Introduction

The past two decades have seen intense scholarly attention on international, regional, and national migration triggered by both voluntary and involuntary causes. Since then, the focus has increased and intensified globally – for example, on how industrialised countries attract highly skilled workers (e.g. Findlay et al., 2017; Lange, 2009; Thomas, 2017). Other scholars have been drawn into the brain drain of international student migration facilitated by globalisation (e.g. Mishchuk et al., 2019), and this has raised concern for the welfare of the minority – for example, gender disparities in migration (Sondhi & King, 2017).

This trend is true for Africa, where political unrest has been identified as the major push factor driving people out of their countries. Consequently, African scholars have focused on inter- and intra-African mobility in terms of challenges and prospects (Woldegiorgis & Doevenspeck, 2015) and pull factors influencing outflows to South Africa (Iwara et al., 2018; Kritz, 2013). This has seen a rise in studies documenting the push and pull factors in the mass migration of Zimbabwean teachers (Moyo & Perumal, 2018). However, none of the studies have paid attention to acculturation: how these teachers are integrating into foreign cultures in terms of challenges and opportunities. Currently, there is a gap in the existing literature on how these teachers as minorities are grappling with being integrated into the established cultures. The strong relationship between immigration, culture, and education cannot be ignored; therefore, the co-existence of immigrants and nationals of the host country warrants an investigation. The mutual twinning of immigration and education poses practical problems in unravelling the causal link between them. Pitre (2014) affirmed that it is generally the host country that holds and maintains its dominant social, political, and economic culture and norms which may or may not be in line with the immigrants from other cultures, thus, there is a call for acculturation. While research has been carried out on Zimbabwean immigrant teachers, less is known about the role of school principals in the immigrant teachers’ acculturation. According to Moyo and Perumal (2018), most immigrant teachers prefer to teach in independent schools rather than public ones.

It is important to note that the number of immigrant teachers has risen drastically and changed the demographic population of independent schools in South Africa (McKay et al., 2018), justifying an investigation. To be specific, scholars such as Moyo and Perumal (2018) and Crush and Tawodzera (2014) have researched Zimbabwean immigrants’ working conditions and their socio-economic experiences, but their experiences of acculturation have not been reported even though issues of diversity are especially salient to immigrants. There is a need to identify culturally competitive leadership – school principals who are able to eliminate cultural barriers and put into place systems that value diversity and promote knowledge about various cultures within their schools.

The South African Schools Act (No. 84 of 1996) recognises two categories of schools: the public and independent. All independent schools charge school fees. On the other hand, public schools are divided into fee-paying and non-fee paying schools. Public schools are run by the government while independent schools are run by individuals, trusts, or companies.

According to the Department of Education, in 2015 there were 566,194 learners in independent schools, which is about 4,5% of 12.8 million learners in grade R-12 (Wiese et al., 2010). Although the number of learners in independent schools serve a relatively small percentage of the country’s learners, the increase of learners attending these schools has been alarming (Wiese et al., 2010). This could be an indication that parents are losing faith in public schools. The growth of the independent school industry, especially in Johannesburg central, is driven by the fact that most of these schools’ employ highly qualified and experienced immigrant teachers (Makula, 2018). Their fees are low and as a result, their growth may be driven by the growing middle class who want high quality education at a low cost. Wiese et al. (2010) argue that parents take ethnicity into consideration when selecting their children’s schools. Therefore, this study focused on these independent schools since most of them have more than 70% immigrant teachers (Makula, 2018). Immigrant parents send their children there, where they believe xenophobia is not likely to exist because of the diversity in learner population.

Acculturation is the intra-generational process where individuals of different cultures encounter a new culture and come into first-hand contact with subsequent changes in behaviour and attitude in the original cultural patterns of both groups (Jandt, 2012), thereby adjusting to contact with a culture other than their own. Sam and Berry (1997) argue that this process consists of confluence among heritage-cultural and receiving-cultural practices, values, and identification of immigrants. It is associated with a number of psychosocial effects. Hence, this study sought to understand Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ experiences of acculturation in independent schools in Johannesburg, South Africa. It adopted Berry’s model of acculturation, whose strategies are: assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalisation. It is anticipated that an in-depth understanding of the role of school principals in the acculturation of immigrant teachers could provide data for decision making and policy formulation processes for the education system and inform further and future research.

