The role of leadership in improving secondary schools' performance in Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe

Abstract

This research focused on the role of leadership in improving secondary schools’ performance in the Bulawayo province of Zimbabwe. The research was qualitative and a case study was carried out in six secondary schools in Bulawayo. Participants were school heads of the six selected schools, four teachers and two students from each school. Purposive sampling was used in selecting participants. Data was collected using interviews and focus groups. Definitions of leadership given by participants, were summarised as follows: leadership is a process where the leader convinces and motivates followers to follow specified directions in order to achieve desired goals willingly. The study established that most schools used the democratic, situational and the transformational leadership styles but to enhance effectiveness, characteristics of other leadership styles were integrated depending on the context. The study also established that most challenges encountered by schools were generic, and the most common ones were negative attitudes, lack of motivation, lack of financial support, inadequate encouragement of students and lack of supervision. School heads had to adopt appropriate leadership styles in order to effectively attend to challenges faced in their respective schools and thereby improve school performance. The study recommended that a combination of leadership styles, flexible and adapted to each school’s unique situation would be the best model for improving secondary schools’ performance in the Bulawayo province of Zimbabwe.