Leadership styles and teacher commitment in selected secondary schools of Arua district, Uganda

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of leadership styles used by headteachers of Secondary Schools in Arua district on teacher commitment in the selected schools. The purpose of the study was to find out the relationship between leadership styles and teacher commitment. The objectives of the study were: to establish the leadership styles most practiced by head teachers of secondary schools in Arua district, to investigate the relationship between democratic, autocratic and laissez faire leadership styles and teachers' commitment in secondary schools in Arua district. The researcher employed a cross-sectional survey design composed of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The study population of 137 was composed of headteachers, teachers, BOG chairperson, the District Education Officer and students. A sample of 83 respondents was approached to fill the instruments and they were selected using simple random and purposive sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guide . Data collected was analyzed using a computer package called SPSS and results presented in tables. Descriptive analysis was done for quantitative data while content analysis done for qualitative data. The major findings of the study indicated that most headteachers used democratic/participative leadership style, followed by the authoritarian/autocratic style and the laissez fa ire was the least practiced. The head teacher's leadership style affected teacher commitment, most headteachers involved staff in decision making. Chi-square was used to test the relationship between the variables. It was concluded that if the headteachers used more of pat1icipative leadership style, teacher commitment in secondary schools in Arua district would improve . The findings further confirm Fielder's Contingency Theory as applicable to the Education sector. The researcher recommended more use of democratic style of leadership, effective delegation by head teachers.