The principal of Hillcrest Primary School in Wellington, David Arnolds, recently received his PhD in Educational Management.
After matriculating from Bergrivier Secondary School in Wellington, he attended the University of the Western Cape (UWC), where he obtained his Higher Diploma in Education (HDE) IV (N/G) in 1988. He started his teaching career the following year.
In 2007 he enrolled at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), and in 2008 he obtained his BEd Honours (Educational Management). He then enrolled for an MEd (Policy Studies) at Stellenbosch University, qualifying in 2013. His following academic pursuit took him to North-West University (NWU), where he obtained his PhD in Educational Management.
In 2023 Arnolds was invited to be part of the Principal’s Academy Trust. Endorsing the idea of lifelong learning, he will be part of a study group enrolling for the MBA at the University of Cape Town in 2024.
In his PhD thesis, A management strategy for the cultivation of a positive school culture to improve academic attainment in primary schools, Arnolds employed qualitative interpretive methodology to investigate why, despite intervention strategies from the Department of Basic Education (DBE), primary schools in previously disadvantaged communities persistent in underperforming in the Western Cape Systematic and Competency-based tests such as TIMSS and PIRLS.
In his findings he indicated the influence of a negative and positive school culture on school performance.
School culture proved to be a major role-player in all aspects of the school environment. A management strategy for cultivating a positive school culture could play a part in deconstructing underperformance of primary schools.
