Abstract:
This study assessed the leadership efficacy of secondary school principals in
the Free State Province of South Africa. The aim of the study was to assess
the leadership efficacy of school principals in different dimensions of their
leadership roles, and to examine the factors (personal and contextual) which
affect their leadership efficacy in secondary schools in the Free State
Province. These leadership dimensions are: Instructional Leadership and
Staff Development, School Climate Development, Community Collaboration,
Data-based Decision making Aligned with Legal and Ethical Principles,
Resource and Facility Management, Use of Community Resources,
Communication in a Diverse Environment, and Development of School Vision.
In this study both the qualitative and quantitative research methods were
used. The sample for this study included 84 secondary school principals from
the five districts, that is, the Motheo, Xhariep, Lejweleputswa, Thabo
Mofutsanyane and the Fezile Dabi districts. Data was collected by using both
questionnaires and semi structured interviews. The questionnaire had both
closed and open-ended questions. Closed questions examined the perceptions school principals have about their leadership. Open-ended
questions looked at factors affecting the school principals’ leadership
practices.
The results of the study reveal that the leadership efficacy of school principals
in the Free State Province, at an overall mean of 5.27, is moderately high. A
one-way repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to determine whether
there were statistically significant differences in Leadership Efficacy
dimensions for secondary school principals. There were statistically
significant differences in Leadership efficacy dimensions for the principals,
this means that each of the Leadership Efficacy dimensions differed
significantly from each other dimension. MANOVA was also run to determine the effect of gender, experience and the
geographical location of the school on leadership efficacy. The findings
reveal that there were no significant effects of gender, experience and
geographical location on leadership efficacy. So, it seems that leadership
efficacy did not differ between principals with different genders, experience
and geographical locations. The analysis of qualitative data from the openended
questions and semi structured interviews also revealed a number of
personal, contextual and external factors which affect the leadership efficacy
of secondary school principals. These findings also reveal the effect of these
factors on the leadership practices of school principals.
There are different views on the role of school principals as leaders worldwide
and in South Africa. This study will, therefore, make a contribution in the
continuing discourse or debate on the leadership roles of school principals in
South African schools.