Ubuntu School Leadership in Post-colonial Contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa

• In Event: Decoloniality in Afrikan Education

Proposal

Successful school leaders play an indispensable role in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. Their schools equip all learners with the capabilities to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies, and enhance individual wellbeing. Nevertheless, much of the research on the impact of school leadership and on school leadership models emanated from western contexts and research done by Western scholars. Within the context of the continent of Africa, the lack of an African leadership perspective and borrowing of Western leadership frames within education and schooling have been noted (GuramatunhuCooper & Lyons, 2017; Moorosi & Bush, 2021). Exercising leadership and realizing its potential depends however on context. Therefore, there is a growing demand for research and knowledge generated from low- and middle-income areas of the world and for school leadership models that are rooted in context. In a scoping review of empirical research on school leadership in Africa (Bush et al., 2022), the concept of Ubuntu school leadership has emerged as such a potential approach to school leadership that highlights unique competences and aspects of leadership that are relevant to post-colonial contexts in Sub-Saharan Africa.

With this qualitative study, we explore unique characteristics of leadership and leadership competencies that are relevant in Sub-Saharan African contexts, describe and further develop the concept of Ubuntu leadership. To explore characteristics of leadership and leadership competences, a qualitative research paradigm is applied, utilizing narrative inquiry. This includes in-depth semi-structured narrative interviews and focus group discussions with school leaders and communities in Ghana (West Africa), Kenya (East Africa) and Zambia (Southern Africa). Data have been collected from 65 school leaders working within secondary and elementary schools, complemented by document analysis from the various research contexts. To further develop the concept of Ubuntu school leadership, a ‘grounded theory’ approach is applied, where through analysis of the qualitative data, the concept is further developed not only as a theoretical framework but also as a leadership approach and strategy. Following this research approach, the available data from Kenya, Ghana and Zambia is coded, and the coded data is summarized into ideas and concepts. As data is collected from various settings in Sub-Saharan Africa, the developing ideas are reviewed and developed into higher-level concepts.

Data collected in Kenya revealed a strong community component in school leaders’ understanding and practice of their leadership roles. This is also emerging in the data being collected in Ghana and Zambia. The observed community approach to school leadership converges with the notions and tenets of Ubuntu grounded in African context. The concept of Ubuntu school leadership highlights unique competences and aspects of leadership, starting from assessing available resources, attending to others’ needs, and raising expectations and commitment to organizational goals. It is argued that the concept of Ubuntu leadership can be of interest to describe how multiple actors, both within and outside the school, as well as outside the education system, can collaborate and achieve collective goals. As such, the model also zooms in on the needs and role of the community. Ubuntu as an indigenous leadership philosophy (Ncube, 2010) and offer strategies for implementation that school leaders can act on in everyday practice. Msila (2008) suggests that Ubuntu, as a leadership model, has great potential in schools.

Utilizing a decolonizing education and social justice leadership discursive framework, this study explores the tensions and complexities of their leadership practices. Educational leaders in emerging countries face problems that are uniquely different from their counterparts in Western countries and as such leadership practices and theorizing must be contextualized. Findings of the study support existing research on the perpetuation of colonized approaches to education, existence of a “managing” view of leadership, tensions in practice regarding the manifestation of social issues in schools, and the need for leadership development grounded in African knowledge and experiences. The findings of the study inform leadership discourses and practices that can be further explored with school leaders in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Authors

• Ann Lopez, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

• Jef Peeraer, VVOB - education for development

• Jocelyne Cyiza Kirezi, VVOB - education for development