible. After receivig all the completed pilot research questioaires, the researchers reviewed the resposes for clarity ad distributio without ruig a item aalysis. Mior liguistic mistakes were discovered, such as setece costructio ad spellig errors. Such errors were corrected ad retured for aother roud of respose. After receivig these resposes, the questioaires were regarded as usable. Subjects I the curret study the literature review revealed that i South Africa black schools i particular have lost their COLT. They are the oes whose learers perform poorly i matric examiatios as very few black matriculats gai uiversity/techiko exemptio. Most black schools are disadvataged i terms of facilities, ifrastructure ad resources (Hartshore, 1991; Nxumalo, 1995; Smith & Schalekamp, 1997). Hece, for the purposes of the study ad its aims oly black schools were used i this research. Purposive samplig was used whereby oly black schools were chose for the purpose of this research (Bailey, 1987:94). The criteria that were used to draw the sample were that the schools had to be i Gauteg, they had to have a majority of black learers ad they had to be public schools. The questioaire was admiistered to 30 pricipals, 90 teachers ad 180 studets i 30 schools i the Pretoria Area. A list of schools i all four districts was obtaied; schools with predomiatly black studets (previously oly black schools) were idetified ad selected. Eight schools were take from the N2 ad N3 districts, while seve schools were selected from the N1 ad N4 districts. Questioaire Oe questioaire (i Eglish) was desiged as a meas of obtaiig the research data. The questioaire statemets were based o the cotet of a extesive literature survey coducted by Lethoko (1999: 20-103). Lethoko established relevat egative factors, ad defied the role that stakeholders i educatio ca play. The followig positive factors were idetified: puctuality; regular attedace of classes; dedicatio to oe's work; soud teacher-studet relatioships; overall motivatio to perform well at school/work; paretal support; disciplie; facilities i a school; state of buildigs ad ifrastructure; ad resources, e.g.. teachig media. A questioaire was developed to idetify the perceptios of pricipals, teachers ad studets regardig the resposibility for COLT ad its ehacemet. A five-poit Likert-scale was used to rate positive characteristics as they exist i schools. Teachers, pricipals ad studets completed the same questioaire. The ratioale for doig this was that at the ed of every year whe Grade 12 results are aouced, pricipals ted to blame teachers for low pass rates, teachers blame studets for ot studyig, ad studets blame pricipals for poor maagemet ad teachers for ot teachig. There were two sectios i the questioaire. I the first sectio the pricipals, teachers ad studets had to rate themselves with regard to the characteristics that ehace or promote COLT. I the secod sectio, the respodets rated oe aother with regard to the characteristics which ehace or promote COLT, icludig pricipals assessig studets ad teachers; teachers assessig teachers ad pricipals; ad studets assessig pricipals ad teachers. The questioaire also had sectios where respodets selected the perso most resposible for the COLT. They also had to idicate the state of the ifrastructure, ad make recommedatios for achievig COLT i schools. Due to the ature of the items, item ad factor aalyses were ot carried out; either were reliability coefficiets calculated. Statemet of hypotheses The ull ad alterative hypotheses, that were to be ivestigated by this study, were the followig: H 0 1:There is o preferece amog stakeholders regardig who is most resposible for COLT ( B Pricipals = B Teachers = B Learers = B All persos ivolved = B Parets = B Heads of Departmet = B Deputy pricipals ) H a 1:There are prefereces amog stakeholders regardig who is most resposible for COLT ( B Pricipals B Teachers B Learers B All persos ivolved B Parets B Heads of Departmet B Deputy pricipals ) H 0 2:There is o differece i ratig i regard to 'satisfactory' 2 ratig betwee groups ( B Pricipals = B Teachers = B Learers ) H a 2:There are differeces i ratig i regard to 'satisfactory' ratig betwee groups ( B Pricipals B Teachers B Learers ) Aalytical procedures Frequecies, the Friedma test ad the Sig test (o-parametric statistics) were used to aalyse the data. I the curret research prefereces regardig who is most resposible for COLT ad differeces i ratig were regarded as statistically sigificat