SA varsity, US institute join forces

THE University of Johannesburg, in collaboration with the Harvard school of education, has started a three-year intervention programme aimed at improving leadership in schools.

The programme was launched in December through the initiative of the Education Leadership Institute.

The programme has two interlinked components: the Principal Network and Leadership Development Programme.

The programme focuses mainly on school principals and district officials in the Johannesburg district.

Lloyd Conley of UJ said: "We have been running training for principals for years and when we did research we realised that there was a discrepancy between the academic and schools.

"We started the programme so that we could support school leaders."

Conley said the Principal Network was open to all school leaders and comprised courses and workshops.

"It also makes research articles available to school leaders."

The Education Leadership Institute was launched last June.

It comprises a full-time administrative team led by a UJ faculty member.

The team's responsibilities are to organise all activities, that include programme development and implementation, coordinating principal network activities and disseminating information and research on the topics of school leadership.

The Leadership Development Programme targets schools in the Johannesburg central district.

Its objective is to create structures and develop the capacity of school leaders as well as district officials.

"We realised there was a shortage of science teachers. We are trying to produce an A-team of science teachers who can go out and train others.

"We have also grouped schools in terms of area. This ensures that we know what the common problems are and how they can be addressed," Conley. said.