Introduction
Over the decades, the impact on teachers’ job performance has become the main subject of leadership which has been conceptualized as leadership styles of school principals and job performance of the teachers (Ekhaisomi, 2011; Imhangbe, Okecha, & Obozuwa, 2018), an organizational process (Cheong Cheng, 1991), a critical factor for school performance (Cheng, 1994), as a manager and an administrator to control school resources for organizational goal achievement (Adeyemi, 2010). However, Imhangbe et al. (2018) not only conceptualized the principal leadership style and teacher job performance relationship but also discovered the major positive influence of democratic on teachers’ job performance in this regard, while about substantial joint variation in teacher job performance was due to autocratic, democratic and laissez-fair leadership styles as well as it has strongly been suggested that principals should be encouraged to use democratic leadership style. In addition, Ekhaisomi (2011) correlated principals’ leadership styles to teachers’ job performance and argued employed leadership style tool kit based on situation, which is in the hand of principals to maximize teachers’ productivity if it is used well, otherwise, it will reverse the instance.
The education sector of Pakistan was divided into two categories at the time of independence. They were public sector educational schools, colleges, and institutions as well as private sector (Burki, 1986). These public and private schools, colleges and institutions have been working since or after the creation of Pakistan to date (Iqbal, 2012). The country’s education sector produces responsible citizens and develops human capital to attain National Education Goals (Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training Government of Pakistan, 2017). Here the question is that weather the country or state would achieve the educational targets alone (International Finance Corporation, 2002; World Bank, 2002). Concerning to the national targets, both the public and private sector educational schools, colleges and institutes are playing their vital roles. The private schools are the key contributors in bringing their part in Millennium Development Goals the same as in public sector schools.
A significant phenomenon in Pakistan is the provision of private education which is the core ground and rational motive in the growth and expansion of schools, institutes, enrollment and teachers’ national workforce in private sector from the past decades, especially since 2000, in urban as well as rural regions (Institute of Social Policy Sciences, 2010). This massive growth is a challenge for administrators, policy makers and school leaders. The school principals provide a quality education by offering fine teaching services. Imhangbe et al. (2018) stated that school principals’ leadership style had either positive or negatively / direct or indirect impact on teachers’ job performance.
Leadership phenomena is a captivated sequence of an action which intends to achieve befitted results through sanitization and improvement of personal, social and professional work practices. It works by filling organizational leadership shelves with those personnels and leaders who have the ability to bring and convert vital assets to the institute and organization, eventually ameliorating bottom line (Northouse, 2018), such as to enrich their work practices and to effect the performance of the teachers. School leadership (Spillane, Halverson, & Diamond, 2004) , educational and administrative as technical and nontechnical, including managers, problem solvers and facilitators (Williams-Boyd, 2002), as well as school uniqueness, purposeful school changes, successful strategies (Busher, 2006), are all perceived as an imperative directing process apex. Furthermore, leadership peculiarly principal leadership styles are burning phenomenon for the researchers over a period of time around the world, numerous scholarly studies have thrown light on versatile theoretical leadership approaches and tactics as well as processing complexities (Bass & Stogdill, 1990; Bryman, 1992, 2011; Gardner, 1993; Hickman, 1998; Mumford, 2006; Rost, 1993).
Transformational leadership and transactional leadership (Bass, 1990; Bass, Avolio, Jung, & Berson, 2003; Burns, 1978; Downton, 1973) foster teachers’ job performance. Transformational leadership and transactional leadership which have been zeal in leadership research have mutual and particular effects on organization (Awamleh & Gardner, 1999; Bass, 1985; Conger & Kanungo, 1998; House, 1976). Over the time, group performance, satisfaction, commitment and organizational performance, which are linked to the leadership style, are vital outcomes for numerous organizations (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1996). Leadership has multiple and discrete dimensions which are definite realities (Reeves, 2006), such as path goal theory, situational approach, skill approach, trait approach, behavioral approach, servant leadership, adaptive leadership, transformational and transactional leadership (Northouse, 2018), instructional leadership (Harris, Jones, Cheah, Devadason, & Adams, 2017; Smith & Andrews, 1989; Terosky, 2016), strategic leadership (Petersen, 2015; Van Niekerk & Van Niekerk, 2006) as well as principal’s strategic leadership (Mokone, 1999), managerial leadership (Ciriello, 1998; Jaques, 2017; Lee, 2017), and, distributed leadership (Al-Khasawneh & Futa, 2012; Chen, 2007; Saadi et al., 2009).