at the 1% level of cofidece. I the followig sectio the results of the empirical research project will be highlighted with the aim of idicatig the state of affairs i the schools ad to search for possible solutios to improve COLT. Results The overall resposes (frequecies) to the pricipals' characteristics of COLT appear i Table 1. The results of a Friedma two-way aalysis of variace test (multiple comparisos) for comparig COLT resposibilities for differet stakeholders appear i Table 2. From Table 2, it is clear that H 0 1 (there is o preferece amog stakeholders regardig who is most resposible for COLT ( B Pricipals = B Teachers = B Learers = B All persos ivolved = B Parets = B Heads of Departmet = B Deputy pricipals ) is rejected i favour of H a 1 (there are prefereces amog stakeholders regardig who is most resposible for COLT ( B Pricipals B Teachers B Learers B All persos ivolved B Parets B Heads of Departmet B Deputy pricipals ). I Table 3, the rakigs of pricipals, teachers ad studets with respect to the characteristics of COLT were compared by usig the Friedma two-way aalysis of variace test (multiple comparisos). (As previously idicated, oly satisfactory ratigs were compared.) From Table 3, it is clear that H 0 2 (there is o differece i ratig amog groups i regard to 'satisfactory' ratig ( B Pricipals = B Teachers = B Learers ) is rejected i favour of H a 2 (there are differeces i ratig betwee groups i regard to 'satisfactory' ratig ( B Pricipals B Teachers B Learers ). Respodets' ratig of the state of facilities, buildigs ad resources is supplied i Table 4. Discussio Characteristics of the pricipal i regard to COLT The questioaire's focus was the positive characteristics of pricipals, teachers ad studets. Table 1 idicates that pricipals are see as committed to their work. Of the respodets 286 (95.3%) are satisfied with the pricipals' motivatio. This is very promisig because a motivated pricipal is likely to be able to motivate teachers ad studets. But there may be a questio about the ability of the pri- 2 Highly satisfactory ad satisfactory optios o the Likert scale were combied to form oe respose category (satisfactory) ad aalyses were the based o respodets ratigs of characteristics as satisfactory.
South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) 315 Table 1 Characteristics Ratigs by pricipals, teachers, ad studets of pricipals characteristics ad work towards positive learig eviromet Puctuality Dedicatio to do their work Care of relatioships i the school Co-operatio with parets Overall motivatio to perform their duties Disciplie ad self-disciplie Respodets Satisfactory 3 229 256 216 270 286 266 44 21 43 22 7 23 Ucertai Usatisfactory 26 23 41 8 7 11 Total 299 Table 2 Results of Friedma test for comparig COLT resposibilities for differet stakeholders ( = 298) Stakeholder % idicated by respodets Pricipals Teachers Studets Total Parets Heads of Departmet Deputy Pricipals Total 131 47 38 26 21 20 15 298 43.95 * a + 15.77 * b 12.75 * b 8.72*b 7.05 * b 6.72 * b 5.04 * b 100.00 *: p = + : Percetages with differet symbols are sigificatly differet cipals to motivate the teachers because oly 66% of the respodets idicated that the teachers are satisfactorily motivated to do their duties. Oe of the importat jobs of pricipals is to motivate the teachers. Moo ad Mayes (1994:361) stress the fact that motivatio has log bee accepted as a powerful determiat of what happes i classrooms. It is suggested that teachers will oly be able to motivate themselves a certai amout ad the they eed somebody to motivate them to higher levels of achievemet. The secod highest rated characteristic of pricipals was cooperatio with parets, with 90.0% of the respodets that are satisfied with the way i which pricipals co-operate ad ivolve parets i the issues that cocer their childre's educatio. This characteristic is oe of the most importat oes because the South Africa Schools Act (Departmet of Educatio, 1996) requires parets to be members of the goverig body of every school. This positive idicatio is ot echoed by observatio of ivolvemet of parets i school activities. Parets are especially ot ivolved i learers' academic work (Heystek & Louw, 1999:25). The third highest rated characteristic is the pricipals' disciplie ad self-disciplie. As a leader ad the key figure i the school the pricipal must be able to disciplie both teachers ad studets. It will be easier for studets, parets ad teachers to respect such a pricipal, liste to him, ad obey