A study of principal leadership and teacher empowerment as perceived by ESL teachers in central Bhutan

Abstract

The purposes of this mixed-method study were: (1) to find the leadership behaviour of principals as perceived by English as Second Language (ESL) teachers in the schools of central Bhutan, (2) to identify ESL teachers' perceived level of empowerment, and (3) to examine the relationship between principal leadership and teacher empowerment. The study comprised of 88 ESL teachers drawn from 24 schools in Trongsa District, Central Bhutan. Leadership Orientation Questionnaire (LOQ) was used to examine principal leadership behaviours and School Participant Empowerment Scale (SPES) was used to examine teacher empowerment as perceived by the ESL teachers. For qualitative data, the interview questions were framed based on the literature review and theoretical constructs of the study. The mean and standard deviation were computed for LOQ and SPES to identify principal leadership behaviours and teachers' level of empowerment. Pearson correlation and regression analyses were computed to find the relationship between principal leadership and teacher empowerment. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis technique. The study revealed medium level of use of leadership frames by the principals in general. Structural frame was rated the highest (M = 3.26, SD = .77) while symbolic frame was rated the lowest (M = 3.16, SD = .79). Under teacher empowerment, although the study revealed the prevalence of empowerment in certain dimensions (self-efficacy : M = 3.63, SD = .78 status : M = 3.53, SD = .71), teachers perceived low level of empowerment in 'decision making' (M=2.69, SD=.95) and 'autonomy' (M = 2.88, SD = .98) dimensions. Pearson correlation analysis indicated no statistically significant relationship between principal leadership and teacher empowerment. Thus, regression analysis was performed and the result revealed that principal leadership had influence on teacher empowerment (p < 001). Practical implications of the study were discussed in relation to education ministry, teacher educators, curriculum developer