| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to find out how secondary school teachers perceived their female headteachers' leadership behaviour. The research design chosen was descriptive survey, which enabled a description of the leadership behaviours of secondary school women headteachers as perceived by secondary school teachers in Thika district.
The study included a review of available literature that focused on a) Perception of women in management, b) Perception of women as education leaders and c) Perception of women as school leaders in Kenya.
The context of the research was set within secondary schools in Ruiru and focused on secondary schools whose administrators were women. The study target population consisted of 9 secondary schools that had a total of 50 male and 67 female teachers and also included the 9 school heads making the total target population consist of 126 people. From these a sample size of 108 participants (45 male and 63 female) was arrived at using quota sampling which ensured a sample that was representative of the sex presentation of the target population.
The research instrument used was the Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) developed by 1. William Pfeiffer and John E. Jones (Pfeiffer, Jones, 1974). It provided demographic information and assessed leadership behaviour on the basis of the two leadership dimensions, initiating structure and consideration. The response to the Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LBDQ).
The study arrived at the following findings:
That a large proportion of the teachers perceived their headteachers as exhibiting more of initiating structure characteristics than consideration behaviour. These makes the female headteachers in the district quadrant one leaders meaning that they are more task oriented than they are people oriented. The study also found the following factors as influencing the perception of teachers as regards the leadership qualities of their female headetachers:
a) Gender and teaching experience did influence the teachers' perception of their female
headteachers leadership behaviour. Male teachers rated their female headteachers leadership behaviour on both leadership dimensions higher than the female teachers. Teachers with a teaching experience of over 20 years perceived the female headteachers to exhibit effective leadership behaviour.
b) Professional qualifications and age of the teachers did affect their perception of their female headteachers leadership behaviour. Young teachers below 25 years of age perceived the
female headteachers to be task oriented while the.
On the basis of the findings the following recommendations were made;
1. The results showed that female headteachers were more inclined towards goal achievement rather than group maintenance. The study therefore recommends the in servicing of female headteachers in school leadership to enable them achieve a balance between the two leadership dimensions
2. A key finding was that higher professional qualification did equip female headteachers to be effective leaders. Therefore it is recommended that female teachers who aspire to be
education administrators should therefore be motivated to pursue higher training in education management. They should also be encouraged to attend seminars and workshops that offer training on school management.
3. The study revealed that teaching experience did influence teachers perception of the effectiveness of their female school headteacher's leadership behaviour. Teachers with more teaching experience perceived their female school administrators to be more effective. Increased exposure to women as managers helps modify perceptions of masculine gender
role stereotypes of the leadership role. This study recommends that current headteachers should be sensitized on the need to encourage female teachers to take up school duties that will provide them with opportunities to gain expertise in school management. | en |
