A Comparative Study of Instructional Leadership Practices and Collective Decision Making in Public Secondary Schools in Morogoro Municipal, Tanzania (Published)
This study aims to provide an in-depth understanding of strategies for enhancing the implementation of instructional leadership practices for collective decision-making in Public Secondary Schools in Morogoro Municipality. This study adopted the Distributed Transformational leadership theories propounded by James Spillane and Bernard Bass. The study adopted a convergent research design under a mixed research approach. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were employed to sample respondents in this study. The study collected data from five (5) Heads of Schools (HoSs) and fifty (50) Teachers using an interview guide and questionnaire. The study found that instructional leadership encompasses the actions and strategies undertaken by school leaders to promote effective teaching practices, curriculum development, and student achievement. Nevertheless, the study also found that instructional leadership is a critical factor influencing teaching quality and student achievement. There is limited understanding of how these practices manifest and interact with collective decision-making structures within school settings. The hypothesis test indicated no significant relationship between instructional leadership practices and collective decision-making in public secondary schools. This study concluded that school administrators should work on improving instructional leadership practices to enhance collective decision-making. The study also resolved that instructional leadership and collective decision-making jointly create an effective collaborative school environment that focuses on improving teaching and learning outcomes for all students. Therefore, the study recommended Ministry of Education to organize capacity-building programs for HoSs focusing on instructional leadership skills and effective decision-making.
Keywords: Instructional Leadership, Public Secondary Schools, collective decision making
Influence of Collective Decision Making in Participative Leadership Style on Improving the Quality of Education in Public Secondary Schools in Arusha Region, Tanzania (Published)
This study addressed the influence of collective decision-making in participative leadership style on improving the quality of education in public secondary schools in Arusha region, Tanzania. The study was guided by participative system theory. The correlation survey design was adopted to establish the influence of collective decision-making on improving the quality of education. To this end, two hundred and ninety-one (291) respondents from 18 public secondary schools were selected in the mix of stratified and random sampling techniques from three (03) district councils in Arusha region. The study involved three (03) district education officers, eighteen (18) heads of schools, eighteen (18) academic masters/mistresses, one hundred and eighty (180) teachers, and seventy-two (72) students. The study collected data by using multiple instruments such as questionnaires for teachers, students, and academic masters/mistresses, interview schedules for district education officers and headmasters/mistresses, and document analysis schedules. Descriptive statistics such as mean scores, standard deviations, frequencies, and percentages summarized data collected. Multiple Regression Analysis technique was used to analyze inferential statistics by testing hypotheses. The study findings revealed that collective decision-making is the crucial strategy of involving teachers and students in participative leadership by making them be part of the solution to the education challenges confronting the education sector. The academic masters/mistresses appeared to be more involved in collective decision-making than teachers and students. The study concluded that there is an existence of contradiction of application of collective decision making due to the manifestation of a top-down leadership system based on directive decisions from the highest authority. Based on the research findings and conclusions, the study recommended the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology to develop a clear policy that will guide headmasters/mistresses towards implementing the collective decision making by involving teachers and students for improving the quality of education in public secondary schools.
Keywords: Participative leadership style, Quality of Education, collective decision making