Determination of School Leaders’ Values, Their Levels of Practice and Differences

Abstract

. This study sought to get a better understanding on the extent of values being considered and practised by the school heads. This is important because school heads, as well as teachers are considered role models by their students and community, therefore these school heads should ‘lead by example’. The objectives of the study were to determine their most favoured values, their levels of practice and their differences. A quantitative approach was used by employing a survey instrument to gather the data. The values assessed were categorized into four domains, namely Basic Values, Professional Values, Morale Values and, Social and Political Values. There were 105 school heads from most parts of the country purposely selected for the study. The respondents were from both primary and secondary schools and comprised both gender. The respondents were required to self assessed their values practice using the five-point Likert Scale items. It was decided that 94 survey questionnaire forms to be selected and analysed. Based on the item analysis, it was concluded that the respondents scored considerably high in all the four domains. It was also discovered that there were no significant differences in the practice of values between primary and secondary school heads, gender and geographical locations. There was also no significant difference in terms of years of experience as school heads. Although their levels of values practice were mostly high, suggestions were made to further strengthened their values-based leadership particularly the Moral Values domain.. It was also suggested that a 360 degree type of assessment to be used in future study to get different perspectives to support the findings of this study. Lastly, this study has contributed to the body of knowledge in terms of values-based leadership among the school heads in the country.