© Kamla-Raj 2014 J Communication, 5(2): 145-154 (2014) Exploring Effective Communication in District Education Offices in South Africa I.M.S. Dandashe 1 , C. van Wyk 2* and F.J. Potgieter 3 1 Department of Education, Moses KotaneRegion, Private Bag x1 ,Rustenburg, NWP, South Africa Telephone: 014 5500191 2 Northwest University, Mafikeng Campus, Postal Box X2046, Mmabatho, 2735, NWP, South Africa Telephone: 0835009019, Fax: 018 3892012, E-mail: vanwyk.christo1@gmail.com 3 Northwest University, Potchefstroom Campus, Private Bag X 6001, Potchefstroom, NWP, South Africa Telephone: 018 399 1992, Fax: 018 399 1234 KEYWORDS Communication Theories. Communication Models. Communication Strategies. Educational Organizations. Management Communication ABSTRACT Managers at district education offices in South Africa should be able to apply a variety of communication skills effectively in a range of management contexts for these district offices to be successful. This paper reports on a theoretical investigation into effective communication strategies and dimensions, as well as an empirical study of the perceptions of managers and staff at an educational district office regarding the effectiveness of the communication channels and strategies, as well as of the barriers to effective communication. The findings suggest that district managers may need training specifically with regard to the role and importance of communication and that the dissemination of proper feedback should be a consistent practice. While professional communication depends on both task and interpersonal orientation for its success, it is recommended that the latter should receive the greater emphasis in a people-oriented and pedagogical institution such as an education district office. * Address for correspondence INTRODUCTION There is a paucity of studies that assess the influence of communication in facilitating edu- cational change (Siu 2008; Steyn and Van Niekerk 2012). This is of special importance in the execu- tion of complex policy directives, such as has been the case in South Africa since 1994 when apartheid was dismantled. While much has been written about the task, skills and competencies of education managers in general in South Afri- ca and elsewhere, not much has been forth- coming about the special communication strate- gies and dimensions that specifically South Af- rican education district managers are expected to command in order for their education districts to function effectively. Since the advent of dem- ocratic rule in South Africa in 1994, education district offices have increasingly been perform- ing a range of new responsibilities that compli- cated their functioning. One such task is effec- tive communication. Objectives In view of the aboveexposition the purpose of the study is to understand the nature of ef- fective communication in district education of- fices in South Africa. More specifically, the ob- jectives are, (a) to determine the kind of training education district officials may need with re- gard to the role and importance of communica- tion, (b) to establish to what degree consistent communication is regarded as standard practice in the district offices, (c) to establish whether communication in this district office was opera- tionalised in such a way that every employee was involved in all the activities pertaining to the process of communication. The idea with this paper is to present evidence to establish the validity of these objectives in the education district. Two sets of evidence are presented. Firstly, a framework in which the effective pro- fessional communication by district managers in terms of the complexity theory, as well as the strategies and dimensions of communication is conceptually and theoretically argued, and sec- ondly, a discussion of the results of a qualita-