Poor coordination of teacher professional development in South Africa (SA) has led to sub-par achievements in improving teachers’ classroom practices and ultimately learner outcomes. Similarly, the professional development of Beginner Teachers (BTs) has been left on the wayside and, early on in their careers, BTs are inducted into school cultures where collaboration and collegiality are overlooked. Although most BTs have a strong theoretical foundation, they are limited in practical experience and this gap should ideally be bridged by well-coordinated induction and mentoring programmes. Literature endorses the impact of structured induction and mentoring programmes on BTs’ adaptation to the school environment and on strengthening their instructional practices. Still, such programmes in SA remain informal and this is exacerbated by a leadership vacuum as existing school leadership practices have not channelled adequate resources to support BTs’ early PD.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review literature on school leadership in SA and its influence on BTs’ professional learning and development. The review was guided by the question: How is the landscape of school leadership in SA evolving and how is it influencing BTs’ professional learning and development? Using the systematic review approach, this paper reviews existing literature from 2005, when the SA government first declared to implement formal induction for BTs as articulated in the Department of Education's (DoE) report, ‘Teachers for the Future: Meeting Teacher Shortages to Achieve Education for All’. The findings show that poor leadership preparation and resultant practices have immensely contributed to poor installation, coordination and implementation of teacher professional development activities, particularly for BTs. In addition, poor school leadership practices have largely contributed to innumerable issues in the PD of teachers, especially BTs, and formal induction and mentoring programmes in SA remain elusive.

Keywords: School leadership, beginner teachers, professional development.