Integrative Principals’ Leadership Behaviour Approach to Improve Student Academic Outcomes in Ethiopian Secondary Schools

Abstract

It is clear from the literature that there is no consensus on the most effective type of leadership behavior which promotes one of the main objectives of education, namely student achievement. This current study was initiated due to the prevalence of low student achievement as well as the observed controversies regarding effective types of leadership behaviors in secondary schools in the Gedeo Zone of Ethiopia. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of secondary school principals’ leadership behaviors on student outcomes in the zone and consequently to identify effective types of leadership constructs that could enhance learners’ success. An explanatory sequential mixed-design approach was used with a sample of six schools which were chosen by using a maximum variation strategy. Out of these six sampled schools, eighteen (18) participants, comprising of six (6) principals, four (4) district supervisors, two (2) zone education experts and six (6) PTSA chairmen were chosen for the qualitative phase. These participants were selected purposively as they have a better understanding, by virtue of their position regarding the effect of principals’ leadership behavior on student achievement. A close-ended questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data, while interviews and document analysis were used as research instruments in the qualitative phase. The findings of this study indicate that effective practicing of a combination of instructional and transformational leadership behaviors, in integrative ways, enhances student outcomes.