Abstracts Category : Other

Workingagainst and working towards : narratives of South African womenprincipals

by Keku Elizabeth Khumalo

Although women continue to experience setbacks insenior education positions, few people know about that as theirstories are rarely written nor told. This study is an attempt totell such silenced stories about me and my co-story teller, MrsNalo. We are mothers, wives and principals of successful secondaryschools in Limpopo province. The purpose of this study is tounderstand the experiences and challenges of women principals in adistinctly South African context. The study is a narrative of ourstories with the intention of exploring our experiences so that Icould better understand how our stories speak to challenges ofleadership in South African Secondary Schools. My aim is to set mystory alongside hers and to look for commonalities that offerinsights into the stories of women principals in South Africa. Thestudy lends itself to combination of auto ethnography,ethnography as well as narrative approach. In carrying out thisstudy we kept our daily journals. We engaged in three tapedrecorded conversations followed by a number of telephoneconversations. I transcribed verbatim the three conversations andidentified common themes across both stories and read them againstthe Capability Approach (CA). I took a positive and optimisticstance and recognised that we were not always able to achieve ourdesired functionings and that at times we were not able to realisefully the potential of our capabilities. The study again found thatregardless of setbacks we encounter in achieving our functionings,we still managed to convert resources at our disposal to achievethem. I also found that although CA aims to enhance thedevelopmental opportunities for those who have been marginalised,it turns a blind eye to invisible elements of womens lives intheir profession; that of being a mother and a wife. Its logicapplies primarily to the professional aspects of womens lives. Myfinal argument in this study is that prioritising the professional,especially for women, limits the scope and potential of a CA. CAtherefore needs to wholly consider the complexities of being awoman leader, a wife and a mother, for women to be able to enhancetheir ability to use capabilities and resources to achievemuch-valued functionings. Key words: Auto ethnography, ethnography,narrative inquiry, capability approach, agency, functionings, womenprincipals, South Africa; women and leadership; traditionalpractices; developing countries; secondary schoolleadership.Advisors/Committee Members: Mahlangu, Vimbi Petrus (advisor), Pillay, Venitha (coadvisor).