governing teacher education colleges in south africa

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22 mostly by faculty members from the historically white colleges – JCE and KNP – see institutional autonomy as a condition for addressing issues of quality, standards and excellence. They also advocate local control on the ground that the strength of the colleges is embodied in their diversity. As such it was suggested that colleges should be given autonomy in relation to the demands of their particular province, region and institution. The principle of autonomy should “filter through to things like curriculum choices, teaching methods, staffing, and so forth.” Only issues such as setting the norms and standards, implementing the National Qualifications Framework, accreditation mechanisms, and national and provincial policy, should be left with the government. Very often this is interpreted as “freedom to do as we like” or “people must leave us alone”. This position is dismissed by members of the two historically disadvantaged institutions who would like to see more state involvement in college affairs. They challenge local control arguments as “pretentious cover-up for self-serving defence of the status quo” or as hypocritical or unrealistic in relation to the way in which the institution as a whole must be managed and financed. For them state control is necessitated by lack of capacity and as a way for addressing issues of equity and social justice in higher education. The most popular position is however the one that advocates what I would call “negotiated autonomy”, based on the assumption that there is no such thing as absolute autonomy where everything is under the sole control of the college or a college becomes “an island without a network of connection and articulation”: I don't think anything should be under the sole control of the college. There is no indication an institution operating like this has entire autonomy. Universities that are autonomous institutions have to abide by certain rules about what a degree is. External examiners look at the standards … I think that colleges need a lot more autonomy but you can never ask for entire autonomy because then you actually need to address the issue of quality and accountability as well. There needs to be a sort of dialectic relationship between colleges and other institutions.” 37 6.1. Authority and accountability Sprunger et al make two distinctions concerning the concept of authority: line authority and staff authority. They define line authority as direct authority passed down the organisation from superior to subordinate, which gives the subordinate authority to make decisions, give orders and proceed with implementation. 38 It is a common pattern of authority within the military and in some conservative higher education institutions. It also characterises the 37 Z A Ngwenya, Interview, May 1998. 39 Sprunger Benjamin E et al, Handbook for College Administration (Washington, DC: Council for Advancement of Small Colleges, 1978). p.58. 22
23 relationship between the rector and the deans, who in turn have a line authority over their subordinates in the organisational structure. Staff authority includes the right to give orders or implement decisions. Individuals with staff authority give general assistance to line administrative personnel by providing services, ideas, schedules, advice, analysis of data, preparation of reports, and so forth. 39 In an institution of higher education, the institutional or formal power which goes with line authority is however negotiated with the personal and expert power which emanates from the display of knowledge or ability of each individual member of the college community. 40 A major problem in college governance is the balance between authority and accountability. A common criticism is that administrators are reluctant to delegate decision making to the lowest administrative level. As Shongwe has indicated: Another set of values would be the appropriate allocation of powers and the definition of lines of accountability for the constituencies which impact on teacher education. What we are saying is that the values that you underpin - there needs to be appropriate, for example, power allocated to the rector, to the senate council, students, to the lecturers , national ministry, provincial ministry… 41 The tradition of shared governance and consensual decision making, which dichotomises authority between the faculty and the administrator (e.g. deans), makes it difficult to assign accountability. For example, a faculty committee can take a decision but the dean is held accountable. Trustees, rectors and all senior administrators need to be constantly aware of this dilemma. In the followings sections I shall examine these issues in more detail. 7. Institutional governance Characterisations of styles and models of systemic and institutional governance of higher education institutions have been made with reference to three main criteria. 42 The first is the degree of centralisation of the organisational structure and the decision-making processes. The second is the professional autonomy and the participation of the faculty in the decision making. Related to these two criteria is also the distribution of power and authority at all levels of decision-making, particularly on matters concerning policy-making 40 Ibid. 41 W D Brincloe and M T Coughlin, Managing Organizations (Encino: Glencoe Press, 1977), p.115. 41 Haron Mohamed, Interview, May 1998. 43 For details see J V Baldridge and Terence E Deal, Governing Academic Organizations (Berkeley: McCutchan Publishing Corporation, 1977), pp.2-25. 23
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Page 33 and 34: 33 However, there is no ideal model
Page 35 and 36: 35 Linkages and partnerships are no
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Page 41 and 42: 41 Students and faculty argue that
Page 43 and 44: 43 The debate on affirmative action
Page 45 and 46: 45 Graystone J et al, "The new gove
Page 47: 47 Community College Review, 12(2).

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