orders. Of the respodets 266 (88.7%) were satisfied with their pricipals' disciplie, 23 (7.7%) were ucertai ad 3 Although the questioaire uses a five-poit scale to determie the attitude of the respodets (pricipals, teachers ad studets) towards characteristics of COLT, for the purposes of the aalysis the Highly satisfactory ad Satisfactory optios are combied to form a Satisfactory respose. Likewise, the Highly usatisfactory ad Usatisfactory resposes are combied to form a Usatisfactory respose. Table 3 Characteristics Rakig of pricipals, teachers ad studets with respect to the characteristics of COLT (compared by usig the Friedma test) (comparig satisfactory ratigs) ( = 297) Puctuality Regular attedace of class ++ Dedicatio to their work Relatioships i the school Co-operatio with parets Overall motivatio Disciplie ad selfdisciplie Percetage idicated by resppodets Pricipals Teachers Studets 76.8 a + 85.2 a 72.0 a 90.0 a 95.3 a 88.5 a 64.0 a 64.6 b 65.9 b 63.2 ab 62.0 b 61.7 b 59.8 b 40.7 b 37.3 c 39.7 c 56.2 b 45.8 c 46.3 c 34.5 c + : Groups with commo characters are ot sigificatly differet (comparisos to be made row-wise) ++ : Comparisos made usig the Sig test Table 4 P 0.0001 0.0154 Ratig regardig the state of facilities, buildigs ad resources Satisfactory Ucertai Usatisfactory Total Facilities, e.g. water, electricity, sports fields, grouds, desks Buildigs, e.g. toilets, libraries, halls, laboratories Resources, e.g. textbooks, teachig aids, laboratory equipmet % % % 147 97 86 48.0 32.4 28.7 33 35 44 12.0 11.7 64.0 120 167 150 40.0 55.9 56.7 11 respodets (3.7%) are dissatisfied with the pricipals' disciplie ad self-disciplie. Pricipals with low disciplie will probably ot be respected ad it may ot be easy for the pricipal to cotrol the staff ad studets. COLT embodies a positive attitude ad the dedicatio of everyoe ivolved to perform his or her duties efficietly. Of the respodets 256 (85.3%) are satisfied, 21 (7.0%) are ucertai, while 23 (7.7%) are usatisfied with the pricipals' dedicatio. This implies that the pricipal as the head of the school shows a lot of iterest i ad a positive attitude towards work. This could ifluece the teachers ad studets to do the same. The ratigs of pricipals' puctuality is rather disappoitig, for if he/she is late for school, who will see to it that studets are i class ad teachers go to classes to teach at the right time? Of the respodets 229 (76.6%) are satisfied with their pricipals' puctuality. The lower ratig of puctuality places some doubt o the motivatio of the pricipal. The low ratigs of puctuality of teachers (63%) ad studets (40%) will certaily have a egative effect o the learig ad teachig i schools. Lastly, pricipals are rated low o carig for relatioships i the schools. Poor ad disharmoious relatioships hider the teachig ad learig process for they result i poor co-operatio betwee the parties ivolved. Of the respodets oly 216 (72.0%) are satisfied with this issue. This characteristic eeds to be give the special attetio it deserves. The questioaire also asked who is most resposible for COLT. Of the respodets, 131 rated pricipals as havig the major resposibility for the restoratio of COLT. Resposes idicate that subjects 299 280
316 South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) hold the other stakeholders much less resposible. However, it is clear that a joit effort of all role players will have greater beefit. Ideally all persos ivolved must share the resposibility for the restoratio of COLT. The role of pricipals, teachers, ad studets to restore COLT From Table 3 it is clear that statistically sigificat differeces were foud betwee the three groups' ratigs regardig all characteristics. It is also clear that the studets, followed by teachers, are perceived to be most resposible to the curret isufficiet COLT i South Africa schools. Hartshore (1990:73) refers to this pheomeo as idicative of "a creepig deterioratio of the learig eviromet ad the collapse of teacher morale". Accordig to Table 3 pricipals have the highest percetages i all the give characteristics of COLT. The pricipals are supposed to have a positive ifluece o COLT. However, their puctuality, which is 76.8%, icludig their care for relatioships i the school (72.0%), eeds further attetio. The teachers' overall motivatio is 61.8%, while that of studets is 46.3%. The fact that these percetages are low probably iflueces to a certai extet regular attedace of classes, dedicatio to duties, ad disciplie. Pricipals eed