Leadership styles and teachers' innovativeness in private secondary schools in Uganda: the case of Pallisa district
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of leadership styles on
teachers' innovativeness in private secondary schools in Pallisa district. The study
was guided by the following specific objectives: i) to ascertain the leadership
styles adopted in private secondary schools in Pallisa district, and ii) to examine
the relationship between leadership styles and teachers' innovativeness in private
secondary schools in the district. The study was a cross-sectional survey design
that employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches for data collection and
analysis. The data was collected using questionnaires and interview. The data
collected was analysed using the descriptive statistics of SPSS computer
programme. Correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between
leadership styles and teachers innovativeness. The findings showed that the main
leadership styles in the private secondary schools were autocratic, bureaucratic
and democratic. However, democratic leadership style was the most commonly
practised as opposed to autocratic and bureaucratic leadership style. The findings
also revealed that in schools where the democratic leadership style is practiced,
there was fairness, inclusion or collective responsibility. Besides, the study also
established that a more enabling environment for teacher innovativeness existed
in schools where democratic leadership styles were adopted as opposed to the
others practicing autocratic and bureaucratic leadership styles. Contrastingly, the
contribution of school managers to creative teaching was low in schools where
autocratic and bureaucratic leadership styles were practiced. Overall, the
leadership styles adopted in the private secondary schools in Pallisa District did
not contribute significantly to teacher innovativeness. Therefore, it is
recommended that school management undergo training, corporate school
governance be introduced and regular school management inspection.