What a team

Tshwarelo Hosia | Monday December 19, 2022 06:00

It widened and deepened my understanding and knowledge of what goes on in the world of schools leaders charged with the delicate duty of shaping the destiny of our children.

My close association and professional engagements with principals was an eye opening experience giving exposure to what it takes to manage a school for positive change. The opportunity to get an insight into the world of principals presented itself when I was asked to assemble and lead a team of highly successful school principals.

The team was raised in the winter of 2018 as part of the frantic search for a quick fix to the nagging plague of underachievement.

What an amazing team it was! I did not see the opportunity coming. Maybe it was a case of one being at the right place at the right time. So important to me was this assignment that I had to quit my plum job as a Private Secretary to the Assistant Minister of Education to give this work my undivided attention. I took the national assignment with a sense of pride and love. Preparing for the job involved embarking on a short-term educational sojourn to the prestigious Harvard Graduate school of Education (HGSE).

In June 2018, the team, made of accomplished educators, left for America, the land of opportunity, to learn not only experts from Harvard but draw inspiration from both successful and struggling educators from across the globe. Harvard square overnight became a melting pot of the world, hosting different nations from all walks of life. Team Botswana was made of carefully chosen distinguished educators boasting an impeccable record of achievement which set themselves apart from the crowd in the noble national assignment of leading and managing schools. It was a mixed bag of leaders cutting across the three levels from primary, junior and senior secondary schools.

This mixture allowed diversity of ideas and perspectives and sufficient expression. Among this de la crème crop of educators found worthy of a Harvard Instructional leadership programme was none other than the vivacious, energetic, fearless and outspoken Gagoitsewe Marata. To celebrate her professional exploits, I should like to dedicate a few words to her. It was clearly not by mistake that she was identified for the training.

Her record of school management speaks volumes. She is a top notch principal who always render exceptional service to schools she is privileged to manage. At the time of her nomination for further training, ‘GG’ as she is affectionately called by colleagues within the school Turnaround circle, was plying her trade as a school principal at Tloaneng Primary School in the backyard of Gabane. Out of five, one can give her four stars for good and inspiring stewardship of schools. Highlighting Marata’s administrative genius should not be construed to mean she enjoys an air of superiority over her peers. In fact, her self-deprecating disposition would not permit her to accept any suggestion placing her head and shoulders above her colleagues.

She is a humble soul who simply has a unique way of knowing where the right buttons to get her charges to bring their best selves to the learning institution. While she wouldn’t trade her professionalism for anything, our team interactions both at professional and social settings revealed her as an administrator with a human face. To her, people matter. She is alive to the fact that the school environment can be taxing and overwhelming and that leaders must create a balance between work and leisure. Her philosophy is that employees should work hard as much as they pay. It is against this backdrop that she places a high premium on building warm and friendly and stress free work atmosphere.

‘GG’ allows room for fun without sacrificing what is good for students learning. She is one of a kind, a rare creation of a school principal endowed with people skills in stupendous proportions. She always gives those privileged to work with her reason to smile and cause to look forward to their next day at school. In managing her schools, ‘GG’ must have drawn inspiration from Simon Sinek’s telling position that “those who have an opportunity to work in organisations that treat them like human beings to be protected rather than a resource to be exploited come home at the end of the day with a feeling of fulfillment and gratitude. This should be a rule for all of us, not the exception.” This clearly captures the mood in Marata’s schools. The radiant smile that has become a characteristic feature in and out of work speaks volumes about the way she makes those around her feel at ease.

Those who work closely with Marata return from work with a sense of pride and gratitude. Her style of management protects the profession without sacrificing the human element. Her administration dovetails with Simon Sinek’s thinking that “returning from work feeling inspired, safe, fulfilled and grateful is a natural human right to which we are all entitled to and not a modern luxury that only a few lucky ones are able to find.”

Marata is no actor, what you see is what you get. Keeping her colleagues happy regardless of job titles they hold is something that springs out genuinely from her inner most soul. Marata leads her schools with love, passion and total devotion. Team building is the hall mark of her administration.

On the academic front, she left an indelible mark at her previous school of Tloaneng and she is doing a remarkable work at Mmopane Primary School. She is getting it right in the classroom because she leads by example. She is one leader who knows the risk of outsourcing accountability. She leads not only on resource mobilisation and co-curricular activities, but most importantly, she has proved her mettle as an instructional leader par excellence. The Harvard Training has sharpened her focus and this is the reason why ‘GG’ can never shirk her classroom duties. Visiting instructional halls to observe and share best pedagogic experiences has become part of her DNA. Indeed the Harvard Training paid dividends as it sharpened her administrative skills.