**3. VUCA as the conceptual framework**

VUCA refers to how the principals dealt with the unpredictable nature of the school environment from the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic through the end of the final exams, as a conceptual framework that underpins this article. There are several features and emphases of the VUCA world's application that may or may not apply to this paper. However, we will only consider those factors that help to explain the quandary that our schools faced after reopening till the end of the semester. The study examines the principal's management of the school's operations throughout a challenging and uncertain academic year. There are different interpretations and application of the concept VUCA.

Volatility has a connotation for meaning an unstable change, where information is available and the situation is understandable, however change is characterised by being frequent and unpredictable. Uncertainty pertains to a situation where the lack of knowledge may be considered to be not showing any relation between cause and effect. What makes the situation look complex is the multiple parts that are interconnected, whereas ambiguity is the nature of doubt that comes into play in understanding whether there is a cause and effect relationships [8].

Certain groups agree that in a VUCA-oriented school climate, leadership is thrown out the window. In terms of their leadership and management of the schools, the principals were unable to cope with such a high level of unknown, unpredictable, and complex issues, which could not have been learned in any recent educational leadership textbook. The purpose of this article is to learn how these secondary school principals dealt with these problems in a tumultuous school climate. Complexity in this paper refers to the interconnectedness and interdependence of numerous components in the educational system that points to the school's functionality [1]. When it comes to intricacy, scholars must bear this in mind. Because of the non-linear interaction and interdependencies among diverse actors, as well as the complex activities and interactions at the school, the outcomes of a consciously managed settings are surprising.

#### **4. Data presentation and methodology**

The goal of the study on which this report is based was to examine how principals used their leadership skills in response to the interruptions to school operations caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The study used a case study methodology to conduct a qualitative investigation. It incorporated both quantitative and qualitative information. The Mpumalanga Circuit Manager, who supervises the 10 secondary principals, cleared all of the initial ethical issues with the Kwazulu-Natal Department of Education, Office of the Director in Pinetown District and the Chief Education Specialist (CES) at Umhlathuzana Circuit Management Centre. Participating principals were handed questionnaires with informed consent letters from these authorities, who were asked to sign their letters of consent to participate in the study. To protect their identity, schools were given pseudonyms. All the 10 selected secondary schools are located in the Mpumalanga Township across the circuit. The Mpumalanga Circuit has 32 schools, 10 of which are secondary schools, whilst 22 are primary schools. Amongst the 10 selected there are only two female principals, whilst the rest of the eight are males. The Mpumalanga Township is located outside of the EThekwini Metro.

The enrolments from the 10 selected secondary schools range from 350 to 940 learners. Their quintiles range from 1 to 4, and six of them are no fee schools, although all are provided with the feeding scheme for learners.

Closed and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data, while free-form interviews were used to obtain qualitative data. During the peak of the epidemic, questionnaires were sent to 10 secondary schools in the Mpumalanga Circuit through email. When collecting a big amount of quantitative data, the respondents are advised [9]. Short face-to-face interviews with principals supplemented the semi-structured and closed questionnaires to gain clarification on how they performed trials examinations, catch-up programs, and pre-planning for the final upcoming assessments. After the pandemic's tremendous storm had passed, 10 secondary school principals participated in free attitude interviews.

#### *Cases of Principal Leadership Responses in a Volatile, Uncertain and Complex School… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102852*

As part of following the research protocols, pseudonyms were allocated to the names of the schools and principals. Attitudes that are free interviews allow people to express themselves freely. This guarantees that participants are treated with respect rather than being marginalised [10]. Audio recordings of free attitudes interviews were made and subsequently transcribed verbatim into themes. As part of the investigation, questionnaires were circulated using emails to 10 secondary schools in the Mpumalanga Circuit during the peak of the pandemic. Questionnaires are recommended for the collection of a large volume of quantitative data [9]. The semi-structured and closed questionnaires were supplemented by short face to face interviews with principals to seek clarity on how they conducted trials examination, the catch-up programmes and preplanning for the final oncoming examinations. Free attitudes interviews were conducted after the great storm of the pandemic was over with 10 secondary school principals. The pseudonyms were assigned to the names of the schools and principals as part of observing the protocols for research. Free Attitudes Interviews enable the participants to freely express themselves. This ensures that participants are respected and not undermined [10]. Free attitudes interviews were audio-recorded and then, they were transcribed verbatim into themes. We read each transcript numerous times to ensure that we were comfortable with the interview facts in general [11]. We then extracted ideas from each transcript and analysed them. Then, using descriptive codes, we came up with topics and categories [12]. We also noticed ethical principles including nonmaleficence, participant autonomy as evidenced by voluntary engagement, informed consent, confidentiality, and anonymity [9, 13]. The questionnaires' analysis showed several features of the schools' functionality. These were analysed, and the results are given in the following tables as part of the paper's quantitative findings. Open-ended questions were provided to clarify some of the replies from the questionnaires, and content analysis was utilised to analyse them.

