An investigation into the performance management and development scheme for office-based educators

Abstract

Since the newly formed Department of Education came into being after the democratic elections in the mid 1990’s, one area of concern continued to be the process of educator appraisal (including that of office-based educators). In the Free State, the performance of office-based educators was not appraised until a new system, called the Performance Management and Development Scheme (PMDS) for office-based educators, was introduced in 2005. Based on the foregoing, a research study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the PMDS in improving the performance of office-based educators. In this study, the population consisted of office-based educators stationed in the two education districts of Thabo Mofutsanyana and Fezile Dabi. The sample consisted of office-based educators drawn from four sections, namely: School Management and Governance Developers (SMGDs), Subject Advisors (SAs), Learning Supprt Advisors (LSAs) and officials from School Youth Recreation, Arts and Culture (SYRAC). Ten office-based-educators from each section formed the sample of the study. Interviews were then conducted with these forty (40) office-based educators. The literature study explored the concepts of performance management and performance development. The research findings of the empirical investigation indicated that there are gaps between the literature scoured and the way PMDS is being implemented. Based on the literature and empirical research findings, recommendations were made for the Department of Basic Education in the Free State regarding how PMDS should be implemented by supervisors in order to improve the performance of office-based educators. The researcher also designed a model that may assist in the appraisal of office-based educators.