Aims of the Research

This study aimed at shedding light on Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ experiences of acculturation in independent schools in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was motivated by the desire to explore the social justice experiences of Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in Johannesburg inner-city independent schools and the methods and strategies that the principals employ to bring about culturally competitive leadership in these diverse schools. The legislative framework for post-apartheid education enforces democracy and transformation in an education system that values human dignity, equity, and human rights (Mafora, 2013). Against this backdrop, this study examined how these immigrant teachers are treated in independent schools and if their treatment is aligned with the relevant legal frameworks. The aims prompted the research questions that follow: (1) What are the Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ experiences in regard to acculturation in independent schools in Johannesburg’s inner city? (2) Which are the culturally competitive leadership approaches?

To focus on the above research questions, we constructed the following objectives: (1) Explore Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ experiences of acculturation in Johannesburg’s inner-city independent schools. (2) Investigate the principals’ culturally competitive leadership approaches.

Context of Research

When one moves to another country, the process is fraught with anxiety and tension because of shifts between two environments. At times, such behaviours are incongruent with the culture of the new environment (Hammerstad, 2012). Jandt (2012) posited that one can experience cultural shock due to one’s reaction to the new culture and the encountering of difficulties in cross-cultural adjustment. On the other hand, Pitre (2014) revealed that cultural shock is not a setback but normal since it is the body’s reaction to that which it fears, as it tries to develop a defensive mechanism. Hammerstad (2012) argued that such experiences help individuals to develop psychologically, hence the process of acculturation happens at four levels: learning a new language, immersion, assimilation, and integration, as will be discussed in detail in the paragraphs that follow.

Language

Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in South Africa face classroom management problems (De Villiers & Weda, 2018). There is usually a struggle in the classroom between students adapting to the immigrant teacher’s pronunciation and accent and the teacher trying to navigate their way through classroom practices while striving to adhere to the relevant policies and documents. In Vandeyar et al.’s (2014) study, some learners were concerned that these teachers could not communicate effectively, were not firm on them, and that lessons were chaotic. Learners commented on the teachers’ accents and called them “makwerekwere”, a derogative name for foreigners in South Africa (Moyo et al., 2014). On top of this, Manik’s (2015) and De Villiers and Weda’s (2018) studies of Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in KwaZulu Natal noted that staff meetings are held in local languages, which indirectly excludes immigrant teachers. They endure isolation resulting from the fact that they are always in the minority and do not speak most of the South African languages (Crush & Tawodzera, 2014). Berry (1997) refers to this state as the marginalisation strategy, where immigrants feel rejected by the host.

Immersion

The immigrant has to live amidst the people of the new culture and understand the customs, traditions, and acceptance behaviours of these cultures so as to live a comfortable and amicable life in a foreign nation. In his qualitative thesis on issues facing expatriate teachers in Singapore, Vial (2006) contended that the key purpose of education in a culturally diverse society must be to assist individuals to develop a sense of identity and belonging. Moyo et al. (2014) also concurred and revealed the positive social experiences of some immigrant teachers who now have cars and houses, which they could not have afforded had they stayed in Zimbabwe. Thus, both teachers and principals must recognise their own social, cultural, and political identities (Martin, 2015) and be responsive by appreciating and tolerating cultural diversity among their students and colleagues (Santoro & Major, 2012) so that their schools become culturally responsive organisations.

Assimilation

According to Fee’s (2011) study, teaching away from home leads to a teacher-academic culture shock. Their curricula and home pedagogy and that of the host country might be different. Fee (2011) stated that in the Unites States of America, Mexican immigrant teachers are expected to teach at high schools, yet they are trained at the primary level. According to Halicioglu (2015), immigrant teachers intending to go to the Middle East are expected to accept censorship in some schools and curricula changes in agreeance with Islamic culture. In South Africa, assessment standards are a surprise to Zimbabwean immigrant teachers as they find it ridiculous that 30% is a pass, yet the student does not know 70% of the work, while others find it farcical that learners are given a scope for an examination (Makonye, 2017). They must accept and work within these assessment standards – Berry’s (1997) assimilation strategy – giving up on one’s culture and being absorbed and accepting the host’s culture. One the other hand, concurring with Berry’s (1997) separation strategy (rejection of involvement with the host country), some Zimbabwean immigrant teachers fail to forsake their home cultural pedagogies and classroom practices which makes their new environment difficult to navigate. They fail to stabilise and adapt to the new curriculum and teaching methods (Makonye, 2017).