to motivate teachers ad studets to chage their attitudes towards schoolig they have to come to school early, be well prepared, dedicated ad show sigs of beig disciplied. Furthermore, pricipals also have to pay special attetio to relatioships amog teachers ad amog studets. Disharmoious relatioships ca impede progress i a school ad result i the loss of dedicatio, disciplie, ad motivatio i both teachers ad studets. For istace, if teachers do ot relate well with oe aother, they caot help oe aother professioally; if a teacher has a useful teachig medium ad the others are ot give the chace to use it. This was oe of the problems ecoutered durig the empirical research. Oe teacher refused to complete the questioaire because his 'eemy' had completed oe. Relatioships are also importat for studets. Durig the iterviews studets i oe school commeted o the 'love affairs' that teachers have with studets. They say those studets always pass the tests ad iteral examiatios, but fail at the ed of the year. This practise ruis such studets' future. Studets also eed to help oe aother i order to succeed. Group discussios, debates, ad drama help studets to succeed i their studies. However, these activities are oly possible if the relatioships amogst the studets are healthy ad harmoious. The pricipal must take the lead to establish good relatioships i the school. Studets' disciplie ad self-disciplie are the worst (34.5%) of all the factors. This percetage is especially worryig, whe Culligford's (1988:3) idea that "the school presets itself as a autoomous orgaisatio i which rules are a essetial igrediet ad obediece oe of the cardial virtues" is take ito accout. A school caot fuctio effectively without clear discipliary measures ad orderliess imposed by pricipals ad teachers. No effective teachig ad learig ca take place i such a school ad this leads to a loss or lack of COLT. Paretal ivolvemet, support ad co-operatio are also essetial to restore COLT. Pricipals seem to relate well with parets; they have to assist studets ad teachers to achieve the same high stadards. Paretal co-operatio, as oe of the recommedatios i this study, received the highest percetages from pricipals, teachers ad studets. This implies that this aspect is very importat i the restoratio of COLT. The iformatio i Table 3 should be read i cojuctio with the resposes of the teachers ad studets durig the iterviews ad observatios. They agree that most pricipals are overworked ad that they are tryig very hard to make their respective schools successful i a attempt to restore COLT. The most importat issue here is that pricipals caot restore COLT aloe. They eed the help, assistace ad participatio of teachers, studets, parets, the DoE, ad the commuity as a whole. Fially, it ca probably be cocluded that if teachers improve i terms of these characteristics, the studets will probably follow suit ad it may become easier for the teachers to work with the studets. Facilities ad ifrastructure Accordig to Chisholm ad Vally (1996:10), the Recostructio ad Developmet Programme focuses o the "services" part of COLT. They state that it is the resposibility of the state, through the DoE, to maage "the state, coditio ad availability of facilities, buildigs, surroudigs, resources ad equipmet i a school". People are more likely to value ew, good-lookig, ad properly maitaied facilities ad ifrastructure. Facilities that are well cared for ted to motivate teachers to do their work more effectively ad studets to lear better (Chisholm & Vally, 1996:14; Hartshore, 1991:71). This attitude ad motivatio ca help to restore COLT. Although this is the geeral belief, there is evidece that good facilities are ot a prerequisite for COLT ad good examiatio results (Lethoko, 1999). The most importat factors are the attitudes ad motivatio of the teachers ad studets. Fully motivated teachers ad studets are much more likely to utilise the facilities ad ifrastructure optimally. This will be reflected by the improved pass rates i schools. Table 4 gives the results of the research doe i 30 schools with regard to their facilities, buildigs ad resources. Noe of the facilities or ifrastructure is satisfactory at all. The state or the DoEs are ot able to meet the eeds of the schools. Limited fiacial resources are the most importat reaso for this situatio. This implies that the pricipals, teachers, studets, ad parets have to devise meas to help the state to provide some of the ecessary materials. Fud-raisig campaigs, marketig a