LEADERSHIP FOR TEACHER PROFESSIONAL AGENCY UNDER AUSTERITY A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Austerity has become a defining feature of public policy worldwide, reshaping education systems through budget cuts, resource constraints, and intensified accountability. In South Africa, fiscal consolidation has led to a decrease in per capita spending on public services and diminished allocations to education and has resulted in tens of thousands of teaching positions remaining unfilled. As a result, overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating infrastructure, and declining teacher morale have directly infringed upon the constitutional right to basic education and exacerbated existing inequalities. Within this context, teacher professional agency emerges as a critical resource for sustaining pedagogical quality and resilience. Drawing on the ecological theory of agency, this article examines how leadership practices enable or constrain teachers’ capacity to act ethically, innovatively, and responsively under austerity. By examining instructional, distributed, transformational, transactional, and Ubuntu leadership models, the study emphasises the crucial role of leadership in mitigating the impact of austerity through fostering collaboration, advocacy, and support. The analysis demonstrates that leadership grounded in relational and context‑responsive practices can foster teacher agency even in conditions of scarcity. In doing so, the article contributes to scholarship on educational leadership and teacher professionalism in the Global South, offering insights into strategies and policy interventions that can empower educators to sustain learner engagement and equity under austerity.