Leadership styles of Junior High School headteachers in relation to performance of pupils in BECE in the Asougyaman District

Abstract

Leadership at the various levels of education is considered as a critical input in the academic achievement of students. Hence, stakeholders in education always endervour to appoint or recruit the right people with effective leadership skills as headteachers to manage their educational institutions. This study therefore investigated the effects of headteachers’ choice of leadership styles on pupils’ academic performance in BECE in the Asuogyaman District of Education in the Eastern Region. A cross-sectional descriptive survey was adopted with 32 headteachers from Junior High Schools (JHSs) who responded to a structured questionnaire. Also, a data extraction form was designed to collate the BECE results for the respective headteachers during the past five years of their stay. Data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical tools including the factor and correlation analyses. The results revealed that headteachers were most likely to practice the structural leadership style than the symbolic, human resource and political styles. The main factors that influenced the choice of leadership styles among the headteachers were stakeholder involvement, personal experiences, vision for school, policy directives and teacher-pupil attitudes. Meanwhile, the structural and political leadership styles were found to have positively and significantly correlated with the academic performance of pupils. It is recommended that the Ghana Education Service should regularly organise workshops for headteachers on leadership, leadership choices and their ultimate impact on academic performance in their schools. Also, headteachers must have the free hand to run their respective schools with less interference.