school ad the ivolvemet of parets (e.g. to fix a roof istead of hirig professioals) ca help to raise ad coserve school fuds. Coclusio ad recommedatios The qualitative part of the research provided support for the fidigs from the quatitative part. The researchers were able to determie if everybody i the school was beig exposed to COLT, i.e. pricipals, teachers ad learers. It also became evidet that paretal ivolvemet i school-related matters such as discipliig of learig was a idispesable factor. The DoE also has to work hard to rebuild the teachers' cofidece ad trust i it. The teachers ad the DoE ca work together to make the COLT work ad bear positive fruits for everyoe. Agai, the DoE has to moitor the progress ad the strog ad weak poits of policies ad improvemets it wishes to make i the educatio system, so that pitfalls, misuderstadigs ad shortcomigs ca be idetified as early as possible. It is really surprisig to lear that some teachers are ot aware of the use of teacher registers i schools as part of the COLT campaig. Of the pricipals who were respodets, 16 (53.3%) have maagemet traiig, whilst 14 (46.7%) do ot. However, these pricipals, with or without maagemet traiig, show sigs of positive characteristics to improve COLT. The low percetage of maagemet traiig for pricipals may be a reaso why the pricipals are motivated ad they try their best, but they do ot obtai the expected results. Maagemet traiig should perhaps be a prerequisite for pricipals. Teachers eed to realise the importace of their dedicatio ad excellet performace i ehacig the success of their schools ad the achievemet of COLT. It would appear that the overridig perceptio is that the attitudes of teachers ad studets eed improvemet. The facilities, buildigs ad resources are ot up to the required stadard, but it seems that this is ot the most importat factor to improve COLT. The prevailig perceptio amogst pricipals, teachers ad studets is that the egative characteristics displayed by studets pose the biggest stumblig block regardig the restoratio of COLT i South Africa schools. Possibly, studets' egative attitude may be partly the result of the egative ifluece from teachers ad pricipals. Fially, the followig recommedatios are made: A joit effort by the DoE, pricipals, teachers, parets, studets ad the commuity is essetial to tackle the problem i had.
South Africa Joural of Educatio, 2001, 21(4) 317 Paretal ivolvemet eeds to be ecouraged by pricipals, teachers ad studets. The professioal coduct of teachers ad studets has to be reiforced ad teachers should kow their resposibilities. The pricipals must ecourage teachers, parets ad studets to work hard so that the COLT sloga, which says, "Teachers teach, studets lear ad parets co-operate", ca become a reality (Lethoko, 1999:157). Fially: it is hoped that this article will cotribute, albeit i a very small way, to the prevetio of what Sauders (1996:19) refers to as "oe lost geeratio after aother". As Chisholm ad Vally (1996:5) so aptly state: South Africa schools will simply have to shift from "a culture of resistace" to "a culture of recostructio ad developmet". Ackowledgemet The authors thak Mr Jackie Grimbeek, statistical cosultat of the Uiversity of Pretoria, for his help. We also express our gratitude to the pricipals, teachers ad learers who participated i this study. Refereces Bailey KD 1987. The practice of social research. Belmot, Califoria: Wadsworth. Behr AL 1988. Educatio i South Africa. Origis, issues ad treds 1652-1988. Pretoria: Academica. Chisholm L & Vally S 1996. Report of the committee o the culture of teachig ad learig. Gauteg: Miistry of Educatio. Culligford C 1988. School rules ad childre's attitudes towards disciplie. Educatioal Research, 30:3-8. Dea J 1993. Maagig the secodary school. Lodo: TJ Press. Dekker E & Va Schalkwyk OJ (eds) 1995. Moder educatio systems. Durba: Butterworth. Hartshore K 1990. Look back i ager. Idicator SA, 7:71-74. Hartshore K 1991. Back to the future: Africa Grade 12 results 1989 1990. Idicator SA, 8:67-72. Heystek J 1999. I-service traiig for school maagers i disadvataged areas. Research project. Pretoria, SA: Uiversity of Pretoria. Heystek J & Louw E 1999. Parets as parters i schools so importat but why so iefficiet? South Africa Joural of Educatio, 19:21-27. Kitche H (ed.) 1988. The Washigto papers: South Africa i a trasitio to what? Washigto, DC: Praeger. Lethoko MX 1999. Restorig the culture of learig ad teachig i secodary schools i the Pretoria area. Upublished