Comparative studies on school performance in South Africa and in countries facing similar challenges suggest that the quality of classroom teaching and the leadership of the principal are the two in-school factors with the strongest influence on education outcomes.
South Africa's National Development Plan (NDP, 2012) explicitly identifies strengthening school leadership, as a priority in SA.
Through our Leaders for Education programme, we provide leadership development and support to school principals who lead schools that serve historically under-resourced communities.
Our goal is to support school principals to become successful change agents who can transform their schools into effective environments of teaching and learning. We approach the school as the unit of change and do so in collaboration with private sector business leaders who team up with school principals to support capacity building and the desired change pathway in targeted schools.
Our Theory of Change positions school principals as change agents in their institutions and their broader communities. When they are paired in a mutually supportive learning partnership with business executives and provided with relevant leadership skills training, access to communities of practice and facilitated action learning, they both acquire new ways of seeing, being and doing.
Citizen Leader Lab, through new programmes, is deepening its impact in education and broadening its reach to other sectors to respond to challenges in the ecosystem.
Our purpose is to develop conscious leadership that builds social cohesion, uplifts communities, and works towards achieving a just society. Our mission is to develop leaders who can catalyse positive change in their institutions, communities, and broader society; facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration to strengthen connections and partnerships across boundaries; create opportunities for active citizenship and engage with key public sectors, with education being a critical focus area. More than a million people have been impacted through 1,947 partnerships in under-resources schools and has won multiple impact awards.
Please feel free to email info@citizenleaderlab.org
Komala Pillay, Chief Executive Officer
komala@citizenleaderlab.org
Melanie Weeks, Chairperson of Board of Directors
melanie@citizenleaderlab.org
Jansie Rautenbach, Chief Operations Officer
jansie@citizenleaderlab.org
Website: www.citizenleaderlab.org
