Teachers’ experiences of laissez-faire leadership when teaching Grade 12 Accounting outside normal school hours

Abstract

This study investigates laissez-faire leadership and how it is used by the School Management Team (SMT) to monitor extra classes. The focus is on the application of laissez-faire leadership by the SMT and not on the leadership style that each individual teacher uses during extra classes. The perception of teachers regarding the application of laissez-faire leadership during extra classes was established. The study further verified the effectiveness of laissez-faire leadership in schools during extra classes. In this study the school was divided into different sub-systems hence the General Systems Theory (GST) was used to focus on extra-classes. The study is qualitative in nature. Nine teachers from nine participating schools who are teaching extra lessons in Accounting were interviewed. The matric results of selected schools who managed to obtain a pass mark of 80% and above for three consecutive years were studied. This study found that teachers who are involved in extra classes: (1) are happy to be left alone to complete their work. (2) see this practice as an opportunity to learn and improve their leadership skills. (3) believe that the non-interference of management in running extra classes makes teachers determined to succeed. (4) believe that giving teachers the freedom to make their own decisions drives away the possibility of resistance that they might have when they are told what to do and when and how to perform such tasks.

Keywords

• Accounting class
• extra classes
• general systems theory (GST)
• laissez-faire leadership
• school management team (SMT)
• Serafina Pastore, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy