Staff development in a secondary school in the Brits district of the North-West Province : a public administration perspective

M.A. (Politics)Public administration enables public institution officials to do their work, for instance educators to teach. The activity of public administration comprises six generic processes which are functions because they all have a specific purpose aimed at particular outputs. Secondary schools would not function without policy-making, organising, financing, determination of work procedures, control and staffing processes which are imperative to expedite functional activities. This studyis primarily based on the staffing process and staff development in particular. One of the mostserious and disturbing educational problems confronting educationists, policy-makers, learners, parents and the community is the restoration of the culture of teaching and learning. This studywill identify contributing factors towards the low performance morale of educators as a result of which mosteducators feel less motivated and committed to their tasks. Someeducators feel that they are not involved in all matters that affect their field of work, e.g. the budget. Staff development will ensure that educators' confidence is enhanced for the delivery of qualityeducation. The studywill indicate the role of the Department of Education, the principal and the governing bodiesin staff development and training activities. Intensive in-service training and retraining of educators is regarded as being essential for the successful implementation of the new education system of outcome-based education (OBE). The purpose of this studyis to cover such staff development aspects as the motivation of educators who lack commitment, the induction and orientation of newly appointed educators, building of a team spirit as stressed by OBE, delegation of authority for empowerment and the training and development for sustained performance..