Designing an instructional leadership framework for under-performing secondary schools in the Free State

This article argues that the challenge currently facing principals in schools is to improve external examination results in the Republic of South Africa. Besides that the Department of Basic Education has legislated schools as community and independent schools. There is a visible, disparities in performance between former Township schools, Homelands and Ex-Model C schools. The assumption this article is making is that if instructional leadership could be used as a training strategy to empower principals in the Free State Province. Performance gab between performing and under-performing schools could be closed and contemporary performing secondary schools could be realised. Further, learner’s generation could be realised who will cope with the academic requirements of tertiary education. Research findings from unstructured interviews with doctoral candidates and research on China, Finland and Singapore’s education systems advised by principals who went to Singapore with the Free State Department of Basic Education MEC. Confirmed assumptions made in this study, and further the principals indicated that rote learning was prevalent in the Free State Secondary Schools. Therefore was resolved by the majority of the principals selected for this study that initial postmodern instructional leadership should be recommended as an alternative for instructional leadership in a democratic South Africa.