The leadership styles and practices of school principals and heads of departments and their impact on learners’ pass rates in selected Namibian secondary schools

Joyce Masiye; Harrison Daka; Mukuka Lydia Mulenga-Hagane

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.2.28

Autores

Joyce Masiye International University of Management, Namibia https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5825-0486
Harrison Daka The University of Zambia, Zambia
Mukuka Lydia Mulenga-Hagane The University of Zambia, Zambia https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6423-4215

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.7.2.28

Palavras-chave:

Heads of Departments, Leadership Styles, Principals, Leadership Practices, Namibia

Resumo

The study explored the leadership styles and practices predominantly employed by the school principals and their implications for learners’ pass rates in secondary schools. The study adopted interpretivist paradigms because of its focus on understanding social reality from the standpoint of those experiencing it (principals and HODs). A qualitative research design was employed, with semi-structured interviews conducted across six schools. The study was guided by transformational, distributed, instructional, and situational theory. The target population was 24, which includes principals and HODs. A total sample of 12 participants, including principals and HODs, were purposefully selected. Data was thematically analyzed using Yin’s analysis framework. The study found that instructional, transformational, distributive, and adaptive leadership improved shared accountability, collaboration, motivation, and students’ pass rate, while autocratic practices were generally avoided. Leadership practices such as monitoring classroom instruction, enforcing discipline policies, monitoring teachers’ work, and consistent engagement in instructional leadership were widely implemented. Although transformational, instructional and distributed leadership dominate, situational flexibility and learner participation remain underdeveloped. Principals who integrate instructional, transformational, and distributed leadership and who change leadership depending on the situation reported improved accountability, motivation, and improved learner pass rates. The study recommends school leaders institutionalize a hybrid, context-responsive leadership style that integrates distributed, instructional, and transformational practices; formalize distributed leadership structures; strengthen mentorship and capacity-building systems; and embed structured consultation processes that enhance teacher empowerment and shared accountability as well as improve learners’ outcomes.

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