The role of leadership and school conditions contribute to innovation (Hallinger & Heck, 1996; Newmann & Wehlage, 1995), modernization, adaptation of advanced teaching practices, global changes and current challenges. It is an essential responsibility of school leadership and management to equip their teachers with the latest knowledge and practices, which can contribute to academic success that produces incentives and opportunities to improve the job practices of teachers (Bryk & Driscoll, 1985; Newmann & Wehlage, 1995).
Tomlinson (2004) proposed distinctive procedures from smells and incantations of the prophecy to drive and proposed insight into the intricacies of human interaction in educational institutes and organizations. School leadership and management develop their teachers and staff in terms of goals, vision and current challenges to enhance the job performance. In spite of the facts, management makes and implements strategies and policies to help principals, directors, and administrators of schools to achieve their objectives.
Tomlinson (2004) recognizes that the mentoring, coaching and counseling services offered by leaders are affirm elements. These three elements compose the tool kit which helps the management to boost up teachers’ jobs performance as well. Tomlinson further argues that it is an essential back up support service tool box to cope with changes and current challenges which can be adapted according to schools and colleges context after alternation.
Principals and school leaders are striving for the quality of having great facility and competence for proficiency to balance and stabilize their key roles which is why undoubtedly, today, school leaders and principals need to wear many hats constantly and juggle them fluidly day by day (Tobin, 2014), as an agent of success, change or sources of failure (Kafka, 2009), under the umbrella of multiple leadership theories and styles which impact the job performance of teachers.
Approaches, like trait approach, skill approach, situational approach, behavioral approach, path goal theory and multiple leadership styles (Northouse, 2018) are used by principals being managers, administrators, diplomates, curriculum instructor, teacher leaders and sometimes all in one school day context in various situation at various state of affairs.
Leadership style is a portfolio to enhance teachers’ job performance productivity, however no leadership style is superior to others, although that the situation and context at hand determines what style or styles to be employed to maximize job performance. In fact, the right style influences job performance of teachers positively otherwise reverses in the case (Ekhaisomi, 2011).
Current researches have been commenced in this respect about the leaders and principals of schools to inspect commonly adopted or practiced the style of leadership and its impact on teachers’ job performance (Adebayo, 2003; Adeyemi, 2010; Imhangbe et al., 2018; Machumu & Kaitila, 2014).
Imhangbe et al. (2018) studied the relationship between “principals’ leadership styles and the job performance of teachers in secondary schools in public sector in Edo Central Senatorial district, Nigeria”. It was correlational study by design and two research instruments were adapted, named “Principals’ Leadership Style Questionnaire” (PLESQUE) and “Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire” (TEJOPAQ) to collect the data from the population of 69 principals and 397 teachers of the secondary schools; 21 copies of the teachers’ questionnaire were removed from the analysis due to incorrect filling. Thus, 376 copies of the instruments were analyzed in the study. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 significant level by using multiple regression, Pearson product-moment correlation analysis and percentage. On the bases of analysis, the results explore that 68.3% variation in teachers’ job performance was due to democratic leadership style and laissez-fair jointly. Democratic and laisse-fair leadership have positive influence on the job performance of the teachers in that area. Therefore, it was recommended among the other things, principals of Edo Central Senatorial District, Nigeria should encourage to cope with democratic leadership style. This study is also main encouragement and guideline for this present research.
Adeyemi (2010) threw light on “principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ job performance in secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria”. The descriptive research design was adopted for this investigation. 240 secondary schools were selected as study samples out of all comprised 281 population of state secondary schools. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 1800 teachers and 240 principals as unit of analysist. Two questionnaires 1(“The Principals’ Leadership Style Questionnaire (PLSQ)” and 2) “Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (TJPQ)” were used to collect the data. The data collected was analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation. A correlation coefficient of 0.81 value is showing the reliability of instruments. Pearson, t-test, percentages and frequency tests were used for analysis while alpha of 0.05 value was used to test the hypotheses. It has been noted that democratic leadership style was often used by principals. The job performance of the teachers was better while under autocratic leadership style as compare to democratic and laissez-fair leadership styles. Among the other recommendations, the mixture of autocratic and democratic leadership styles is suggested to be used to enhance teachers’ job performance and reserves the situation while using laissez-fair leadership style.
Machumu and Kaitila (2014) examined the suitability of school leadership style and teachers’ job satisfaction in primary schools of Tanzania. The cross-sectional study design was utilized to provide holistic picture and in-depth problem understanding. 200 teachers were selected among 20 schools as samples including head teachers, deputy head teachers and classroom teachers through purposive and stratified random sampling. It was observed along with other findings that the dominant style of leadership in best performing schools was democratic style. Thus, it was recommended that there was much more for least performing schools to learn from the democratic style of leadership.
Werang and Lena (2014) investigated the relationship between principal’s leadership, school organizational climate, and teachers’ job performance by selecting 164 teachers as population while the sample was comprised of 118 teachers that were approximately 71% of population, at State High Schools in Merauke regency, Indonesia. The questionnaire was the key research tool for this descriptive quantitative study. The investigation revealed “a significant relationship between principals’ leadership and teachers’ job performance at the state high schools in Merauke regency, Papua”. Prestigious
Effective leadership is instrumental in ensuring organizational performance which has a positive impact on organizational performance, eventually many individual performances culminate in organizational goals achievement and performance. Effective leaders and principals have clear visions and strong expectations to school future and teachers (Werang & Lena, 2014).
Kozaala (2012) conceptualized “Leadership styles and job performance of teachers in selected private secondary schools of Kamuli District, Uganda”. The sample was comprised on 15 private schools and data was collected from 125 participants which were comprised on fifteen head of the teachers, thirty Governors Board personals and five Education Ministries and Sport Kamuli District, official personals. The research was conducted through self-constructed questioners for the teachers and interview guide for the head teachers, Governors Board members and official personals. This cross-sectional investigation was analyzed by using Pearson’s co-efficient correlation. It was noticed that at administration positions, principals and head teachers were employed by autocratic leadership style; the directive language was being used while talking to teachers and decisions were made solely and without their teachers’ suggestions or opinions, the duties or job responsibilities were not delegated in regard to democratic leadership style, due to all that teachers felt rejected and were demotivated, therefore junior teachers’ job performance was negatively impacted.
Indeed, a glut of researches had been conducted available on this enigma but it is a paradox which has been unsolved so far and varies context to context; for our acquaintance, it needs elucidation by clearing up what and how the style of leadership either negatively or positively further teachers’ job performance in secondary schools in private sector.
The available researches’ research object was public schools generally while this paper was carried to throw light on principals’ leadership style and teachers’ job performance relationship or correlation in secondary schools in private sector which may differ than public schools. Besides the issues, there was no prior published research work available particularly on this area and population regarding principals’ leadership style (autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire) and teachers’ job performance in private sector at the time of this study. As a result, there was indigence or chasm in knowledge on this leadership and job performance subject matter in the view of secondary schools in public sector in Lahore district.
Thus, there was an acute need to fill this gap in knowledge. To our knowledge, Therefore, it was first study which gives insightful view that which leadership style among autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire, were the most conducive to the job performance in secondary schools in private sector particularly in Lahore district-Pakistan.