Cape Town school principals acquire problem-solving skills

The group from Mfuleni, Fisantekraal, Blackheath and Morningstar are all participants in Symphonia for South Africa's pioneering initiative, School @ the Centre of Community (S@CC), aimed at creating thriving schools at the centre of the communities that they serve. Based on the simple principle of partnering business leaders with school principals called "Partners for Possibility", Symphonia for South Africa launched S@CC in 2010 to facilitate partnerships between schools and businesses.

Symphonia's coaching session for principals was held at the Welgemoed Primary School on Friday, 5 October, 2012. Steering the process, Cape Town executive coach Reinhard Moors decided to follow a group-coaching approach based on the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Will) model. "In this way, the principals became their own resources. They found solutions for their own schools' problems and, as many share the same reality, profited from listening to options suggested for the rest of the group's challenges. They also acquainted themselves with this coaching tool and process, and can now follow this with their own staff, the schools' parents and stakeholders. We're using an adult-learning process to facilitate education solutions benefitting the greater community," said Moors.

Pillars of society

In South Africa, most of the skills and knowledge required to bring about widespread social change are located in the business sector, and are not focused on or applied to education. Headmasters are regarded as pillars of society and expected to lead not only schools, but often also entire communities. Friday's training session gave this group the opportunity to benefit from a form of coaching often reserved only for the C-suite or executive management of a company. In fact, it was so impactful that Symphonia for South Africa is considering offering similar sessions to other principals involved in the "Partners for Possibility" programme.

"Giving time and expertise, especially to a struggling sector such as education, is a greater way for corporates to fulfil their social responsibility than throwing money at the problem. In South Africa we need people who want to be part of the solution and roll up their sleeves instead of complain," said Moors.

Fresh leadership insights

Today, 77 business leaders are involved in "Partnerships for Possibility" across South Africa. Principals receive fresh leadership insights to transform their schools and, hence, entire communities, and, in return, business leaders get to develop their leadership abilities by gaining hands-on experience in a different environment to their day-to-day lives.

Said James Eckley, project manager of Symphonia for South Africa: "During the past two years, Symphonia for South Africa has been working on strengthening the social fabric of our society through building social cohesion, igniting citizen engagement and empowering large-scale social change in the field of education. The main objective of the 'Partners for Possibility' programme is to capacitate our school principals to lead change and engage the parents at their schools by providing skills, knowledge and practical support."

The first coaching session was attended by the principals of the following schools, together with their business partners: Alpha Primary School (Morningstar, Durbanville); Trevor Manuel Primary School (Fisantekraal); Blackheath Secondary School; and Nyameko Primary School (Mfuleni). The principals of Spurwing Primary School (Eerste River), Blackheath Primary School, Bardale Primary School (Mfuleni) and Masiyile Secondary School (Khayelitsha) are also part of the programme, but could not attend the session.

Moors, an international coach focusing mainly on meaning and purpose, concluded: "This has been an opportunity for me to make a difference to a field that is close to my heart, and to practice what I preach. By making a meaningful contribution to my community, I'm adding meaning to my own life."