Exploring leaderships capabilities and implication on teachers' performance. (c2014)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the leadership capabilities needed for effective educational leadership and consequently set the standards for the knowledge, skills, and personal qualities needed for school principals. It also explores whether leadership capabilities impact teachers’ performance at school. To achieve this, this study is conducted in one private secondary school in Beirut with a purposive sample of one vice principal and 40 teachers and coordinators. A sequential mixed methods design was used. The questionnaire, the Executive Leadership Diagnostic Questionnaire (ELDQ) elicits the coordinators and teachers’ perceptions of their vice principal’s capabilities and behaviors (personal, interpersonal, educational, strategic and organizational) and the impact of these on their performance. The researcher’s reflective journal explores personal qualities, knowledge and skills and their possible impact on teachers. Self-reflection can bring about self-awareness, which is considered to be the first personal capability and perhaps, catalyst, of an executive leader. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis contributed results that were triangulated to enhance validity and reliability of findings. Study findings show a strong congruence between the participants’ views and those of the vice-principal on her leadership with executive capabilities.