Managing Workplace Harmony as a Contributor to Institutional Functionality: A Case Study of the Sekhukhu in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

This paper examined the contribution of workplace or schooling harmony to the functionality and high performance of secondary schools in the form of learners consistently producing brilliant results. The paper was motivated by diverse discourses about how the presence of a cordial and cooperative mood among schoolmates generates the spirit of collegiality and collectivism within secondary school learners. The paper is conceptual and empirical in nature within the qualitative research paradigm. The question guiding this paper is: why are myriad secondary schools not utilising schooling harmony to promote institutional functionality which leads to good learner performance? An interviewing technique and narrative enquiry were utilised to generate data. Out of the population of 16 public secondary schools in one of the circuits in Sekhukhune district in Limpopo Province, South Africa, six were conveniently sampled. In each of the schools, only representatives of the teacher components in the School Governing Body and Chairpersons of the Representative Council of Learners were selected as research participants. Altogether there were 12 research participants. Findings revealed that considering the dynamic nature of educational institutions workplace or schooling harmony could be a product of multi-facetted occurrences in an institution. Issues such as a sense of insecurity, a product of an identity crisis, the harrowing pain of growing up without a father, the impact of denial by a blood father, the absence of enlightened school leadership, mocking by fellow learners and becoming a victim of grade repetition were found to cause learner anger outbursts which negatively impacted institutional harmony. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended that public educational institutions prioritise the provision of counselling and psycho-social support to victims of workplace or schooling disharmony to restore their emotional and mental stability. Such stability could enable those learners to cope with their schooling duties just like the rest of others. The contribution of this paper to scholarship is in terms of unveiling how effectively managed schooling or workplace harmony could contribute to institutional functionality and high performance of secondary schools. Keywords: Competition, Functionality, Harmony, Identity, Leadership, Security, Workplace.