SCHOOL LEADERS’ ROLE IN PROMOTING ORGANISATIONAL IDENTITY FOR SUCCESSFUL CHANGE AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE MANZINI REGION, ESWATINI

Abstract

The study investigated how school leaders promote organisational identity for the successful implementation of change initiatives in secondary schools in the Manzini region, Eswatini. Organisational identity is the shared perspective on an organisation’s purpose, values, and culture. The study was anchored on social identity theory. The mixed methods approach was adopted using the concurrent triangulation design. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. The study revealed that most school leaders often fail to promote organisational identity during change in the schools. This was evident in that some of the schools do not have well-defined cultures. School leaders lack the ability to drive the vision for change and the mission as their schools as organisations go through change. Most schools fail to promote organisational values, purpose and goals for successful change. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that school leaders need to familiarise themselves with the concept of organisational identity and then promote it in the school to create a balance between what their schools stand for and how they deal with their constantly changing environments. Teachers are to be included in the crafting of the vision and mission with the support of the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) through professional development workshops on change management for school leaders.

KEYWORDS: Organisational identity, School leaders, culture, Organisational School goals, Vision and Mission.

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CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Thulile Simelane. University of Eswatini. Email: thulisimelane11@gmail.com