The action research journey of Dr. Veli Nhlapo, Circuit Manager
School governing bodies (SGBs) can be key contributors to high learner attainment. Circuit Manager Dr. Veli Nhlapo involved all stakeholders to come up with better solutions. ‘To my surprise, my action research participants made valuable inputs.’
Dr. Veli Nhlapo is a Circuit Manager, responsible for close to 40 schools in the Thabo Mofutsanyane Education District, in the Free State province. He supports school management teams (SMTs) and school governing bodies (SGBs). His action research journey started in March 2018, investigating: ‘How can I effectively support SGB Treasurers to be key contributors to high learner attainment?'
‘Action research makes you analyse challenges in the right context’, Veli states. ‘If you take a problem out of the context, you come up with a misplaced solution.’ ‘My first meeting was quite a disaster’, he illustrates. Only 4 out of 12 invited participants showed up. ‘I was talking a lot. No one else had a chance to contribute.’ Lesson learnt: a successful meeting or workshop needs an inviting approach. ‘I should allow people to say what they want to say and talk less myself. I want to hear from them how I must support.’ During the second meeting, Veli started asking questions. ‘To my surprise, my SGB Treasurers made valuable inputs.’ He trained them on topics, specific to their roles. ‘I now know that I have to identify the areas of development for the people I train, using, for example, a questionnaire.’
‘Rejuvenated for impact’
School governing bodies feel more confident in their role, empowered and motivated. ‘Because they could speak up and share their frustrations, I could tackle the core of the issues, and provide support as needed’, Veli explains. This has set in motion some concrete improvements. School leaders now involve different stakeholders to overcome learning barriers, SMTs and SGBs now collaborate. They adjusted school policy and finance to one another, for the benefit of all learners.
'I feel rejuvenated in how I approach my work', Veli smiles. 'Before I embarked on action research, I was mostly focused on submitting reports to my supervisor. Now I have that zal and enthusiasm to make an impact in the schools that I'm responsible for.'
‘Never bored’
Action research doesn’t stop at the end of a trajectory. Veli plans to organise AR trajectories for his school principals. And he stays an active member of the Free State AR community. He feels the continuous cycles help him to grow professionally. Lessons learnt from previous practices, turn into the next action: ‘I will never be bored, because I keep on learning.’
