Head teachers’ self perception of their role in management of school based change in Gasabo district

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to find out how head teachers perceive their role in management of school based change in Gasabo District. The study sought to fulfil the objectives such as to find out how head teachers perceive their role in management of school based change, to establish the perception of head teachers on their role in management of financial resources, to determine how head teachers perceive their role in management of curriculum and instruction, to find out how head teachers perceive their role in management of school physical facilities as well as to find out how head teachers perceive their role in management of human resource.The study locale was Gasabo District. The researcher chose the study locale due to the fact that Gasabo District has many public schools and the financial consideration where researcher move at the low cost since she lives in Gasabo District. The limitation of the study was the financial constraints hinder the researcher to conduct this study in the whole country, lack of enough literature on school-based change specifically in Rwanda. The study was guided by social system theory. A descriptive survey design was adopted to guide this study. The data for the study was collected using questionnaires. The researcher ensured the instrument validity and reliability. The researcher conducted piloting study before conducting main study. Piloting study was conducted in four schools. A sample size was 38 head teachers drown from 56 head teachers of public schools in Gasabo District. The sample was selected by using stratified random sampling technique. The sample size was made up of 22 male head teachers and 16 female head teachers. The four management tasks areas used by the researcher to find out the perception of head teachers on their role in management of school-based change were: management of school financial resources, management of school physical facilities, management of curriculum and instruction and management of human resource. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used. Descriptive statistics were used in analysis of data. The data was presented in frequencies and percentages. The results of this study revealed that some head teachers had positive perception on their role in management of school-based change in Gasabo District while others do not. This was evidenced by the percentages of the answers of head teachers to various items like 86.8% where head teachers agreed that they had commitment in generating new income in the task of managing school finance. The 60.5% was attributed to the item of ensuring professional development for teachers in the management task of curriculum and instruction. The 55.2% was attributed to the item of ensuring longevity of school physical facilities. On the other side some head teachers had negative perception on their role, 13.1% was attributed the item of not interested in generating new income. The 13.1% was attributed to the item where head teachers agreed that they did not ensure teachers’ motivation and promotion. The study found that head teachers face many challenges when managing school-based change. Some challenges were including lack of financial and material support (18.4%), multiple role of head teachers (15.7%), unmotivated stakeholders (23.6) and negative attitudes of teachers towards the new curriculum (10.5%). The study also found that head teachers use different strategies to overcome challenges occurred when managing school-based change. Some strategies used were including motivation of stakeholders (26.3%), regular supervision (18.4%), regular monitoring and evaluation of teachers’ activities (13.1%) and delegation of duties (21%). In this study, the researcher recommended the educational policy makers and the further researchers in various ways how to profit the findings of the study to improve the educational management.