In-house mentoring and school leadership : perceptions of well-performing primary school principals

Abstract

A growing scholarship links good leadership with in-house mentoring. This article looks at how well-performing school leaders benefitted from the inhouse mentoring they received. The author reports on a qualitative investigation based on in-depth individual interviews with six primary school leaders from Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Northwest Provence who were purposefully selected based on their receiving a national award for excellence in leadership. These awards were made by the Department of Basic Education in the category 'Excellence in primary school leadership'. The findings show that in-house mentoring benefitted participants holistically through behavioural, knowledge and skills acquisition. Behavioural acquisition included being humble and empathetic towards constructive work performance. Knowledge and skills acquisition related to sustaining the standard of teaching of core subjects, relying on committee input in a relational leadership approach and ensuring a dedicated teacher corps and positive parent involvement. The findings contribute to the discourse on inhouse mentoring for improved school leadership practice.