Black Women School Leaders: Building Effective Schools against the Odds

Abstract

Opportunities have been opening for women since the promulgation of the post-apartheid South African Constitution of 1996, which advocates social justice and fairness, including gender and racial equity. However, critics have claimed that women in leadership positions are still a small percentage, hence more transformative initiatives need to be implemented when it comes to gender equity. This case study focuses on black women school leaders in eight secondary schools. It examines the narratives and the leaders’ understanding of their roles in leading successful schools. The study explored the roles of black feminism, feminist consciousness and consciousness raising among the women leaders. The major conclusions demonstrate that black women leaders have three factors to address and these are gender, race and culture. The conclusions also reveal that it does not help to single out culture hence a revolutionary lens is critical in this regard. Furthermore, strong women leaders use feminist consciousness, empowerment programmes and pluralistic lens towards social justice, diversity and equity.