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.