Principals’ Leadership Effectiveness in Secondary Schools of Addis Ababa City Administration
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2011-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of Principals’ leadership
in some selected secondary schools of Addis Ababa City Administration. To this end, both
qualitative [case study] and quantitative [descriptive survey] approaches were applied in
this study. Primary data were gathered from Principals, vice principals, department heads,
teachers, sub city education office heads and supervisors, and PTSAs of the selected
Schools and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics, i.e. percentiles, mean
scores, and standard deviation. Additionally, qualitative data were collected from school
principals, sub city education office heads, and supervisors through interview, and from
Parents, Teachers, and Students Association (PTSA) through focused group discussions.
Qualitative data were analyzed after the responses were transcribed using respondents’ own
words and categorized in to various themes and subthemes. It was found out that
effectiveness of schools principals’, in setting goals, developing vision, forming strong
functional relationship among the school community, and showing professional endeavors
in inspiring teachers do their work enthusiastically was below the desired level. The study
further revealed that lack of adequate training and experience related to the functions of
instructional leadership, high staff turnover, shortage of resources and more engagement
on routine works that had less value to the schools’ vision and mission were some of the
main problem hindering principals’ leadership effectiveness. Accordingly, it is concluded
that almost all of the school principals were not effectively leading core activities of their
schools by forming communal cooperation among the staff within the school, on one hand,
and collaboration between the staff of the schools and the community outside the schools, on
the other hand. Finally, it is recommended that responsible parties including Addis Ababa
City Administration Education Bureau (AAEB) are advised to fill the knowledge and skill
gaps of the principals by designing and providing long and short term professional training
and development programs on: strategic instructional leadership, effective cooperative and
collaborative school leadership styles as well as internalization of the selection criteria as
stipulated in “A Blue Print for Teachers Development Program” in a suitable manner
Description
Keywords
Education