Amanzimtoti teacher graduates with PhD
For his thesis, Dr Ndumiso Khuzwayo studied the factors that contribute to the decline of successful schools and developed a model to assist them.
DR NDUMISO Khuzwayo, a teacher at Amanzimtoti High School, recently graduated with a PhD in Education from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
His research, grounded in his own experience at a different school, titled ‘From moving schools to sinking schools: Narratives of stakeholders of schools in decline’, focused on schools that previously performed well in terms of learner academic achievement but suddenly declined.
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Khuzwayo interviewed key stakeholders whose insights helped him identify several factors contributing to this decline, such as role confusion, toxic school culture and the limited agency of teachers and principals. He concluded that these schools in decline cannot turn the tide on their own but that a multi-pronged external intervention is required.
“To address this, I developed the Internally Desired External Intervention (IDEI) that calls for support from the SGB association, community stakeholders, well-performing schools and subject advisors to halt the decline. For example, circuit managers could work with principals to facilitate turnaround interventions. The model can be adopted by any stakeholder in a school showing symptoms of decline,” he said.
Reflecting on his journey, he expressed immense pride in earning his PhD and gratitude for the support of his colleagues and supervisor Dr Sibonelo Blose and his family.
“When I was walking on stage to be conferred as Dr Khuzwayo, it was a dream come true because I worked hard. This coincides with my belief that hard work is the key to success in life,” he said.
He is currently the school’s head of department and teaches business studies to Grade 10 to 12 learners.
While he is not sure whether he wants to climb the ladder in the teaching fraternity or branch into academia as a lecturer, his commitment to education remains strong.
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