Abstract:
The general low academic performance in Senior High schools have been
attributed to teachers’ inability to perform their functions well and head teachers’
lack of good leadership among others (Osei, 2006; Akyeampong, 2010; Oduro,
Dachi & Fertig, 2008). The study sought to find out how leadership styles of Head
teachers in Senior high schools in the Mfantseman municipality influence teacher
performance. The instrument used was the questionnaire and responses were
indicated on a five point Likert scale ranging from very strongly agree (5) to strongly
disagree (1). A total of 141 members of teaching staff from the four Government
Senior High schools in the Mfantseman municipality were the respondents. The
responses were tabulated and the data were put into frequencies, percentages, rank
ordering and analysed. Pearson correlation analysis was employed to examine
relationships between staff performance and the various leadership styles. The study
established that teachers believe that for a head teacher to perform his function very
well he/she needs to have further training in educational administration among
others. The study established that the dominant leadership style exhibited by head
teachers as seen by teachers is the delegating style followed closely by the
democratic style. The study also found a significant and positive relationship
between teacher performance and both the delegating and autocratic leadership
styles of head teachers. The study recommends that authorities should ensure that
those being appointed as head teachers have training in educational administration
among others. Leadership training should be conducted for head teachers so as to
learn how to combine all the various leadership styles for maximum performance.