Integration

During the integration process, individuals maintain their own cultural identity while becoming participants in the host culture (Berry, 1997). The apartheid system branded and categorised people into different social groups and years after the end of this system, many black South Africans are still trying to make sense of this new phenomenon of black immigrants (Crush & Tawodzera, 2014). They do so by plugging them into the makwerekwere category creating a new social class. Crush et al. (2015) concurred with this and explain that African immigrants are recognised as “other”. Immigrant teachers are bound to feel isolated if they teach in schools and communities that do not embrace diversity or tolerate any forms of differences (De Villiers & Weda, 2018; Vandeyar et al., 2014). Some immigrant teachers claim that outside of their places of work, they suffer harassment at the hands of police officers who always demand proof of their right to live in South Africa, such as permits or asylum papers (Chinomona & Maziriri, 2015; Sibanda, 2010).

Educational Leadership Approaches Aligned to Acculturation and Integration

This study has been conceived and initiated at a time when education leadership in South Africa has an important bearing on the principals’ daily operations and actions in transforming schools into democratic sites (Bush et al., 2011; Mafora, 2013; Pitre, 2014).

Cultural Leadership

This body of literature on culture and education has brought attention to subtractive education: the affirmation of the cultural contribution made by supreme and dominant groups at the expense of minority ones (Boske, 2015). Culture-based education models provide a base that prepares leaders to assume responsibilities associated with social justice, leadership, and cultural leadership, which according to Hess and Kelly (2007), focus on community, curriculum, culturally relevant pedagogy, and cultural competence.

Moral/Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership centres on communication and cross-cultural cooperation that builds an egalitarian society where everyone enjoys a harmony of social rights and opportunities (Shields, 2010). Leadership must be critically educative, evaluating in-depth the conditions people live in and determining how to positively change and improve those (Shields, 2010). This acknowledges a strong link between community issues and people’s individual reactions. School leaders must create empathic schools that recognise the need for the interaction and interconnectedness to create a caring, supportive environment in which people feel safe, valued, and respected.

Dialogical Leadership

Shields (2010) asserted that leaders need a dialogical approach that will allow discourse around issues of freedom and supremacy. Leaders must overcome their silence about aspects such as ethnicity and social class (Kose, 2009). Researchers assert that it is the responsibility of a principal to instigate structural transformation and understand the relationships among the students, teachers, and parents and between leaders through conversation and dialogue (Boske, 2015). Such leaders must exercise power and authority that will enable them to work towards creating a society grounded in the struggle for racial democracy.

Curriculum Leadership

Curriculum leadership is a shared experience whereby stakeholders come together to shape the school’s activities and design a curriculum that transforms the community (Makonye, 2017). The leaders’ behaviours and the school policies must develop the curriculum, establish communication networks, and consult with others to implement the chosen curriculum. Leaders must take risks, develop transparency, communicate, and share a vision with all the stakeholders so that they enact the chosen curriculum. Thus, curriculum leadership calls for principals who develop teachers through activities such as staff development and mentoring. Principals who are curriculum leaders are driven by their passion and values (Bush et al., 2011). Therefore, curriculum leadership is not only concerned with developing an individual, but the society or community too.

Research Design and Methodology

Given that qualitative research is the perfect approach if you want to learn more about human interaction, phenomena, people, actions, and social settings that provide the context for meaning in qualitative research, the researcher investigated the phenomenon, in this study case, acculturation, by perceiving that qualitative research is context-based and explores the life experiences of the participants. Thus, qualitative research was relevant in this study that sought to explore acculturation and integration of Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in Johannesburg’s inner-city independent schools. It further identified the culturally competitive leadership approaches.

