Conceptualising a School Leaders’ Digital Leadership Framework to Lead Education 4.0 in a South African school district

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and COVID-19 have increased the need for digitally capable school leaders who can lead Education 4.0. This study explored school leaders’ digital leadership practices in one school district in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, to inform leadership capacity for Education 4.0. A qualitative, single case study design was employed, using five focus group interviews with district officials, school management teams and teachers, complemented by document analysis. Thematic analysis revealed adaptive digital practices alongside challenges of technophobia, limited access and resource constraints. Despite barriers, school leaders actively adopted digital tools, leveraged immersive learning technologies, and pursued post-COVID-19 readiness initiatives. Emerging from this inquiry is a conceptual digital leadership framework for Education 4.0, with four empirically grounded dimensions: (a) Leading foundational digital leadership practices, which includes technology acceptance, technology integration in schools, and balancing traditional teaching and digital pedagogies; (b) Leading digital teaching, learning and communication, encompasses leading digital teaching and learning, using digital platforms for schoolwide operations, leading digital innovation, and leading digital communication; (c) Leading responsively to digital opportunities, threats and contextual challenges, which entails leading responsively to digital opportunities, leading responsively to digital threats, and leading responsively to contextual challenges; and (d) Leading school readiness for Education 4.0 consists of proactive engagement with the education department, strengthening School Governing Body (SGB) governance for digital school transformation and preparation of future-ready schools. This framework offers context-responsive practices to operationalise Education 4.0 in resource-constrained schools within South African schools.