Transformational leadership in Government secondary schools in Zimbabwe with special reference to Bulawayo

Abstract

The study sought to explore the extent to which transformational leadership could be applied in government secondary schools. The main aim was to establish how transformational leadership could boost productivity in government secondary schools. The study was carried out in government secondary schools in Bulawayo. Only schools' performance at O'level was used as a measure of academic performance of the schools. The sample was made up of 215 teachers drawn from Bulawayo secondary schools, 15 heads of schools, 5 District Officers and other key informants in the education system like BSPZ co-coordinators and the newly appointed secondary school inspectors. Also included in the sample were the Provincial Director, two Deputy Provincial Directors, and Education Officers; Examinations and Planning. Document analysis, observation, questionnaire, interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data under the following themes; transformational leadership and transactional leadership, transformational leadership and the concepts of change, motivation, organizational culture and performance. All the respondents believed that heads of schools could use transformational leadership to create competitive advantage and uniqueness of schools, yet the issue of how policy could be successfully woven into heads' plans remained debatable. The study recommended that schools as business organizations needed leaders who clearly understood their role in the school production process.