South Africa
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South Africa
Introduction

ELADIN, located in the Faculty of Education at Nelson Mandela University (NMU), in collaboration with the New York University, is a multidimensional leadership case study of school-university-community collaboration. This comparative exploration and theorisation of a contemporary value-based leadership framework (VBLF) in South Africa is based on the leadership praxes of four individuals in an educational pipeline. Within this pipeline our key roles are: the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Mandela University – Dr. Muki Moeng; a school principal, Ms. Nombulelo Sume, and a classroom educator Mr. Jarren Gangiah, both at Charles Duna Primary School; and a university Director, Dr. Bruce Damons at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (formally known as Port Elizabeth); who all work together with Taffie Chizu, a program assistant at Mandela University, and Prof. Carol Anne Spreen, a partner from New York University, US.

The ELADIN project illustrates a “Golden Thread of Leadership” woven through our different roles and leadership spheres. By envisioning education as a pipeline our team was able to explore a range of skills and capacities needed for leaders to improve education quality –  from the classroom to school, school to community, community to university. This pipeline further represents the different teaching and learning spheres we work in – from individual to interpersonal, from formal and institutional, to social and community-based.

ELADIN, located in the Faculty of Education at Nelson Mandela University (NMU), in collaboration with the New York University, is a multidimensional leadership case study of school-university-community collaboration. This comparative exploration and theorisation of a contemporary value-based leadership framework (VBLF) in South Africa is based on the leadership praxes of four individuals in an educational pipeline. Within this pipeline our key roles are: the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Education, Mandela University – Dr. Muki Moeng; a school principal, Ms. Nombulelo Sume, and a classroom educator Mr. Jarren Gangiah, both at Charles Duna Primary School; and a university Director, Dr. Bruce Damons at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha (formally known as Port Elizabeth); who all work together with Taffie Chizu, a program assistant at Mandela University, and Prof. Carol Anne Spreen, a partner from New York University, US.

The ELADIN project illustrates a “Golden Thread of Leadership” woven through our different roles and leadership spheres. By envisioning education as a pipeline our team was able to explore a range of skills and capacities needed for leaders to improve education quality –  from the classroom to school, school to community, community to university. This pipeline further represents the different teaching and learning spheres we work in – from individual to interpersonal, from formal and institutional, to social and community-based.

Partners

Jarren Ivan Gangiah

Jarren Ivan Gangiah

Bio

My name is Jarren Gangiah, an educator at Charles Duna Primary school in New Brighton, Gqeberha. I am a passionate educator who is constantly looking for and implementing new and innovative ways to bring learners into the 21st century. My vision is to provide my learners with skills that enable them to engage, have access to and thrive in the 21st century world. Our school’s motto is “Excellence Leading the Way”. In striving to live our motto in practice, my objective is to exhibit excellence in all activities including my leadership in my classroom. Taking advantage of every opportunity at our school to make learning in my classes an enjoyable process which creates learners who are equipped and ready for the world they are going into after they leave our hands. I pride myself with attempting to break barriers and paving the way to progress in the township schools in Gqeberha. In my pursuit of quality, transformative education multiple projects that work across grades involving the whole school and multiple stakeholders.

Taffie Chizu

Taffie Chizu

Bio

My name is Taffie Chizu; I am originally from Zimbabwe, raised and currently residing in the windy city; of Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). I am the 1st born of 2, raised by a single mother, and I am a mother to my beautiful princess Ayana. After finishing high school, I started volunteering in the Youth and Community Development world. In 2017, I joined the NMU Faculty of Education through a collaboration between the Centre for Community Schools and the Manyano Network of Schools, where I was a Site Coordinator. One of my core duties was establishing and running Literacy Programs in the school. I am an unemployed advocate of change and a Founding member of a Literacy organisation called Intsika Yokwabelana Ngolwazi. One of its main objectives is to enhance human dignity by providing effective, efficient, organic literacy programs; dedicated to the fundamental values of accountability, respect, and equality through community emancipation and development practices. I formed part of a community-based research team representing Nelson Mandela University, collaborating with North West, Rhodes, Stellenbosch and Free State universities. Through my involvement with these projects, I was recruited to co-ordinate the ELADIN project. The opportunity came at an essential time as I searched for more permanent employment forms. ELADIN allows me to sharpen my skills while being involved in a project that I am passionate about. My engagements with the Nelson Mandela University have been most rewarding with life lessons, skills capacitating and establishing relationships.

ELADIN

Key Components of the ELADIN Project

Components include: Defining our Values, Creating a Community of Practice, and Understanding how Context Matters in Our Work – in this module we describe these practices and demonstrate how they form essential strategies to strengthen and support leadership praxis. Building relationships and trust were an essential part of ELADIN, so we met (both in person and virtually) weekly for approximately 90 minutes for nearly a year. Through these engagements we created a  Community of Practice (COP) to explore and co-construct new understandings and important leadership values to guide our practice: excellence, social justice, hope, humanity, and trust – these values create more empathetic, efficient and effective leaders, especially during times of turmoil and upheaval.