Sampling and Site Selection

According to Lincoln et al. (2011), purposive sampling selects participants for a specific purpose. Hence, Moyo (2015) emphasised that purposeful sampling enables the researcher to carefully choose participants whom they feel have the greatest potential to yield information rich enough to satisfy their particular requirements. Based on this, we choose Johannesburg’s inner-city independent schools. The participants were easily accessible, and it was convenient to visit them in terms of time and travel expenses. The research sites are independent schools and diverse in both learner and staff complement and were purposefully selected for their geographical and diverse demographics. They are all situated in Johannesburg central. Studies argue that Johannesburg is the hub of foreign nationals (De Villiers & Weda, 2018; Makula, 2018; Manik, 2015; Perumal, 2015). The two schools were given pseudonyms: Transformative High School and Vision High School, respectively. Transformative High School was founded in 1998 by two sociologists. Today the school has 40 teachers including the principal. Non-South African teachers form 85% of the teaching staff and the rest are South African citizens. Vision High School is individually owned. The owner-principal resigned from the Department of Education in the early 1990s as the rise of independent schools in the inner city attracted him back to education. The school has 700 students and 27 teachers. The approximate 70% of non-South Africans attached to the school come from Botswana, Ghana, Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.

The six Zimbabwean immigrant teachers partially represent ethnicity in Zimbabwe; two are Kalangas, Shonas and Ndebeles, respectively, the major cultural groups in Zimbabwe, which is relevant since acculturation is the phenomenon in this study. All the immigrant teachers are qualified and experienced teachers. This met Wiese et al.’s (2018) argument that parents send their children to independent schools because teachers there are competent. Table 12.1 below gives a summary of the participants.

Table 12.1 Biographic details of participants
Full size table

Data Collection Methods

As a form of social enquiry, Merriam (2009) affirmed that qualitative research helps in gaining understanding of the phenomenon from the participants’ perspective and their interpretation and construction of meaning within the context of their lives. Qualitative research examines meaning using the interpretivist tradition and employs an inductive approach, working from the bottom up, from the concrete to the abstract, from data to concepts, and themes expressed in words (Yin, 2011). It is further stated that through the inductive process, the researcher converts raw empirical data into understandable themes and topics. This study reflects this stance in that semi-structured interviews were the main data collection methods used, supplemented by pre-interview observations, based on Lincoln et al. (2011) who affirmed that triangulation rests on the belief that one method cannot explore a phenomenon fully.

For validity purposes, the interview schedules were assessed for appropriateness and completeness of the contents in relation to acculturation, integration, and culturally competitive educational leadership. A pilot study was carried out at a workplace under conditions like those anticipated in the main study. Thereafter, the authors sought an application for ethical clearance from the Ethics Committee of the University of Johannesburg.

After permission was granted by the Ethics Committee and by the directorate of both schools, the interviews began. All the participants signed consent forms and they all agreed to audiotaping of the interviews. There were two different interview schedules, one for principals and the other for Zimbabwean immigrant teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted over a two-week period at Transformative and Vision schools at times convenient to the participants. The interviews were about 45 min long.

Data Analysis

Data were transcribed verbatim from a voice recorder, although at some point there were difficulties in dealing with intonation, speech elision, incomplete sentences, and determining where to punctuate. The transcriptions were then analysed thematically through Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Content Analysis (CA). The authors examined the interview transcriptions using the following coding steps posited by Neuman (2011); open coding identified and named segments of participants’ responses in relation to the title of the research. The segments were: dual labour market, acculturation, integration, and culturally competitive leadership approaches that were identified during summative content analysis. As emphasised by Saldana (2013), one looks for expressions of an idea when using themes. Thus, authors focused on the wording, phrasing consistency, and frequency of the responses in relation to the above segments, then highlighted and coded them.

Findings and Discussion

The social constructivist worldview guided the methodology of this study that aimed at exploring Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ acculturation and integration in independent schools. Further, it highlighted the culturally relevant educational leadership. In this section we present findings and the discussion of culturally competitive schools, culturally competitive leadership, and impact of communication, from the data from the eight participants’ responses, in relation to acculturation, integration, and educational leadership. The following themes emerged: culturally competitive schools, culturally competitive leadership, and impact of communication.