These were analysed, and the results are listed in the following tables as part of the paper's quantitative findings. Open-ended questions were posed to clarify some of the responses from the questionnaires, and content analysis was used to analyse them. The scope of this paper was narrowed because school functionality is a broad aspect that contributes to a conducive environment for teaching and learning. It was limited to the reengineering of classrooms and their configurations, the implementation of COVID-19 policies, revision planning, catch-up and recovery programs, and final examination planning. We present the analyses and comparative tables based on the responses from the 10 secondary schools, and how they contribute to the functionality of the school. In the reviewed literature we investigated the disruptive effect of the COVID-19 on school functionality, teaching and learning and timetabling and the reconfigured classroom.

The pseudonyms allotted to each of the secondary schools are presented in **Table 2**. These are the pseudonyms of the 10 secondary schools in the Mpumalanga Circuit.


**Table 2.** *Pseudonyms of schools.*

### **5. Data presentation**

The COVID-19 Committee activities, the staggered phasing period, assessment and revision plans, and catch up programs are among the issues that emerged from this research. These are deliberately recognised as significant characteristics of the school's functionality to better understand how principals coped in a highly VUCAoriented educational environment. These features of school functionality may not be congruent with existing literature because no literature on the subject was available at the time. However, in such a chaotic school climate, school leadership and management may not contradict the construct and conceptual literature on VUCA.

#### **5.1 Activities of the COVID-19 Committee**

The number of coronavirus cases reported and the number of days lost to teaching and learning are shown in **Table 1**. The KZN Circular No 41 of 2020 has been followed by all principals whose schools were affected. The principal of Umasingana indicated that the circular had been misinterpreted in terms of its implementation, particularly the method to follow for teachers with underlying illnesses. Principals were unsure whether or not the teachers who had applied had to wait for the approval. However, due to the circuits' high level of unionism, many of the teachers who applied stayed at home without permission. The Umbasa principal described how he bargained with teachers who had underlying illnesses to attend school and teach within the periods allotted to them rather than leave the school grounds. This flexibility guaranteed that all subjects were covered and that the needs of the teachers were met.

All 10 principals reported incidents of teachers who tested positive for the coronavirus, whether it was identified during the school day or the summer vacation. In some circumstances, the circuit manager came to visit schools where positive cases had been reported solely to clarify the protocol to be followed and to deescalate the issue. This meant that provisions had to be taken for the isolation and quarantine of those teachers and students who were infected by the coronavirus. It also meant that schools would be closed for 3 days as the classrooms were fumigated. The procurement of a service provider to fumigate Ulwezi's school has been delayed, according to the school's principal. As a result of the reported service delay, the school lost 5 days of non-teaching and learning time. The method requires that the national policy direction be followed.

It is obvious that most schools were impacted in some way by the cases of sick teachers. However, as the policy procedures became more explicit, a great deal of ambiguity was avoided. Undasa and Umbasa were forced to wait nearly 14 days before the District found a service provider to complete the fumigation at the school. Teachers were initially forced to quarantine for 14 days, however, this was eventually reduced to 10 days. Principals claimed that several teachers used their medical aids to conduct their COVID-19 assessments at the new private hospital. In this way, the private hospital's results and feedback were faster than the local health clinics'.

#### **5.2 Untaught subjects**

The principal of Umbasa stated that there was a high level of fear and worry among the workers. Due to a shortage of available counselling services within the Kwazulu-Natal Department of Education, the schools were not receiving any counselling. According to the Principal of Umasingana, four teachers were granted

#### *Cases of Principal Leadership Responses in a Volatile, Uncertain and Complex School… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102852*

exemption based on underlying sicknesses. The policy was announced in June 2020 until the announcement of the Level 3 measure in September 2020, which forced them to return to their respective schools. Furthermore, five teachers at uMasingana were admitted to the hospital, adding to the school's burden of altering the timetable and subject allocation. There were no substitute teachers assigned to fill in for these gaps in subject instruction. The principal of Umasingana stated that at a school with 32 students, Maths Lit, Maths, Religion, Business Studies, English First Additional Language (FAL), Zulu Home Language in grade 10 and English FAL in grade 11, were not taught to teacher shortages. The principal of Uncwaba claimed that there were no teachers for Life Science and Mathematical Literacy in grades 10 and 11. Considering that Zibandlela is a Small school, there were numerous issues with teacher shortages as well.

Accounting in grades 10 and 11 and physical science in years 10 and 11 were the topics that were not taught. Due to the small number of students, the school was in the process of lowering the number of topics offered.

The comparison in the number of reported cases and the effect this had on the number of school days lost is shown in **Table 3**. This added to the numerous days that had already been lost due to the Level 5 and 4 lockdowns. The COVID Committees were in charge of overseeing the daily operations at each of the 10 schools. All of the principals were in charge of fostering a positive learning environment. The level of volatility and unpredictability caused by the epidemic, on the other hand, crippled teaching and learning. The loss of 14 days in Umbasa owing to a lack of systems to obtain the services of organisations responsible for fumigation of those impacted areas schools areas is an uncommon situation worth noticing. The National COVID-19 policy guideline created a number of loopholes that contributed to school dysfunction. Another factor is the lack of coordination of services at the level of the Pinetown District in providing the required service providers to fumigate the schools.


**Table 3.** *Reporting on cases and interventions.*
