Influence of head teachers' leadership styles on students' performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination in Mwingi District, Kitui County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of the head teachers' leadership styles on students' performance at KCSE in Mwingi District, Kenya. Objectives of the study sought to examine the relationship between the head teachers democratic leadership style and KCSE performance; to find out the effects of the head teachers' autocratic leadership styles on students' performance in KCSE and to determine the relationship between the head teachers' free-reign type of leadership and students performance in KCSE.

The study was descriptive in nature and survey design was used where the population was the 52 public secondary schools in Mwingi District with a total of 52 head teachers and 456 teachers from the 52 schools. The sample size was 26 schools selected randomly. From each department, one teacher was randomly selected so that each teacher has a chance of being selected from the 26 schools. This made a total of 104 teachers plus the 26 principals which added up to 130 teachers. The researcher collected data on the research questions using two sets of questionnaires. One set was for the head teachers and another for teachers.

The study revealed that, leadership style of the secondary school headteachers in Mwingi District is mostly autocratic. This can be justified by the declining performance in the district and the responses from the teachers. Findings largely indicated that head teachers' leadership greatly affects students' performance. In addition effective leadership will provide schools with a vision; explicit philosophies laid on consultation and team work leading to success in attainment of good results in national examinations.

Even though the district has recorded a series of poor performance, teachers have basically being subjected to training which have been important in enhancing strong leadership and moving the head teachers' style of leadership from autocratic to democratic. The democratic leadership was found to be based on the belief that where people are committed to decisions which they participate in, they will exercise self control, self direction and be motivated.

Given the findings, it is therefore imperative for the headteacher to allow the staff to participate in decision making by allowing for freedom of thought, expression and action with the framework of the mission and objectives of the school. This is because schools headed by democratic headteachers encourage the sense of ownership, responsibility and accountability at each stage. For further study in the area of leadership, a replica of this study should be done in a different district and also cover private schools to determine the leadership style in such schools and compare the performance with public schools'