The Impact Of Leadership Styles On The Capacitation Of Secondary School Principals: A Case Of Mogalakwena Education District

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of the leadership styles on the capacitation of secondary school principals. The study was conducted at four secondary schools in the Mogalakwena education district in Limpopo Province. Most secondary school principals are not adequately capacitated in the knowledge and application of different leadership styles, and this leads to poor learner performance/outcomes. The study followed a qualitative approach with a case study research design. The population in this study consisted of thirty participants that comprised of eight teachers, ten HODs, four principals, and eight SGB members. These were drawn from the four high schools selected for the study, through purposive sampling. The study used focus-group, face-to-face semi-structured interviews, and document analysis to collect qualitative data. The instructional leadership theory was used as the theoretical framework for this study, to investigate the impact of the leadership styles on the capacitation of principals in the four case study schools. A thematic approach was employed to analyse the data, by way of identifying themes emerging from the interviews. The study found that secondary school principals in Mogalakwena education district are not capacitated in so far as leadership style development is concerned. Resultantly, learner achievement is grossly compromised and evidenced by the epithets such as performing and underperforming schools. The study recommended that DBE should ring-fence financial resources, prioritise effective leadership development programmes, and do away with “microwave” or one day or few hours’ workshops.