| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of principals’ leadership styles on
schools’ climate through determining the extent to which principals’ participatory,
authoritarian, free reign, and transformational leadership styles influence organizational
climate in secondary schools. The study also sought to determine the challenges faced by
principals in creating a positive organizational climate in secondary schools in Nyahururu
district. Douglas MacGregor’s theory X and theory Y was used to explain the study
variables. Descriptive survey design was applied in the study. The target population for the
study was 24 principals, and 449 teachers in 24 secondary schools in Nyahururu district. Out
of the targeted 84 respondents 68 responded giving a response rate of 81 per cent.
Questionnaires were used as instrument for data collection. The study found that open
organizational climate was prevalent in secondary schools to a large extent as indicated by
48 percent of the respondents. Autonomous climate and controlled climate prevailed in the
schools to a large extent as indicated by 42 per cent and 40 percent of the respondents. On
the participatory leadership style, the study revealed that 77 percent of the respondents
agreed the style made teachers feel motivated which influenced organization climate
positively. Regarding the influence of authoritarian leadership style, 65 percent of the
respondents strongly agreed that, head teachers assign duties without consultation and issue
directives which creates a negative climate. Finally, on the influence of transformational
leadership style on organization climate, 69 percent of the respondents strongly agreed that
in its presence teachers had positive interrelationships resulting into autonomous climate.
The findings from the correlation analysis showed that the principals’ leadership style
influenced organizational climate. This was evidenced by the fact that each of the leadership
styles correlated with particular organizational climate with correlation less than 0.05 at
95% confidence level. The major challenges facing principals were found to include:
inadequate resources, poor infrastructure and lack of parental support as indicated by 80
percent, 75 percent and 65 percent respectively. The study concluded that participatory,
authoritarian and transformational leadership styles are commonly used by principals in
secondary schools in Nyahururu district. Participatory and transformational leadership
promoted open climate, authoritarian leadership promotes a closed climate while free reign
leadership style promotes familiar school climate. The study recommends that head teachers
in secondary schools in Nyahururu district should adopt participatory leadership style. It
was finally recommended that another study be done in other counties to determine the
effect of leadership style on the school performance which was not the focus of this study.
The study concluded that participatory and transformational leadership styles influences
organization climate positively. Authoritarian leadership style results into a controlled,
closed or paternal school climate while free reign leadership style promotes familiar climate. | en |