MEd dissertatio, Uiversity of Pretoria, Pretoria. Lukhwarei MH 1995. The issue of roles for the school maagemet team revisited: a challege to the democratic educatio system. Upublished MEd dissertatio. Pretoria: Uiversity of Pretoria. Mashile EO & Mellet SM 1996. Political ad social factors related to secodary pupils' attitude towards school. South Africa Joural of Educatio, 16:223-226. Masitsa MG 1995. The establishmet of a learig culture as a prerequisite for academic achievemet. Upublished DEd thesis, Uiversity of South Africa, Pretoria. Misi N & Shilubae M 1998. From the spectator to a active participat: a joit effort towards the developmet of a culture of teachig ad learig (Upublished paper). Moyooe LA 1998. Trasformig the culture of learig ad teachig: a South Africa perspective. Paper preseted at the Aual Coferece of EASA, Broederstroom, South Africa, 21-23 Jauary. Moo B & Mayes AS 1994. Teachig ad learig i the secodary school. Lodo: The Ope Uiversity Press. Nxumalo B 1995. The culture of learig: a survey of Kwa-Mashu schools. Idicator SA, 10:55-60. Republic of South Africa 1996. South Africa Schools Act. Pretoria:: Govermet Priters. Sauders W 1996. Oe lost geeratio after aother. Frotiers for Freedom, 18-19. Smith DPJ & Schalekamp S 1997. Restorig a culture of teachig ad learig: Results of a phase oe project i the West Rad Departmet of Educatio. Paper preseted at the EASA Coferece, Johaesburg, 1-13. Cocept formulatio for evirometal literacy C.P. Loubser Faculty of Educatio, Uiversity of South Africa, P.O. Box 392, Pretoria, 0003 South Africa C.H. Swaepoel Faculty of Educatio, Uiversity of South Africa C.P.C. Chacko Faculty of Educatio, Uiversity of South Africa Various studies have show a lack of uderstadig of evirometal cocepts amogst idividuals of all ages. Teachers ca play a substatial role i upliftig the level of evirometal literacy of the populatio. There is, however, cocer whether teachers do actually have the ecessary basic kowledge of evirometal cocepts which they have to teach. I this article we address the cocepts which relate to evirometal literacy of idividuals. We focus o the way i which cocepts are formed ad how these could have a impact o teachig of evirometally related issues. The role of teacher educatio to esure that teachers are evirometally literate ad cocepts, which should be ehaced durig teacher educatio to esure a evirometally literate populatio, are discussed. Itroductio The right to a clea ad healthy eviromet is protected i the Costitutio of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) (RSA, 1996:16). This right is also highlighted i the goals of the Recostructio ad Developmet Programme (RDP), for example, to meet the basic eeds of the people (Africa Natioal Cogress, 1994:40). Accordig to Schreuder (1995:3) the establishmet of such a clea ad healthy eviromet depeds o the provisio of quality educatio. The provisio of quality educatio is expected to empower commuities to act o evirometal issues ad to promote a evirometal ethic (Africa Natioal Cogress, 1994:40) so that they ca take part i the wise use of atural resources ad good maagemet of the eviromet. It is, however, doubtful whether it is possible to improve or maitai a healthy eviromet through the same kid of cotetorieted educatio offered by the previous educatio departmets i the RSA. Whe the advacemet of a healthy eviromet is discussed, referece is made to various cocepts or aspects. These aspects iclude the behavioural patters of people (Grieve & va Stade, 1985:135), attitudes of people (Firth, 1995:59), kowledge of ecology (Rockcastle, 1989:8; Schaefer, 1992; Orr, 1992), the ature of cotrol ad power exercised by huma beigs o the eviromet (Plat, 1995: 26), evirometal ethics (Firth, 1995:58) ad the evirometal literacy of people (O Neal & Skeleto, 1991/1992:158; Shogwe, 1997:3). The latter could be see as the overarchig aspect which is essetial to achieve a sustaiable future for all so that the preset ad future geeratios ca share the resources of the eviromet. A clea ad healthy eviromet is therefore depedet o the evirometal literacy of people. Teachers ca play a substatial role i upliftig the level of evirometal literacy of the populatio. The effectiveess of teachig i the classroom is, however, iflueced by the backgroud kowledge of teachers (Prawat, 1992:356) ad this obviously gives meaig ad directio to classroom practice (Ballatye & Tooth-Asto, 1987:3; Beatties, 1995:59). It is also obvious that teachers are the oes who