Experience
I have worked as a teacher Marrianhill Private Independent school in South Africa, teaching Accounting, Business Studies and Economic and Management Sciences (EMS). In Higher Education, I have lectured in different South African universities. In 2012 I lectured at University of the Free State where I was lectured commerce education methodologies (Accounting, Business Studies, Economics and EMS) in QwaQwa campus and at the University of Pretoria I was lecturing modules for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of Education Management and Policy Studies. I currently lecture modules at postgraduate level (Master of Education level) in the discipline of Educational Leadership, Management and Policy (ELMP). Before this I have lectured modules at Honours level in the same discipline.
Accomplishments
- Principal recipient of Fulbright scholarship in the 2010 cohort.
- Represented South African Universities at the Youth Ambassador Programme which took place in Iowa, Atlanta GA and Washington DC in 2008.
- Youngest Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Awards
- Top 3 emerging researcher award in the College of Humanities in 2016. The award is given to young researchers (below the age of 45) who publish at least one article per year. I obtained this award after publishing 3 articles in 2015.
- Emerging researcher award in the School of Education in 2014 and 2016. The award is similar to the college one but this one is at the school level.
Research Interests
My broader research field is educational leadership and management, but my specific research interest is school leadership in the context of rurality. My writings are around leadership for school-community partnerships, school financial management and the asset-based leadership. My research falls within what is called “Pasteur’s Quadrant” which describes research that both contributes to the understanding of the phenomena while at the same time has a high level of practical relevance. Effie McClellan calls this research use-inspired research and it excites me to here my students sharing with me that in my word they do only understand issues academically, but they also learn what is relevant to their work as practitioners.
Teaching Interests
I teach modules in the degree of Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Management. Even though I can teach across this field, I have become more interested in educational leadership and leadership of professionals in learning communities. My teaching is guided by adult learning theories and draws more from problem-based and inquiry-based learning.
Student
Supervision
I supervise at Honours, Masters and PhD level within the field of Educational Leadership and Management. To date I have supervised more than 15 Honours and Master of Education students to completion. I have also supervised PhD students to completion in the same field. Some of these students were co-supervised with experienced colleagues in the field in order to enhance my supervision capacity.
Community Involvement
- I am currently a Secretary of Education Management Association of South Africa and I recently contributed in the resuscitation of the South African Journal of Educational Leadership and Management (SAJELM). I am also an editorial board member of the same journal.
- I am the editorial board member of the Journal of South African Democratic Teachers Union (JSADTU).
- I am a board member of the Community Development Association Foundation (CDAF)
- I am also a board member of the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Selected
Publications
Myende, PE. (2018) Leadership for school-community partnership: A Principal’s experience in a deprived context. In Chikoko, V. Leadership that works in deprived contexts (pp. 121-142). Nova Publishers.
- Myende, PE. (2018). Creating functional and sustainable school-community partnerships: Lessons from three South African Cases. Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218781070
- Myende, PE., Samuel, MA., & Pillay, A. (2018). Novice rural principals’ successful leadership practices in financial management: Multiple accountabilities. South African Journal of Education, DOI: https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n2a1447.
- Myende, PE. & Hlalele, D. (2018). Framing Sustainable Rural Learning Ecologies: A Case for Strength-Based Approaches, Africa Education Review, DOI: 10.1080/18146627.2016.1224598
- Bhengu, TT, Myende, PE. (2016). Leadership for coping with and adapting to policy change in deprived contexts: Lessons from school principals. South African Journal of Education, 36(4), 1-10.
- Masinga, L., Myende, P.E., Marais, A., Singh-Pillay, A., Kortjass, M., Chirikure, T., & Mweli, P. (2016) “Hear Our Voices”: A Collective Arts-Based Self-Study of Early- Career Academics on Our Learning and Growth in a Research- Intensive University. Educational Research for Social Change, 5(2), 117-135.
- Myende, PE. & Bhengu, TT. (2015). Involvement of heads of departments in strategic planning in schools in the Pinetown District. Africa Education Review, 12(4): 632–646.
- Myende, PE. (2015). Tapping into the Asset-Based Approach to Improve Academic Performance in Rural Schools. Journal of Human Ecology 50(1): 31-42.
- Bhengu, TT. & Myende, PE. (2015) Traversing Metaphoric Fences between Schools and their Communities: Lessons from a Rural School. Journal of Social Sciences, 43(3): 227-236
- Myende, PE. & Chikoko, V. (2014). School-University Partnership in a South African Rural Context: Possibilities for an Asset-based Approach. Journal of Human Ecology, 46(3): 249-259.