Developing a culture of teamwork in selected dysfunctional Soweto schools.

M.Ed.The problem in this study is informed by dysfunctional Soweto schools underperformance in terms of academic excellence and financial management. This research study is motivated on a large scale by the political changes that have taken place in South Africa, which impacted on transformation of the education system. The whole education system is democratic and allows for legitimate participation of all stakeholders on issues that concern the school. The main aim of this research was to investigate the existence of teamwork in the management of dysfunctional Soweto schools, the extent to which participants in decision making are involved in decisions affecting them and to gather their opinions on managing with teams. A combination of qualitative and quantitative study has thus been undertaken in an attempt to gain an understanding of the current situation as perceived by teachers, principals, parents and learners. The methods used have included the use of individual interviews and focus group interviews. A randomly selected sample of data was collected from five principals, twenty teachers, five parents and a focus group of learners from five dysfunctional Soweto schools. The idea was to obtain views from a broad cross sector of educators, parents, and learners. According to McMillan and Schumacher inductive analysis means that categories and relationships emerge from the data rather than being imposed on data prior to data collection. The researcher has therefore compiled categories and relationships from the data. From the research study conducted, it is clear that the concept “teamwork” is known by all involved in school matters. The respondents indicated that teamwork should be implemented in each school. It is also clear from the data collected and analyses that a highly involved management is needed, built on shared understanding on new ways of working and commitment to the improvement of performance. This means that managers and educators are to be empowered in as far as teamwork is concerned. The researcher recommends that the task of running the schools should not be the sole responsibility of the principal as it was in the past and that a collaborative effort of all stakeholders in education is important.Prof. J.R. Debeil