Teacher Development Departmental Chairpersons as Change Agents that can Foster Programmes for Sustainable Development in Universities and Communities.

In this paper I discuss the experiences of Teacher Development chairpersons in their role as change agents that have to foster sustainable development in universities and communities. Challenges observed were institutional support in terms of policy for immediate implementation, funding and empowerment of all stakeholders involved. The paper is grounded in the Transformational leadership theory which seeks to promote leaders who inspire and motivate followers at the same time collaborating with relevant stakeholders for accomplishment of results. The Theory of change also provided a base in terms of change procedure. Furthermore, Pierre Bourdieu’s Cultural Capital Theory (Bourdieu, 1986) was employed to understand the role of educational leaders in shaping the cultural and intellectual foundations necessary for sustainable transformation. Mixed research approach was used where both closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to collect data from 8 chairpersons from the Departments of Teacher development in Zimbabwean Universities. Convergent parallel design was adopted wherein both qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed separately but concurrently. Findings were that both chairpersons and lecturers needed continuous education, workshops on sustainable change principles and on the other hand continuity through leadership stability was needed. Sustainable development concepts needed to be infused across courses and programmes so as to foster growth awareness. Effective sustainable development in education was also found to depended on strong institutional backing through clear policies, dedicated funding and administrative commitment. In light of the findings above, the study suggests that it is imperative that universities invest in leadership programmes that provide on-going training and support for chairpersons. Furthermore, chairpersons have to work on building partnerships with local communities, other academic departments and international stakeholders for shared learning, innovation and relevance in sustainability in educational programmes.