Omani school head teachers views of effectiveness of school leadership of secondary schools in Oman

摘要

The aims of the study were to: examine how school leaders define effective school leadership, and identify the range of strategies school leaders employed in the management of their school. These aims would allow a consideration of the implications of the results for the professional development of school leaders in secondary schools in Oman. Two questions were set: What are the head teachers’ views of effective school leadership in the secondary schools, and what are some of the strategies head teachers use to lead their schools? Two methods were used. A survey was carried out using a questionnaire completed by all head teachers of secondary schools in Oman. This questionnaire identified a number of items within seven fields and asked head teachers to indicate their level of agreement with these items. These items were drawn from a reading of the literature to identify the features of participatory school leadership. The questionnaire had 40 items divided into seven fields with between 4 and 7 items in each field. This first stage was followed by a smaller group of head teachers being interviewed with the sample being composed of one male and one female head teacher from every district in Oman. The study investigated the profile of current secondary head teachers in Oman in terms of qualification, job experience, teaching experience and gender. Summary data for each of these aspects has been gathered. Also gender was examined in relation to the factors of qualification, length of experience as a teacher and as a manager. The study explored the views of all secondary head teachers in Oman about a participatory model of school leadership and found that there was a consistently high level of agreement with each of the items in the seven fields. The responses of head teachers were also examined for the presence of any statistically significant correlation between the views of the head teachers and each of the following variables: the head teachers’ gender, qualifications, length of experience as a head teacher and length of teaching experience.