Abstract:
What occasioned this study was the seemingly big difference in
academic performance of students from various senior secondary schools and
the desire of some teachers to work in some particular schools. These, to
some extent, indicated the existence of some problems confronting the senior
secondary sector and among the problems was one related to leadership
effectiveness of headmasters. A research problem was created with the aim
of knowing from respondents (teachers and students) whether the leaders of
second cycle institutions in the execution of their duties exhibited any peculiar
characteristics that constituted a marked departure from what was revealed
by the literature review related to leadership effectiveness.
The respondents for the study were teachers and students of six senior
secondary schools from the Akwapim North District in the Eastern Region of
Ghana. The basic focus was the perception of the leadership styles of the
headmasters of the schools. Five research questions were formulated to
investigate such factors as (a) the extent to which teachers and students
thought their headmaster was effective (b) the extent to which teachers and
students thought that their headmaster's performance created an enabling
environment for academic work. The instrument that was designed was
primarily based on previous empirical studies of leadership and this together with the information provided by the literature review produced the factors
upon which the study was based.
The instrument was designed to examine (a) the personal qualities and
academic qualifications of headmasters and (b) the leadership behaviour of
the headmasters. Two main null hypotheses were formulated to test for any
significant differences in perception between the teachers and student
respondents. The chi-square test of significance was used as the main
statistical technique for the study. The hypotheses were tested at the 0.05
alpha level.
A finding of the study was the essence of the possession of the requisite
managerial and administrative skills to ensure leadership effectiveness in
schools. It was the considered opinion of students that education was one of
the basic vehicles for equipping one with the required skills. This finding
endorses the recommendation that the Ministry of Education, the Ghana
Education Service and other concerned bodies should ensure that our senior
secondary schools are manned by people who possess the requisite
educational background. Teachers expressed that sound mental health and
trust in dealing with peers and subordinates are very important in helping
achieve effectiveness in schools. Chi-square analysis revealed differences in perception of the teachers
and students on 9 items out of the 24 items in the questionnaire. Some of the
factors where perception differed are (1) Neat in appearance, (2) Courageous
in facing problems (3) Promotes good relations among the personnel of the
school and (4) Accepts and applies suggestions made by students.
Further recommendations made as a result of the findings of the study
are: Heads of educational institutions should engage qualified staff and also
they (Heads of educational institutions) should do careful analysis of problems
before taking action.
