A STUDY OF LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF HEADMASTERS AT PRIMARY

A STUDY OF LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF HEADMASTERS AT PRIMARY

What is Leadership?

Leadership is about defining Paths, making decisions and clearing things out for the followers to achieve a common goal or purpose.

DEFINITIONS OF LEADERSHIP

There are many definitions of leadership and the important among them are as
follows :

KODNTAZ AND O'DANNEL :

Leadership is the ability of the leader to induce subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.

ALLEN:

Leader is one who guides and directs other people.

GEOGRGE.R. TERRY:

Leadership is the activity of influencing people to work or strive willingly for mutual objectives.

NORHTHOUSE :

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a Group of individuals to achieve a common goal.

HOUSE:

Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organization.

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

The following skills are essential for a leader in order to achieve success.

1. TECHNICAL SKILLS: ability to use knowledge, methods, techniques and equipments.

2. HUMAN SKILLS: Ability to judge the subordinates well.

3. CONCEPTUAL SKILLS: Ability to understand the complexities of the overall organization.

HODGKINSON'S MAXIMS FOR LEADERSHIP

Hodgkinson points four maxims for leadership in school administration.

1.         Know the task

2.         Know the situation

3.         Know the follower

4.         Know thyself.

All the above four maxims are applicable to school administration particularly applicable to Headmaster.

FUNCTIONS OF A LEADER:

According to D.KRECH, R.CRUTCHFIELD AND E. BALLACHEY, the leader performs many functions which may be classified as primary and accessory. They are listed below :

Leadership Functions

Primary

1.      Executive Planner

2.      Policy Maker Expert

3.      Purveyor of rewards and

4.      Punishments

Accessory

1.    Exemplar

2.    Idealist

3.    Father figure

TYPES OF LEADERS:

Based on the behaviours of leaders they are classified as follows:

1. Autocratic

2. Laissez Fair

3. Democratic

4.  Achievement oriented

QUALITIES OF LEADERS:

ORDWAY TEED

1. Physical and nervous energy

2. a sense of purpose and direction 3. Enthusiasm

4. Friendliness

5. Affection

6. Integrity

7. Technical Mastery

8. Decisiveness

9. Intelligence

10. Faith

HENRY FAYOL :

1. Health and Physical fitness

2. Mental vigor and energy

3. Courage to accept responsibility.

4. Steady, persistent, determination

5. Foresight and the art of handling men.

 

To summarize the following are the more important qualities of a leader.

1. Physical and mental vigor 2. Emotional stability

3. Sense of judgement

4. Balance

5. Understanding

6. Motivation

7. Communication skills

8. Ability to guide

9. Sociability

10. Technical Competence

NEED FOR THE STUDY

The importance of leadership in school management of any educational institution can never be minimized. Achievement of educational goals very much depends on how effectively Headmaster exercises his leadership qualities. Headmaster is the key figure who can influence and change the work culture. All the teachers and students can be motivated to work hard with the result that the goals of education and also the goals of the institution are achieved. Their philosophy of life, their style of management, their way of decision making etc are contributing factors of success of the institution. It is always better to know how they function. Research is needed to know the current status of Headmasters as leaders especially at primary level.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of the study:

1) To know the current status of Headmasters as leaders at primary level.

2) To find whether there exist any significant mean difference between Government and

     Aided School Headmasters with regard to leadership qualities at primary level.

3) To find out whether there exist any significant mean difference between Headmaster and

     Headmistress with regard to leadership qualities at primary level.

4)  To know the relationship between years of experience Headmasters and the leadership

      qualities.

CONSTITUTION OF A PANEL OF EXPERTS

In order to fulfill the objectives of the investigation the researcher constituted a panel of experts. The members include (1) A specialist in Educational Management and (2) Two Headmasters who were working in Panchayat Union Middle Schools in Vallam Block in Villupuram District and (3) one Assistant Elementary Educational Officer who was working in Tiruchirappalli City. The investigator consulted the panel of experts as and when needed.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TOOL

The investigator selected five point rating scale technique. Many statements regarding leadership qualities were generated. Care was taken to frame the items both positive and negative. The scoring procedure of each item is as follows:

Table No.1: Scoring Procedure

Response Pattern	Score for Positive Item	Score for Negative Item
Strongly Agree	5	1
Agree	4	2
Neutral	3	3
Disagree	2	4
Strongly Disagree	1	5

STANDARD REFERENCE SCALE

A recent variation of the standard reference test is standard reference scale. Standard reference scale is having performance standards that define how much of the standard the respondent reached in terms of defined levels.

TWO QUESTIONS ABOUT IMPLEMENTING STANDARD

            How standards actually apply to local Educational Management is an issue which is of great importance. Various options and recommendations must be provided. Generally two questions are asked and they are as follows:

1. Where will we get our standards?

In this investigation the investigator consulted the panel of experts and also conducted field study and item analysis was done. The outcome of these helped to arrive at standards.

2. How will the standard are reported?

The standards are reported in terms of defined levels. The investigator consulted the relevant literature and also experts and finally arrived at the levels.

Generally four levels are identified. In order to get finer interpretation the level 'Above good' is further subdivided into 'Outstanding' and 'Very Good'. Table No.2 gives the full details of the different levels of standard.

Range of Mean	Description of the	Range and Description of the
Score for the	Level	mean score and sub level
level
4.1 -5.0	Above Good	4.6-5.0	Outstanding
		4.1-4.5	Very good
3.1-4.0	Good	-	-
2.1-3.0	Below Good	-	-
1.0 - 2-0	Unsatisfactory	-	-

Table No.2 : LEVELS OF STANDARD

 

ITEM ANALYSIS

Forty Headmasters were selected as pilot study sample. The developed rating scale was administered to them. The collected data in the pilot stlldy were subjected to item analysis. For each item mean value is calculated. Those items which have mean value between 4.6 to 5.0 are considered as outstanding and these items are taken for final study.

ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIABILITY:

The investigator followed the technique of test-retest method. The investigator selected 40 Headmasters and administered the test. After one week of time once again the same rating scale was administered to the same Headmasters. Pearson-product movement Correlation was calculated and the value is 0.85. This value shows that the developed tool is reliable.

SAMPLE OF THE FINAL STUDY

Stratified random sampling technique was employed for the final study. The details of the final study sampling are as follows:

The sample of the final study includes Elementary and Middle school Headmasters in Trichirappalli district under different managements. The following table gives the details of the final study sample:

Table No.3: DETAILS OF THE SAMPLE

SI. No		Category		Number
1.	Government Middle School Headmasters			49
2.	Government Middle School Headmistress			59
3.	Government Elementary School Headmasters			52
4.	Government Elementary School Headmistress			83
5.	Private Aided School: Middle School Headmasters			16
6.	Private Aided	School: Middle School Headmistress		25
7.	Private Aided School: Elementary School Headmasters			16
8.	Private Aided School: Elementary School Headmistress			21
		Total Headmasters		321

The rating scale was administered to 321 Headmasters. The rating scale was scored and scored values were subjected to statistical treatment. The details of statistical treatment are arranged in the tabular forms and they are presented one by one in the next section.

Table No.5: DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS: RANGE OF TOTAL SCORES

Range	Interpretation
93 - 100	Outstanding
81 - 92	Very Good
61 - 80	Good
41 - 60	Below Good
1 - 40	Unsatisfactory

Table No.6: CURRENT STATUS OF LEADERSHIP QUALITIES OF HEADMASTERS AT PRIMARY LEVEL -TOTAL SCORES FOR TOTAL

ITEMS

N	Mean	Maximum	SD	Interprettion
		Score
321	76.68	100	6.46	Good

Table No.7: DIFFERENTIAL STUDY: MANAGEMENT OF INSTITUTIONWISE ANALYSIS

Type of	N	Mean	SD	MI-M2	t	elf	Level or
Management							Sipificance
Government	243	76.33	6.64	0.92	1.09	319	Not
Aided	78	77.25	5.75				Significant

Table No.8: DIFFERENTIAL STUDY: SEXWISE ANALYSIS

Sex	N	Mean	SD	MI-M2	t	elf	Level or
							Significance
Male	133	75.50	6.79	1.78	2.46	319	*
Female	188	77.29	6.13

 Correlational Studies

            Relationship between years of experience of the Headmasters and leadership qualities

N	Correlational Value 'r'	Level of Significance
321	-0.05	Not Significant

Significant Findings

1. The overall assessment of the leadership qualities of primary school Headmasters is good.

2. There is no significant mean difference between Government and Aided School Headmasters

     with regard to leadership qualities.

3. Headmistress excels Headmasters with regard to leadership qualities at primary level.

4.  There is no relationship                        between years of experience of the Headmasters and leadership qualities.

CONCLUSION

The Headmaster in a school is a group leader who knows how to involve people, how to arrange conditions and initiate processes that will bring out the best in each participant. This investigation proves that our primary schools Headmasters are good as leaders. But there is a long way to reach outstanding. Here training is needed for them to reach the level.

Hope our authorities will select few training techniques and train them in order to make them outstanding.

REFERENCE

1. SELVA RETHINAM R. (2008)

A study of Educational Management of Elementary and Middle School Headmasters in Tiruchirappalli District - Ph.D. Thesis submitted to Bharathidasan Unviersity, Tiruchirappalli in the year 2008.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

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