Abstract

VAN JAARSVELD, Leentjie  and  MENTZ, Kobus. School climate: Perceptions of teachers and principals. IJTL [online]. 2021, vol.16, n.2, pp.22-36. ISSN 2519-5670.

School climate is experienced differently by various stakeholders at a school; it is also affected by different perceptions, behaviours and social identities. This research set out to contribute to the knowledge of the perceptions of teachers and principals about the organisational climate of their schools. A quantitative study was conducted in one of the provinces in South Africa. The Organisational Climate Description Questionnaire - Rutgers Secondary (OCDQ-RS) was distributed among teachers and principals at 72 public secondary schools in KwaZulu-Natal. A range of statistical analyses was used to analyse the data. Open-ended questions allowed teachers and principals to express their perceptions regarding the factors that played a positive or a negative role in their relationships. The open-ended questions indicated that the perceptions of teachers and principals with regard to the climate in their school differed. Nevertheless, there was some agreement between the teachers and principals regarding particular factors that have an impact on the school climate, such as poor human relations, disrespect, poor work ethics and competitiveness among teachers. The results showed that, although the perceptions of teachers and principals differed, there was no clear evidence that these differences in perceptions had any direct impact on the school climate.

Keywords : school climate; perceptions; attribution theory; social identity; communication; principals; teachers.

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