CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents the background, problem statement, general objectives, research questions, scope, and limitations of the study as well as significance of the study.

Background of the Study

Teacher leadership is one of the significant factors in the implementation process of teaching and learning. Numerous research studies have stated that teacher leadership has prompted to school development and enhanced student accomplishment as well as engagement in learning (Wan, Tse, Tsang, Lee, Wong, Wan and Wan, 2020).

Teacher leadership is a multifaceted concept; it is considered as a unifying feature in the process of educational enhancement by the use of active contribution. This may work on different levels, running from the administration of schools and the assistance of an expert learning society to enhance classroom education and learning, keeping in mind the end goal to help learners’ scholastic accomplishment (Tsai, 2013). Predominantly, teacher leadership had been defined by Xu & Patmore (2012) as “empowering teachers to take a more active role in school improvement.”

These teachers may have a positive effect on improving the educational level of students inside and outside the classroom (Katzenmeyer and Moller, 2001). Furthermore, another author stated an essential task for the school teachers as leaders in ‘‘helping to translate the principles of school improvement into the practices of individual classrooms’’ (Day and Harris, 2003).

In the meantime, there is a great pressure on schools to achieve the excellence level (Pang & Wang, 2016). This target is no longer related to the principal of the school only, it is connected to every individual that has a role in the educational field. At the present time, the needed power to improve the academic level of each school can be achieved by teachers through providing alternative leadership forces along with the principal’s leadership force (Pang and Miao, 2017). Due to the limited evidence from the research studies that connect between teachers’ leadership style and student achievement.

The rationale of this study therefore, is to focus on the important role of the school teachers as essential leaders for enhancing the students’ results toward better future through the teaching process. Many researchers indicated that the definitive objective of

Teacher leadership is building the knowledge in school students; for that reason, teachers’ leadership styles ought to be drilled in significant ways inside the circle of day by day classroom exercises (Sinha, Hanuscin, Rebello, Muslu, and Cheng, 2012). Furthermore, students have a closer relationship with teachers than principals. Several studies confirmed that principals’ leadership is considered as the second most powerful factor that affects the achievements of the students’ learning, right after teachers’ influence (Grissom, Kalogrides & Loeb, 2015). Therefore, qualified teachers who have both the pedagogical and leadership skills are critical for school success.

In some schools, there is a gap in teachers’ quality which has a direct effect on students’ outcomes (Valletta, Hoff & Lopus, 2014). The same concern has been noted in the United Arab Emirates, and there is great attention towards the students’ outcomes and the qualifications of school teachers. Therefore, the UAE has presented a new licensing system for all public and private school teachers which is called Teachers Licensing

System (TLS). This is an initiative for the UAE Education Sector in the direction of guaranteeing the enhancement of the teaching standards besides the licensing program for all teachers across the UAE.

The UAE concentrates on the program of teacher licensing as one of the important requirements to achieve the UAE national agenda goals in 2021. All school teachers have to attend several professional development programs and pass a number of assessments in order to be certified as qualified teachers (Gallagher, 2019). The UAE government implemented several initiatives in order to support the process of educational reform (UNESCO, 2016) and the program of teachers’ licensing is one of them. This initiative is considered as one of the essential requirements to accomplish the UAE national agenda goals in 2021. This target can be achieved by attending a number of professional development programs and pass different assessments. After that, teacher will be certified as a qualified teacher. The initiative of the teacher licensure will play an important role in solving the issue regarding the insufficient quality of teachers in the UAE (Gallagher, 2019).

Maicibi (2005) asserts that, without a proper leadership style, effective performance cannot be realized in schools. Namirembe (2005) further argues that many secondary schools still lack the necessary performance requirements, not only because of inadequate funds or even poor facilities, but as a result of poor leadership.

Several reports from the Ministry of Education have indicated that teachers’ leadership styles have direct bearing on the overall effectiveness of school because both the teacher and the student perform under the leadership of school principal (UNESCO,2012). For example, a study in Malaysia by Wan and Jamal (2012) found that the role of principal is important in determining the high-academic performance of students in examinations. This is definitely true for Cameroon because the school is under the leadership of the principal as well followed by other administrative staff then the teachers. 

Even though different authorities in leadership as a subject have come up with various classifications of leadership styles this study will focus on Lewin (1939) classification that identified a couple of leadership styles like, authoritarian or autocratic, democratic or participative and laissez-faire or passive and others. This is because the rest of the classifications borrow from Lewin only that the terms are different.

Democratic leadership style is consultative and participatory in nature and leaders here not only offer guidance to group members, but they also participate in the groups and allow input from other group members (Bass and Bass, 2008). Autocratic leadership style which is also referred to as authoritarian leadership style encompasses being arbitrary, controlling, poweroriented, coercive, punitive, and close-minded. It means taking full and sole responsibility for decision and control of followers’ performance. Autocrats stress obedience, loyalty, strict adherence to rules; they make and enforce the rules. This style is influenced by Mc Gregors’s

Theory X which presumes that people are naturally lazy and need close supervision. Lastly, Laissez faire leadership style is the style whereby little or no guidance is offered to group members and leave decision-making up to group members. While this style can be effective in situations where group members are highly qualified in an area of expertise, it often leads to poorly defined roles and a lack of motivation (Bass and Bass, 2008). The principal who applies this leadership style is influenced by Mc Gregor’s Theory Y concept which argues that people are innately motivated, that they naturally like work and are interested in doing their work and therefore need no coercing (Wasonga, 2014, citing McGregor, 1964).

Tarus (2009) and Musungu (2007) both agree that teachers’ leadership has an influence on student’s performance. However, both studies did not establish to what extent the identified leadership style contributes to academic performance. This study undertook to establish the relationship of democratic, autocratic and laissez faire leadership styles on academic performance and statistically indicate to what extent each contributes to performance.

Ololube(2013) observed that Laissez-faire leadership could be effective if the leader monitors what is being achieved and communicates this back to the team regularly, something that most leaders ignore. He adds that such leaders avoid responsibilities, do not take care of the needs of the followers, and do not provide feedback.

Statement of the Problem

The relationship between teacher leadership style and students’ performance has been a subject of controversy by many researchers. The controversy is cantered on whether or not the style of leadership of teachers influences the level of performance among students. Common observation in the school system shows that the style of leadership of a teacher could perhaps have serious impact on students’ performance. Some people assume that the poor academic performance in many secondary schools in Bamenda has been impacted by teacher’s leadership styles. This assumption is because after everything that has been done to ensure students go to school in Bamenda and have quality education, the performances of many students are still poor. Given that most schools in Bamenda are said to have good infrastructure with the favourable atmospheric conditions for studies in Bamenda, students are expected to have the best results which is not the case. This has urged the researcher to carry on this investigation to know if the reason for the poor performance is truly because of teacher leadership style so that recommendations can be made to better performance.

Objectives of the study

Main Objectives 

 To investigate teachers’ leadership styles and their effects on Students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Bamenda.

Specific Objectives

• To examine the extent to which laissez faire leadership style of teachers has an influence on academic performance of students.
• To investigate the impact of autocratic leadership style of teachers on students’ academic performance.
• To examine the influence of coaching leadership style of teachers on students’ academic performance.

Research Questions

Main Question

 To what extent do teachers’ leadership styles influence Students’ academic performance in selected secondary schools in Bamenda?

Specific Question

• To what extend does teachers’ laissez faire leadership style influences academic performance of students?
• To what extend does autocratic leadership style of teachers on students’ academic performance?
• What is the influence of coaching leadership style of teachers on students’ academic performance?