The role of South African Democratic Teachers' Union in the implementation of teacher redeployment policy in schools
Year: 2018
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand what the role of SADTU (South African \nDemocratic Teachers’ Union) is in the implementation of the Teacher Redeployment \nPolicy in schools. The Approach to data collection was that of qualitative research. \nThe methods used to collect data were interviews and literature review. The study \nused the interpretive paradigm. The theory applied is the Interpretive \nPhenomenological Analysis (IPA) theory. IPA aims to explore in detail how participants \nare making sense of their personal and social world. The approach to data analysis \nwas that of a qualitative research. Qualitative data were organised and arranged \ncategorically into themes and patterns emanating from the responses of participants. \nThe data were analysed using descriptive explanations, based on the frequencies and \nsimilarities of the responses. The approach was primarily exploratory, just as would be \nexpected of a qualitative research design. A combination of purposive, quota and \nsnowball sampling was used in this research. The main finding in this research is that \nthe role of SADTU in the implementation of teacher redeployment is not limited to \nobservation as the policy prescribes. SADTU members go beyond that role and \nassume the role of active participation and decision making in the process. The main \nrecommendation was that the policy should be amended to allow SADTU to \nparticipate actively in discussions and decision making. This will avert the \nunnecessary conflicts and instability in schools caused by the suppression of the \nunion to participate actively. When the Teacher Redeployment Policy was conceived, \nthe purpose was to achieve equity in teacher distribution by moving teachers from the \nhistorically advantaged White schools to the historically disadvantaged Black schools. \nThe implementation of Teacher Redeployment Policy is causing more harm than good \nin so far as effective teaching and learning in schools is concerned. For most of the \ntime, teachers are pre-occupied with worrying about how the process of teacher \nredeployment is going to affect them instead of focussing on delivering quality \nteaching in schools. Teachers who are most fitting to be the ones identified in excess \nin some cases enjoy the benefit of escaping redeployment for the simple reason that \nthey are members of SADTU. At the same time, candidates who do not qualify to be \nplaced in specific posts are placed into those posts at the expense of the best suitable \ncandidates because of the biases. The role of the union is not to implement policy, but \nalso to make sure that the policy is implemented in the spirit and letter in which it was \nformulated. The status of the teacher union in the implementation of policy is that of an \nobserver who only surfaces when an observation is made whether there is unfairness \nand biases in the manner the Teacher Redeployment Policy is implemented.
Author: Agrippa Madoda Dwangu
Language: English
Topic: Labor Movements and Unions
Subfield: Industrial relations
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2980848115