Teachers' management styles : two case studies from a school in the Pinetown area of KwaZulu-Natal.
Classroom management in the context of under-resourced classrooms and mixed-ability classes is an issue that is under-researched in South Africa where most public schools are under-resourced and have mixed-ability classes. My interest in undertaking a study on managing the mixed-ability classroom is based on my experience as an educator in Africa, where I have had to manage classes of learners with mixed abilities. The literature about classroom management shows that there are different management styles available to the classroom teacher who is faced with managing learners of different abilities. Three common styles are the democratic management style, the autocratic management style and the laissezfaire management style. Thus, the main research question for this study is: How do teachers in underresourced South African schools manage their mixed-ability classes? A subsidiary question is: What management styles do classroom teachers employ to manage their classes? Ginott’s theory of congruent communication was used together with the democratic, autocratic and laissez-faire styles as the theoretical framework to interpret two case studies of teachers and how they manage their classrooms at one school in the Pinetown area of KwaZulu-Natal. Using two methods, interview and observation, the findings reveal that teachers in under-resourced public schools mostly make use of a democratic management style in the classroom. This is because it encourages inclusivity of all learners irrespective of their ability. Sometimes classroom conditions lead teachers to employ an autocratic management style. Order and discipline in the class is the rationale for the supplementary autocratic style. The study concludes that the democratic style of management is better suited than an autocratic style to under-resourced classroom conditions, which are populated with many mixed-ability learners having special needs, this is because it is more in line with South Africa’s policy on inclusive education.