Communication strategies of women principals of secondary schools

摘要

This study focuses on the conununication strategies of women principals in secondary schools. It highlightsthe role of conununication in management by examining the purpose of conununication, communicationprocess, barriers to effective communication and the types of communication, which are verbal and nonverbalcommunication.The study, further highlights that communication in management may be affected by the differences incommunication styles of women and men. It further shows that while differences in communicative stylescan be attributed to many factors, socialisation into gender positions is a major factor that leads to gendercommunication differences.Though socialisation is one of the factors shaping communication of men and women, post-structuralistsalso argue that children who are socialised are not just passive recipients. During socialisation each personis active in taking up discourses through which she or he is shaped. The socialisation, starts at home, thento school and also the community. Children develop sex-appropriate speech in different communities.A single case study explored the conununication strategies of a woman principal in the Northern Province,South Africa. Reputational sampling was used for the selection of the participants and site. Data gatheringwas done by means of interviews [with the principal and six teachers], observation and document analysis.Findings suggest that a woman principal's communication is shaped by the context in which she is awoman, mother, wife, African, educational manager and as an individual with her own unique personality.Women managers in rural contexts experience cultural barriers to communication as women are notexpected to talk much and should appear to know little in the presence of men. Women are also notsupposed to conununicate non-verbally by keeping eye contact, using more space and using facialexpression. In this study, a woman manager emerges as a good communicator who overcomes culturalbarriers by even practicing what is not traditionally acceptable.The woman principal prefers personal encounters as channels of communication and as an African, sheovercomes language barriers by using mother-tongue when speaking with staff and students. In general.this study found that the woman principal preferred human-oriented communication strategies, andendeavoured to conquer cultural barriers to communication.