Stakeholder perceptions of the determinants of reputation in South African public schools

Abstract

This research focuses on perceptions of reputation in black township schools in South Africa. The call for the provision of equal education compels school managers to be proactive in their efforts to build reputation for continuity and to remain educationally effective. Data was generated from four categories of stakeholders: parents, educators, school managers and clerks by means of narratives and semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed reputation as multi-dimensional and that there were main reputational signals that stakeholders focused on when making their judgments, these included academic performance, organisational climate and emotional appeal. All participants regarded character, academic and experiential reputations as the main determinants of a general school’s reputation. Only internal stakeholders regarded social responsibility as important in determining reputation.