Culturally Competitive Schools and Culturally Competitive Leadership

Culturally competitive schools promote diversity, a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance. According to Singh (2013), the recruitment processes in these schools reflect a commitment to diversity. Furthermore, Pitre (2014) informed us that such schools foster the development of staff cultural competence and nurture culturally responsive teachers who employ culturally responsive classroom pedagogies. Such a school facilitates and supports achievement of all learners. The strengths the teachers bring into the school are identified and utilised for the benefit of all. In the section that follows, the above concepts are divided into institutionalised, personal, and instructional dimensions. Each dimension is linked to the participants’ responses.

Institutionalised Dimension

This centres on the school’s administration, its policies and values, and the community involvement. Asked about how he handles diversity, the principal of Transformative High School, Ramphela said:

I teach learners and teachers to develop mutual respectful relationships, teach them about God’s love, our constitution – that clause on human rights. I composed a school song and a hymn [available from the researcher] both emphasising the value of diversity. We offer History and Bible studies in our curriculum. These subjects help in making learners understand who we are, why some people are where they are, and they develop love and empathy towards other people.

Shields (2010) argued that cultural leaders deconstruct and eliminate knowledge frameworks. The excerpt reveals the principal as a culturally competent leader. He aims to develop a new way of imagining the world among both teachers and the students, whereby they examine and adjust their attitudes towards others.

Concurring with Ramphela’s sentiments on managing diversity, two out of three teachers from Transformative High School (Ramphela’s school) attested to his ability to be inclusive and embrace diversity. One of them, Ncube, said:

To an extent, he tries to accommodate everyone. We have our own cultural clubs as foreigners. On Speech and Prize-Giving days, our theme is diversity – we therefore have cultural dances and poems as part of entertainment. I remember the principal reminded that when we give learners comprehension passages we must use those that reflect South Africa as a welcoming country that encourages unity.

Consistent with Wang’s (2016) argument that affirms cultural leadership, the principal considers cultural differences in his leadership practices. In contrast, at Vision High School the principal fears that if he gives foreign teachers leeway to teach South African children their cultures, he will not be preserving South African culture. This is what Makamure, a teacher from this school said about the principal:

He doesn’t want us to mix with learners much. He says that we will take away their culture and instil ours. I remember a time when he came to observe my lessons; I had a passage for comprehension that centred on a Zimbabwean child who had been awarded a scholarship to the United Kingdom. He criticised me for choosing Zimbabwe instead of South Africa.

The above excerpt shows lack of respect and absolute value of another individual’s culture that is necessary for acculturation and integration to take place at school. Thus, in order to empower the teachers as professionals, the principals need to provide orientation, coaching, and staff development aimed at helping Zimbabwean immigrant teachers integrate easily into the South African teaching fraternity.

On issues of policies, laws, and Acts governing recruitment of immigrant teachers, this is what Ramphela had to say:

The manager reminded me about this Act that it is illegal to employ an immigrant who does not have a work permit, and first preference must be given to South Africans. The school already had more immigrant teachers than locals and I was forced to employ the teacher who had the least score from the interviews, who was not going to produce good results compared to what l hoped the one from Ghana would.

Ramphela admits that there are government policies and school recruitment policies drawn by the Directorate, which do not promote diversity and equity. The principals now have a new role requiring their commitment to Zimbabwean immigrant teachers’ personal growth and to the broader society.

Community involvement is also key in acculturation and integration processes. Dialogue therefore becomes central in enabling the critical evaluation and examination of present practices that build a culturally competent community.

Personal Dimension

Self-reflection is an important part of self-development. Teachers must examine their attitudes and beliefs and those of others. Thereafter, they must confront biases and reconcile negative feelings towards any other cultural groups or languages. This creates an atmosphere of social belonging, trust, and acceptance and it becomes easy for the individual to reach out to students and peers (Wang, 2016).

Individuals must explore their personal history and experiences. This leads to greater understanding of others and higher chances of appreciating differences (Bush et al., 2011). Asked how his personal experiences prepared him in working with immigrants, Nzimande narrated:

I was in high school when we moved to Botswana. Students were eager to know why l had moved to Botswana, the teachers too were empathetic and in the first weeks they would always ask how l was coping. Everyone was emotionally attached to me. That is when l noticed the social injustice in Apartheid and justice in Botswana. When I encounter an unjust incident, I feel a strong desire, I should say, a calling to remedy it.

