Teachers’ perceptions of their principals’ leadership styles and the impact on learners’ academic performance in South Africa, Ilembe District.

Abstract

The way teachers perceive the leadership styles of their principals has an impact on learner performance. This quantitative study is aimed at examining teachers‟ perceptions of their principals‟ leadership styles as passive-avoidant, transactional or transformational and the consequent impact on learner performance in their schools. The study followed the survey research principles and adopted probability sampling. A simple random sampling technique was employed in selecting teachers from 14 high schools at Ndwedwe Circuit Management Centre in iLembe District in KwaZuluNatal Province. This sampling technique was selected to avoid bias. Every teacher in the three selected circuits stood an equal chance of being selected. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire was used to measure the leadership behaviours and attributes of principals as perceived by matriculation teachers. The National Senior Certificate Examinations was used to measure learner performance from 2014 to 2016. Teachers‟ demographics were also examined namely their age, gender, teaching experience, the service at their current school, their employment status and their level of education. A binomial test was conducted to assess whether a significant proportion of respondents select one of a possible number of responses. Pearson‟s correlation was used to measure correlations between variables. The principals were reported to exhibit characteristics of transformational, transactional as well as passive-avoidant leadership styles. Analyses showed that transformational leadership style scored significantly higher than transactional leadership style. These results do not support the theory that associates transformational leaders with positive effects in predicting organisational commitment. However, it does support the theory in that the effects of transformational leadership on learner performance are indirect. Principals are not directly involved with the learners. They impact results through teachers. The study illustrates the critical role played by teachers in improving learners‟ academic performance. Therefore, this study recommends that principals integrate instructional leadership with other leadership styles and that leadership should be always present. Limitations of the study included a lack of generalizability due to the use of schools from only one district.