ATLAS.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software: Training workshops and data analysis for research projects Qualitative Research Consultant
South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experienc... more South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experiencing a bombardment of many educational change policies. Education policy for educational change only becomes reality once it is implemented at the micro (classroom) level. Teachers indeed are the key role-players in this implementation phase and are unfortunately, more often than not, the silent voices in this process, ignored and discounted in this stage of educational change. How they experience and understand the policy change, or how the human side of policy change is contextualised, remains a mystery to be explored and explained.It appears reasonable to assume that teachers’ experiences of education policy change in developing South African circumstances would be influenced and constructed by the contexts in which they work.
Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and mo... more Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and more attention can be paid to these leadership practices in educational leadership. Most educational leadership studies focus on distributed, instructional, teacher, and transformational leadership using mostly quantitative research. The aim is to explore and describe relational and responsible leadership in the context of educational leadership. Qualitative research methodology such as narrative inquiry is not often used for inquiries into educational leadership studies. Moreover, the scholarship on narrative inquiry as a relational methodology for relational and responsible educational leadership is scant, and there is a need to broaden the discussion to include appropriate the concepts of relational leadership and responsible leadership for educational leadership in a context of relational narrative inquiry. Relational and responsible leadership theories can be appropriated through a re...
South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2019
Background: Quality early childhood programmes have proven to be highly cost-effective in reversi... more Background: Quality early childhood programmes have proven to be highly cost-effective in reversing the detrimental consequences of poverty on children’s development. However, these programmes can only influence developmental outcomes of poor children if their needs are considered.Aim: The purpose of this article was to inquire into the experiences of two early childhood development (ECD) practitioners working and living in impoverished and marginalised predominantly white communities where the involvement of volunteers from charity organisations was prominent. The researchers argued that the practitioners’ experiences regarding their work should inform the kind of complementary volunteer aid and support sought for.Setting: The research sites were two informal predominantly white settlements where unemployed residents lived in makeshift housing.Methods: A narrative inquiry, nested in the social constructivist paradigm, was employed to explore the experiences of two practitioners. Da...
Due to copyright restrictions the full-text is not attached to this item. If you are authorised t... more Due to copyright restrictions the full-text is not attached to this item. If you are authorised to access this publication online, you may follow the doi link at the top of this record.
Schools are essentially concerned with people and the development of knowledge and skills. School... more Schools are essentially concerned with people and the development of knowledge and skills. Schools are also tasked with being relevant in contemporary society, for the present and for the future. Like any other societal institution, schools require sound leadership that is ...
Abstract: The systems psychodynamic perspective has been used previously to report on South Afric... more Abstract: The systems psychodynamic perspective has been used previously to report on South African diversity dynamics as studied during various group relations events between 2000 and 2004. The aim of this research was to study and report on the systems psychodynamic diversity behaviour manifesting in a South African organisation during 2005 and to ascertain if and how these dynamics are shifting. A focus group was used and the data were analysed and interpreted from the systems psychodynamic stance. The ...
International Journal of Educational Development in Africa
What can we learn from female leadership scholars that can be appropriated in the South Africa ed... more What can we learn from female leadership scholars that can be appropriated in the South Africa educational context? Little research is conducted to trace the qualities that characterise a feminine approach to leadership in contrast to the characteristics of the traditional approach of control, hierarchy, authority and division of labour. This conceptual article draws theoretically on relational leadership as a feminine approach to educational leadership. I argue that educational leadership in disadvantaged settings in South African schools requires strengthened collaboration and development, particularly for female school leadership. Such collaboration and development is possible through relational leadership.
International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches
With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the Internationa... more With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches and provide an overview of its main themes.
International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches
With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the Internationa... more With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches and provide an overview of its main themes.
This article attends to rural school leadership in two South African schools through the lens of ... more This article attends to rural school leadership in two South African schools through the lens of the concepts of relational leadership and emotional labour. The inquiry draws on five years of guided conversations and observations that speak to leadership experiences of hope and anticipation as well as despair and disillusionment. I worked with one black male principal and one black female school principal from two rural schools in South Africa. Over time, the tone of their narratives changed from hope to hopelessness and resignation. The findings spoke to how commitment and care were overcome by the educational challenges, which involved hunger and poverty, orphaned learners, teen pregnancy, rape, departmental criticism and lack of support. Theoretically, this inquiry draws on the theories of relational leadership and emotional labour in rural education and empirical evidence was drawn from narrative inquiry.