In this excerpt, Nzimande’s personal experiences taught him acceptance and tolerance of different cultural groups. Principals may give immigrant teachers the opportunity to present staff development sessions, involve them in curriculum design, and assign them management responsibilities such as being the head of a department.

Fearing victimisation and xenophobic attacks, most immigrant teachers prefer to stay in low density residential areas or where many foreigners reside. Responding to a question on where he stays, Tshivako had this to say:

I was a victim in 2008 in Alexandra where all my property was ransacked. I then sought refuge at my cousin who was at Randburg and discovered that xenophobia was not rife there and decided to settle there. I wanted a quiet place. So when l started looking for a house to buy, those areas were my first choice. I was already familiar with north of Johannesburg.

Acculturation experiences can help to predict and position ones’ social class according to financial and career development. Asked about how the principal distributes the workload, Dewa stated,

As teaching staff we have complained that all teaching loads are not balanced. Teachers who are South African have fewer loads because they threatened to sue the school that their work is too much and salary low, so the principal reduced their teaching load and those were distributed among those who do not have a lot of rights, us the foreign teachers.

The above excerpt reveals characteristics of the secondary sector in the dual labour market theory, marked by unfair distribution of work. Immigrant teachers have heavy workloads compared to the South African nationals which shows stratification. In addition to the above strain, salaries are poor. One teacher, Tshivako, echoed, “I work from hand to mouth. I am a specialist teacher, but I get salary that is even lower than South Africans who hold matric certificates, ABET, adult certificate in education”.

Unfavourable working conditions are evident at Vision High School. Foreign teachers are not afforded family leave or study leave – the no work no pay rule applies throughout the year. However, in both schools, chances of promotion of foreigners to posts of responsibilities, such as head of department, are high, although there are instances where poorly educated nationals hold better positions than highly educated foreigners, as expressed by Malikongwa. In his response to how he views promotions at his school, he stated:

Personally, l have been unfairly treated in terms of promotion. I was told l can hold deputy position, but l cannot because l have a work permit, not South African Identity Document. The deputy is less qualified and inexperienced compared to more than five foreign teachers.

Given that present school structures inhibit the emancipation of immigrant teachers, they may continue enduring challenges. All the same challenges rising from a lack of recognition compel principals to identify their needs so as to develop support programmes. Principals are strategically positioned to support immigrant teachers and in the long run influence change in society. On the same issue of promotion, Makamba stated;

I resent them. The principal does not advertise these posts. Teachers are moved from one post to another without any interview whatsoever. It depends on how close you are to him. If not, no matter how hard you work, you will not be promoted.

The line, “it depends on how close you are to him” implies nepotism, a practice among those in power of favouring family and close associates.

Whilst Mtambara agrees that immigrants are promoted to departmental head posts, he feels that this is done not to empower the immigrant but for the benefit of the school. He remarked:

There is bias, high positions are for South Africans and those positions such as departmental head that demand a lot of work are given to immigrant teachers. Our school is part of an organisation that has more than seven schools and all principals, deputies are all South Africans, but we have other people who have better qualifications but are not promoted.

When recognition centres on one group rather than the other, Wang (2016) noted that this results in tension and dissatisfaction among members. By promoting another group, the principals are dividing staff members. The above excerpts all show that there is no cultural assimilation, that immigrant teachers are treated differently from their South African peers, and that they do not blend in easily. Thus, formal academic programmes, induction programmes, and in-service-training should be undertaken to cultivate revolutionary principals and facilitate cultural assimilation (Kose, 2009). Bush et al. (2011) called for principals’ exposure to professional courses that develop intercultural communication competence in diverse organisations.

Some immigrant teachers are not willing to integrate and assimilate into the dominant culture. Makamure is not ready to change her dress code, and she did not take heed of the call from her peers to dress like most South Africans. She reflected her frustrations when she said:

I am negatively criticised by my colleagues as to how l dress. The departmental head once approached me and told me that l must dress like the other professionals. My culture insists on long dresses for mature women. I cannot move away from culture. Students laugh at my pronunciation and at times l feel disrespected and feel that my dignity as a teacher has been stripped away from me.

