Marseille 2007
| Abstract #579 - "You cross that bridge when you get to it" The (mis)perceptions and (non)reponses of school principals regarding HIV and AIDS | ||||
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Session: 36.2: Prevention lessons (Parallel) on Tuesday @ 14.00-16.00 in 5 Chaired by Theo Sandfort, William Zule Authors: Presenting Author: Dr Lesley Wood - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, South Africa |
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| Additional Authors: Prof Paul Webb, | ||||
| Aim: The current structure and system of education in South Africa is somewhat lacking in its ability to address the challenges emerging from the HIV and AIDS epidemic since it is still struggling to cope with the problems created by the past inequalities in South Africa (Cohen, 2002). Moletsane (2003:12) argues that schools will have to reinvent themselves to deal with the impact of HIV and AIDS, which suggests that targeted programmes need to be developed to enable the leadership in schools to meet this formidable challenge. However, before any programmes can be devised to develop school principals for this task there is a need to first investigate what their perceptions and responses are with regard to HIV and AIDS in their schools, as well as their understandings of their role in upholding the quality of education in face of the threats posed by HIV and AIDS. As such, this paper reports on the first phase of a research and development project aimed at conceptualising a programme for school principals (viz., the investigation of principals perceptions and understandings phase in order to provide grounded knowledge) to help them cope with the very complex social, cultural, economic and political issues engendered by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. | ||||
| Method / Issue: The purpose of the research was twofold: 1) to explore in depth the perceptions of the school principals surrounding HIV and AIDS and the impact of the pandemic on their schools; their attitudes, knowledge, skills and values with regards to HIV and AIDS and any steps they may have taken to address HIV and AIDS issues in their schools. 2) to formulate recommendations based on the findings of the study for the design of programmes to develop school principals to proactively deal with HIV and AIDS issues. Following from the purpose of the research, the following research question was devised: What are the current perceptions of school principals with regard to the HIV and AIDS epidemic in their respective schools and how have these perceptions influenced their response? Research approach and methodology A qualitative approach will be followed since there is little known about the phenomenon in question and we wish to elicit the lived experiences and perceptions of the school principals (Creswell, 2005:596). Data were collected by means of unstructured, in-depth phenomenological interviews to gather information on the perceptions and opinions of the principals of the phenomenon under investigation (Kvale, 1996:124). | ||||
| Results / Comments: After data analysis, two main themes emerged, indicating that principals tended to hold misperceptions about the nature of the epidemic and its impact on education and that they were struggling to adequately respond to the challenges posed by the epidemic. | ||||
| Discussion: The results are discussed in detail with reference to literature and the implications for school management in the midst of an HIV and AIDS crisis and recommendations are made for the development of academic and short learning programmes to help principals in this regard. | ||||
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