Heads of Department (HODs) have an important role to play in ensuring quality curriculum management. Becoming a HOD, however, requires that teachers develop a different set of skills and abilities to effectively manage the multiple aspects of curriculum management. The aim of the research was to examine the challenges that HODs face in driving quality curriculum management, and then to consider the strategies that could be developed to improve curriculum management in a secondary school in Durban, South Africa. The qualitative research approach was followed, using semi-structured interviews to collect data. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. Key findings indicated various challenges such as a lack of subject knowledge, absenteeism of teachers, a lack of resources, and cases where teachers were not specialising in a subject that they were tasked with monitoring. It is recommended that the Department of Education ensures that HODs participate in induction.
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It is important to bear in mind the South African context for HODs, which is different from developed countries, in that South Africa does not have a formal qualification as a requirement to be HOD (Tapala et al., 2020).
HODs should ideally attend an induction course in order to become familiarised with the position they are in, as they may encounter challenges during the transition from post level one classwork activity management, to becoming post level two managers, who, in addition to their pedagogical duties, are expected to manage people and attend to administrative duties (Emsley & Thaba-Nkadimene, 2020). It may however be challenging for the Department of Education to provide proper comprehensive induction to school management teams due to a lack of time, work overload, and financial constraints (Nthenya, 2012). Schools in townships in South Africa also face many challenges (Zulu, Bhengu & Mkhize, 2021).
Leadership and management are critical to ensure effective curriculum management. Clarke (2007) argued that leadership entails direction and purpose, whereas management includes managing people, executing tasks effectively, and also concerns structure and processes (Jaca, 2013). Naidoo and Petersen (2015) have suggested that curriculum management refers to managing systems, procedures and individuals in order to achieve learning and teaching. Curriculum management and leadership cannot be separated, as they are intertwined and both are critical for curriculum implementation processes in schools (Tshiredo, 2013).
Curriculum leaders, also known as middle leaders (Shaked & Schchter 2017), HODs or curriculum managers, are responsible for leading and managing their departments. For these departments to work, leaders need to effectively maintain sustainable connections and trust; hence, skills and knowledge of teaching and learning are important. Furthermore, skills and knowledge shape management practices (Robinson, Hohepa & Lloyd, 2007). Kyahurwa (2013) argued that leadership qualities, skills and knowledge need to be developed, and therefore, robust training is important to enhance curriculum leader capabilities. Training opportunities and workshops may be limited and they could be negatively impacted by lack of support and limited resources. Recent research (Govender, 2018; Morolong 2019; Malatji, 2018) highlighted the multiple challenges associated with respect to curriculum implementation and change.