Thus, immigrant teachers may feel a sense of professional disintegration and marginalisation. In order to reflect on diversity, the principals should create a welcoming and embracing atmosphere where every teacher’s contribution, input, and culture is appreciated. In this way, South African teachers may welcome and appreciate Zimbabwean immigrant teachers.

Instructional Dimension

Perumal (2015) argued that if tools of instruction such as resources and teaching pedagogy are incompatible with the marginalised, there will be disconnection within teaching and learning. Thus, schools must be culturally responsive in instruction. Immigrant teachers have to be exposed to professional development activities that reinforce culturally competent classroom practices as advocated by Wang (2016). On his methods of distributing teaching material for teaching and learning, Nzimande stated:

These are given to the teachers as per the demands. At times I buy more books for English than Maths depending on the needs of the department. Generally, there is equal distribution except that departmental heads have laptops and other teachers don’t, but these are departmental not personal.

In the above excerpt, the principal reveals himself as a leader who demonstrates fairness in working towards higher learner achievement as demanded from culturally competent leaders, as observed by Boske (2015).

Culturally relevant pedagogy nurtures competitive schools and the curriculum must leverage the environment. Both schools offer history and bible studies, relevant to acculturation where individuals need to know each other’s history. Biblical studies, from a Christian perspective, help to develop interconnectedness.

Some immigrant teachers fail to leave behind their home pedagogies and classroom practices which makes their new environment difficult to navigate. They fail to stabilise and adapt to the new curriculum and teaching methods (Makonye, 2017). Perumal’s Critical pedagogies of place: Educators’ personal and professional experiences of social (in)justice revealed the pedagogy challenges that Zimbabwean immigrant teachers face “as a result of relocation to new geographic and political contexts” (2015, p. 25). This is evident in the following excerpt:

Classroom management is a challenge most of the times, you have to be careful on the approaches you choose in case you offend children politically, methodology is different, there are SBAs, I find it difficult to handle these.

These were Makamure’s words when asked about the challenges of being a teacher in South Africa. Literature suggests that orientation, coaching, and acculturation for immigrant teachers can help them to fit in (Manik, 2015); in Canada for example, immigrant teachers are required to bridge their professional teaching courses. Principals may not be adequately supported in terms of dealing with immigrant teachers, taking into consideration South Africa’s cultural diversity consisting of 11 tribal groups which may all be found in a single school. Hence, principals may need support from regional or provincial education departments on how to deal with teachers from other countries. It is important that all efforts to integrate immigrant teachers are based on eliminating discrimination within the human race.

Conclusions and Implications

The study explored acculturation of Zimbabwean immigrant teachers in Johannesburg inner-city schools and identified culturally competitive leadership approaches. The participants’ responses brought us to the conclusion that principals, immigrant teachers, nationals, and students all have a duty and a role to play to establish culturally competitive schools that flourish with acculturation. The study confirms that there is need for school policies and practices that are sensitive to cultural differences and a call for all relevant individuals to deal with the issue of multiculturalism head-on.

Furthermore, the study has highlighted that ethnical composition, institutionalised policies, and policies at a national level play a role in hindering or promoting acculturation. The findings suggest that acculturation patterns in independent schools may allow immigrant teachers to draw on the dominant culture. Thus, principals in diverse schools must perform the crucial role of using multicultural intervention strategies and approaches that are easy to implement and quicker in showing positive acculturation as policies at a national level may take longer to show a positive impact. The research shows that lack of leadership approaches to human rights appeal processes, curriculum, hiring, promotion, retention, and school policies result in unjust practices.

This qualitative study has generated some empirical data that has brought to the fore an enhanced understanding of principals of independent schools’ approaches to acculturation. Given the wave of immigrants into South Africa and the importance of laws on immigration, labour laws, and school policies, this study is relevant to policy makers as well as researchers in the field of education and sociology. Future research should focus on cultural diversity on issues such as ethnic composition in public schools.