Abstract

This study was aimed at examining head teachers’ leadership styles and performance of teachers in Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs) in Blantyre Urban. This was fulfilled through the following objectives: to determine the type of leadership styles prevalent in CDSSs, to investigate different ways in which the practiced leadership styles affect performance of teachers, to examine the extent to which head teachers’ leadership styles affect performance of teachers and to establish effective leadership styles that influence performance of teachers. Using a descriptive survey design, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected through interviews and questionnaires respectively. Conducted in 14 CDSSs from a population of twenty, 76 respondents were targeted. The study found that democratic style has a positive impact on performance of teachers while autocratic and laissez-faire have negative impact. Further more, teachers’ performance is negatively affected by the absence of rewards, lack of recognition as well as lack of vision. Besides leadership styles, performance of teachers is affected by lack of career development, low remuneration, delays in receiving salaries and lack of incentives. The study suggests that head teachers in CDSSs should uphold and use either democratic, transactional or transformational leadership styles. Laissez-faire and autocratic styles should be discouraged since they create a lawless working environment and low teachers’ job performance. This study recommends that further research be extended to CDSSs in Blantyre Rural in order to have a comparative analysis of the impact of leadership styles on teachers’ performance.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2022

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