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Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective
Thesis (PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2023.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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University of Pretoria
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613649561976832 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author2 | Du Plessis, Andre |
| author_browse | Du Plessis, Andre |
| author_facet | Du Plessis, Andre |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
| description | Thesis (PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2023. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/91319 |
| institution | University of Pretoria (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:39:30.213Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | University of Pretoria |
| publisherStr | University of Pretoria |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository |
| spelling | oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/91319 Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective Du Plessis, Andre rene.beyers@up.ac.za Beyers, René UCTD Decision-making School leadership School management School principals Contextual intelligence Professional discretion Education theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Education theses SDG-17 SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals Thesis (PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy))--University of Pretoria, 2023. Research indicates that there is a lack of understanding of the law and legal obligations among school principals. This could directly affect a principal’s ability to apply appropriate professional discretion. Without the necessary legal knowledge, it would be almost impossible for principals to apply appropriate professional discretion. Underpinned by the Contextual Intelligence Theory, the purpose of this study was therefore to investigate, analyse, and interpret principals’ legal interpretation of their duties, their application of professional discretion, and their perceptions of the role of contextual intelligence when they apply professional discretion. This study also aimed to shed light on principals’ decision-making when confronted with difficult decisions concerning management, leadership, legislation, and policy within the context in which their schools are operating. This study adopted a mixed-methods approach from within a pragmatist research paradigm. Data was collected by means of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques, namely survey questionnaires followed by semi-structured interviews. The findings suggest that there are multiple scenarios in which principals must apply professional discretion and that, in order to protect the best interests of learners and staff, it often means that they are required to ignore official policies which do not allow for the contextual nuances of schools. Various internal and external factors which influence how principals apply professional discretion were identified. Further, principals experience intimidation by departmental officials who are often second guessing their decision-making. As a result, they are often afraid to apply their discretionary powers. Postgraduate Research Bursary – Doctoral Studies Education Management and Policy Studies PhD (Education Management, Law and Policy) Unrestricted 2023-07-10T13:12:06Z 2023-07-10T13:12:06Z 2023-09 2023 Thesis Underpinned by Contextual Intelligence Theory, this study investigated principals’ legal interpretation of their duties, their application of professional discretion, and their perceptions of the role of contextual intelligence. This study adopted a mixed-methods approach from within a pragmatist research paradigm. Data was collected by means of survey questionnaires followed by semi-structured interviews. It was found that there are multiple scenarios in which principals must apply professional discretion and that they are often required to ignore official policies which do not allow for the contextual nuances of schools. Various internal and external factors were identified which influence how principals apply professional discretion. Further, principals experience intimidation by departmental officials who are often second guessing their decision-making. As a result, they are often afraid to apply their discretionary powers. S2023 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/91319 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.23911194.v2 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.23631372 en © 2023 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria |
| spellingShingle | UCTD Decision-making School leadership School management School principals Contextual intelligence Professional discretion Education theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Education theses SDG-17 SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title | Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title_full | Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title_fullStr | Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title_short | Professional discretion of public school principals : an education law perspective |
| title_sort | professional discretion of public school principals an education law perspective |
| topic | UCTD Decision-making School leadership School management School principals Contextual intelligence Professional discretion Education theses SDG-04 SDG-04: Quality education Education theses SDG-17 SDG-17: Partnerships for the goals |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/91319 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.23631372 |