Leadership Processes and School Effectiveness

Abstract

The major purpose of the study was to contribute to enhancing understanding of school processes, particularly in relation to the leadership processes that accounts the most for school’s effectiveness. The specific purposes included, exploring the head-teacher leadership processes in terms of: initiating school development, implementing learning focused strategies, managing for results and strengthening the community network. This study is based on four case schools: two effective schools and two comparison schools. The effective schools- one urban secondary and the other rural primary were selected mainly based on their performance and social image. Two other schools were selected as comparison schools from the same community and with the same grade level of schooling. The HT leadership processes were studied using multiple perspectives: the perspectives of the HTs themselves, that of the teachers, parents, and supervisors. In depth interviews were collected with the HTs. The perspectives of teachers and supervisors on HT leadership, particularly on the side of instructional management were collected through a scale called Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale. The information from these multiple sources were put on the framework and analyzed on the four aspects of leadership processes: initiating school development, promoting learning, managing for results, and strengthening community networks. It was found that the continuity of leadership has been observed as a characteristic feature of effective schools. The study also revealed many differences in ii the leadership processes of the HTs in the effective schools as compared to their counterparts in the comparison schools. Besides showing learning orientations the HTs of the effective schools were found in control of maintaining order and stability in the school, more confident, and believed on their capacity to make change. The emphasis of the HT varied by level of schooling: with the HTs on the secondary school focusing more on management aspects; and by level of development- with more focus on instructional aspects in the beginning. One of the characteristic features of the HTs in the effective schools is their capacity to mobilize community for development of the school. It was found that, the network grew stronger with improved performance and image of the school. Thus, gaining confidence is important for leaders to mobilize support from the community. The study concluded that demonstrating results is important for leaders to gain confidence of the community and that confidence was further utilized for school development. However, the HTs also face challenge to to respond to the changing expectations of the community they serve. The study has implications to both policy and practices including implications for future research. The abstract of the thesis of Tulashi Prasad Thapaliya for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education was presented on May 29, 2011.