School leadership research in Botswana: Developing an indigenous approach

This background paper develops a case for adopting an indigenous approach to researching school leadership in Botswana. As an upper middle-income country Botswana has a stronger economy than many of its neighbours in the region, yet with respect to schooling it faces similar challenges which result from the ongoing legacies of colonialism (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013; Tikly 2020). Research has demonstrated profound tensions and contradictions within the school system, including fundamental disagreements about the purposes of education from traditional and Eurocentric perspectives (Tabulawa, 2003; Pheko & Linchwe II, 2007), and centralised policy decisions which overlook local realities in terms of language, curriculum, pedagogy and the school calendar (Tabulawa 2004, 2013; Pheko & Linchwe II 2007; Pheko 2008; Pansiri 2011; Mokibelo 2016). As we argue in this paper, the Covid-19 pandemic provides fertile ground for exploring school leadership in Botswana from an indigenous perspective. This background paper draws on African, indigenous and decolonial scholarship to outline an agenda and approach for researching school leadership in this context.