Doctoral Degrees (Social Work)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Social Work) by Subject "Child development"

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    Essential management competencies of principals at early childhood development centres
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2021-12) Ronaasen, Jessica; Engelbrecht, Lambert Karel; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Early childhood development (ECD) has gained much momentum since the headline policy, the National Integrated Early Childhood Development Policy 2015 (Republic of South Africa [RSA], 2015), was ratified with the mandate to a deliver a comprehensive package of services to children from birth to six years old. ECD centres are not only hubs of education for young children, but also function as small businesses in the communities which they serve. Business skills, leadership, and governance are concepts which are intertwined and necessary for effective management by a principal of an ECD centre. Management competencies are centred upon core leadership values, which are embedded in the supervision and monitoring processes of social workers or ECD managers. A learning organisation approach (LOA), which is recommended in this study for ECD centres, maintains that people can learn the necessary skills and knowledge to function in a managerial role. This study presents empirical findings that showcase the essential management competencies of an ECD principal based on Engelbrecht’s (2014) conceptual framework of management skills, functions, and tasks, which depicts the interaction and complexity of a management role in any given organisation. A fairly ambitious timeframe is mentioned in the ECD Policy (RSA, 2015) that by 2030, all practitioners and principals working with ECD services should have adequate knowledge, skills, infrastructure, and materials to support a comprehensive package of early learning services within an ECD centre. Using a qualitative research approach, this study aimed to gain an understanding of the essential management attributes of ECD principals managing ECD centres in South Africa. A collective case study design was utilised to gain the reflections and lessons learnt from ECD principals and social work managers working in the ECD sector, by conducting semi-structured, telephonic interviews. Non-probability, purposive, and snowball sampling were used to recruit participants. Thematic content analysis was completed by reviewing the data in the transcripts of each interview with the intention of identify managerial competencies in the ECD sector as South Africa’s Department of Social Development (DSD) and the Department of Basic Education DoBE) move forward into a future of possibilities for collaborative learning and development. This study highlights the importance of business planning, mentorship, financial and ECD principal management tasks, the quality of ECD principal management, principal management training programmes, and further policy developments targeting the promotion of ECD principals’ professional development. Conclusions and recommendations towards government departments, non-government organisations (NGOs), and ECD principals themselves are offered to provide practice-relevant evidence for intervention moving forward. Key recommendations include incorporating a learning organisation approach to the support and training of ECD principals and the centres they manage, what the management competencies of ECD principals should be, and the optimal mechanisms needed to support the growth of this role in their organisations.