Leadership in the eye of the beholder: stakeholder’s perspectives on principals as leaders improving schools in challenging contexts in South Africa

ABSTRACT The article explored the characteristics of principals as leaders in schools in deprived socio-economic contexts in South Africa. The qualitative research was conducted in four provinces; four schools per province were purposefully sampled, and in each school, individual interviews were conducted with the principal, one member of the school management team, one senior teacher and a focus group with grade 12 learners. The research concluded that leadership characteristics such as motivation and creating a vision are important. Many principals were described as strict but they were taking care of specifically the learners in very difficult situations and that makes the difference that the schools in difficult socio-economic contexts are also able to perform. Principals are able to lead schools to improve the academic results by focusing on a people-orientated leadership approach with strong relationships between leaders and followers and intrinsic motivation as the key factors.