During our weekly engagements we used a series of critical questions and participatory action research tools to develop a critical values-based leadership framework (VBLF) to examine their own leadership and also to help other leaders understand these essential values. Based on this exploration, the ELADIN team culminated with a series of learning modules and workshops for area school principals to replicate these practices. This new initiative is called: Leading as an Educational Disruptive Transformer (LEDT). It is through continuing to learn from and with one another, and further exploring ELADIN’s VBLF, that we hope to create a new cadre of school leaders to develop and strengthen their leadership practices.

The attached document lays our proposed leadership learning module template, it offers a useful breakdown of activities and learning objectives that are based on our project: Leading as an Educational Disruptive Transformer. The linked article in the Nelson Mandela’s Faculty of Education’s quarterly newsletter describes the evolution of this work into our broader South African community.

The Story of ELADIN

Our story of ELADIN starts with a playful interaction that brought to light the various ways that our personalities, styles, culture, language and passions are also a key part of our leadership. Our ELADIN name, symbol and logo represent the journey – the magic carpet ride – that was created by exploring leadership together.

Key Components of the ELADIN Project

Components include: Defining our Values, Creating a Community of Practice, and Understanding how Context Matters in Our Work – in this module we describe these practices and demonstrate how they form essential strategies to strengthen and support leadership praxis. Building relationships and trust were an essential part of ELADIN, so we met (both in person and virtually) weekly for approximately 90 minutes for nearly a year. Through these engagements we created a  Community of Practice (COP) to explore and co-construct new understandings and important leadership values to guide our practice: excellence, social justice, hope, humanity, and trust – these values create more empathetic, efficient and effective leaders, especially during times of turmoil and upheaval.

During our weekly engagements we used a series of critical questions and participatory action research tools to develop a critical values-based leadership framework (VBLF) to examine their own leadership and also to help other leaders understand these essential values. Based on this exploration, the ELADIN team culminated with a series of learning modules and workshops for area school principals to replicate these practices. This new initiative is called: Leading as an Educational Disruptive Transformer (LEDT). It is through continuing to learn from and with one another, and further exploring ELADIN’s VBLF, that we hope to create a new cadre of school leaders to develop and strengthen their leadership practices.

The attached document lays our proposed leadership learning module template, it offers a useful breakdown of activities and learning objectives that are based on our project: Leading as an Educational Disruptive Transformer. The linked article in the Nelson Mandela’s Faculty of Education’s quarterly newsletter describes the evolution of this work into our broader South African community.

The Story of ELADIN

Our story of ELADIN starts with a playful interaction that brought to light the various ways that our personalities, styles, culture, language and passions are also a key part of our leadership. Our ELADIN name, symbol and logo represent the journey – the magic carpet ride – that was created by exploring leadership together.

HOW TO LEARN FROM THIS CASE STUDY

In the following links we offer several key components of the ELADIN project. Each section provides a description of the kinds of activities and learning approaches that framed our project:

  • CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: We lay out the critical questions, processes, tools and timeline that shaped our leadership Community of Practice.
  • CONTEXT: Understanding the importance of the broader (policy) and local (community) context. We describe the South African educational and leadership context and share the specific education contexts that we live and lead in.
  • THE EDUCATION PIPELINE: Defining the education pipeline – Introducing the multiple roles and levels of leadership (school-university-community) that we work, learn and are positioned in and the ways we are exploring gender, power, language and other relationships across these roles.
  • VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP (VBL): Defining the key values that provide the framework for our leadership engagement along with describing CRITICAL INCIDENTS that demonstrate how we apply them in practice.
  • RELATED RESOURCES: This section provides supplemental information and additional learning materials for the leadership module.
  • WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? We share a list of the activities that we have undertaken as part of this project and our plans for a leadership learning module to collaborate beyond our team and create a Community of Practice amongst other school leaders in our community.

HOW TO LEARN FROM THIS CASE STUDY

In the following links we offer several key components of the ELADIN project. Each section provides a description of the kinds of activities and learning approaches that framed our project:

  • CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS: We lay out the critical questions, processes, tools and timeline that shaped our leadership Community of Practice.
  • CONTEXT: Understanding the importance of the broader (policy) and local (community) context. We describe the South African educational and leadership context and share the specific education contexts that we live and lead in.
  • THE EDUCATION PIPELINE: Defining the education pipeline – Introducing the multiple roles and levels of leadership (school-university-community) that we work, learn and are positioned in and the ways we are exploring gender, power, language and other relationships across these roles.
  • VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP (VBL): Defining the key values that provide the framework for our leadership engagement along with describing CRITICAL INCIDENTS that demonstrate how we apply them in practice.
  • RELATED RESOURCES: This section provides supplemental information and additional learning materials for the leadership module.
  • WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? We share a list of the activities that we have undertaken as part of this project and our plans for a leadership learning module to collaborate beyond our team and create a Community of Practice amongst other school leaders in our community.

Critical Thinking Questions

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS |  VALUES BASED LEADERSHIP (VBL) | THE EDUCATION PIPELINE | RELATIONSHIPS | CONTEXT | COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE |  RELATED RESOURCES | WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?