South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experienc... more South Africa has been in a process of far-reaching restructuring and currently is still experiencing a bombardment of many educational change policies. Education policy for educational change only becomes reality once it is implemented at the micro (classroom) level. Teachers indeed are the key role-players in this implementation phase and are unfortunately, more often than not, the silent voices in this process, ignored and discounted in this stage of educational change. How they experience and understand the policy change, or how the human side of policy change is contextualised, remains a mystery to be explored and explained.It appears reasonable to assume that teachers’ experiences of education policy change in developing South African circumstances would be influenced and constructed by the contexts in which they work.
Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and mo... more Relational leadership and responsible leadership are important subjects in the literature, and more attention can be paid to these leadership practices in educational leadership. Most educational leadership studies focus on distributed, instructional, teacher, and transformational leadership using mostly quantitative research. The aim is to explore and describe relational and responsible leadership in the context of educational leadership. Qualitative research methodology such as narrative inquiry is not often used for inquiries into educational leadership studies. Moreover, the scholarship on narrative inquiry as a relational methodology for relational and responsible educational leadership is scant, and there is a need to broaden the discussion to include appropriate the concepts of relational leadership and responsible leadership for educational leadership in a context of relational narrative inquiry. Relational and responsible leadership theories can be appropriated through a re...
South African Journal of Childhood Education, 2019
Background: Quality early childhood programmes have proven to be highly cost-effective in reversi... more Background: Quality early childhood programmes have proven to be highly cost-effective in reversing the detrimental consequences of poverty on children’s development. However, these programmes can only influence developmental outcomes of poor children if their needs are considered.Aim: The purpose of this article was to inquire into the experiences of two early childhood development (ECD) practitioners working and living in impoverished and marginalised predominantly white communities where the involvement of volunteers from charity organisations was prominent. The researchers argued that the practitioners’ experiences regarding their work should inform the kind of complementary volunteer aid and support sought for.Setting: The research sites were two informal predominantly white settlements where unemployed residents lived in makeshift housing.Methods: A narrative inquiry, nested in the social constructivist paradigm, was employed to explore the experiences of two practitioners. Da...
Due to copyright restrictions the full-text is not attached to this item. If you are authorised t... more Due to copyright restrictions the full-text is not attached to this item. If you are authorised to access this publication online, you may follow the doi link at the top of this record.
Schools are essentially concerned with people and the development of knowledge and skills. School... more Schools are essentially concerned with people and the development of knowledge and skills. Schools are also tasked with being relevant in contemporary society, for the present and for the future. Like any other societal institution, schools require sound leadership that is ...
Abstract: The systems psychodynamic perspective has been used previously to report on South Afric... more Abstract: The systems psychodynamic perspective has been used previously to report on South African diversity dynamics as studied during various group relations events between 2000 and 2004. The aim of this research was to study and report on the systems psychodynamic diversity behaviour manifesting in a South African organisation during 2005 and to ascertain if and how these dynamics are shifting. A focus group was used and the data were analysed and interpreted from the systems psychodynamic stance. The ...
International Journal of Educational Development in Africa
What can we learn from female leadership scholars that can be appropriated in the South Africa ed... more What can we learn from female leadership scholars that can be appropriated in the South Africa educational context? Little research is conducted to trace the qualities that characterise a feminine approach to leadership in contrast to the characteristics of the traditional approach of control, hierarchy, authority and division of labour. This conceptual article draws theoretically on relational leadership as a feminine approach to educational leadership. I argue that educational leadership in disadvantaged settings in South African schools requires strengthened collaboration and development, particularly for female school leadership. Such collaboration and development is possible through relational leadership.
International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches
With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the Internationa... more With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches and provide an overview of its main themes.
International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches
With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the Internationa... more With this editorial, we introduce the latest issue (i.e., Volume 12, Issue 1) of the International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches and provide an overview of its main themes.
This article attends to rural school leadership in two South African schools through the lens of ... more This article attends to rural school leadership in two South African schools through the lens of the concepts of relational leadership and emotional labour. The inquiry draws on five years of guided conversations and observations that speak to leadership experiences of hope and anticipation as well as despair and disillusionment. I worked with one black male principal and one black female school principal from two rural schools in South Africa. Over time, the tone of their narratives changed from hope to hopelessness and resignation. The findings spoke to how commitment and care were overcome by the educational challenges, which involved hunger and poverty, orphaned learners, teen pregnancy, rape, departmental criticism and lack of support. Theoretically, this inquiry draws on the theories of relational leadership and emotional labour in rural education and empirical evidence was drawn from narrative inquiry.
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Papers by Brigitte Smit