Steering the Ship during Ghana’s Education Reform: School Leadership in Fostering Organizational Commitment in Public Basic Schools

Abstract

Teachers play vital roles in the implementation of education reforms. Therefore, it is essential to identify factors that enhance their commitment to their schools. The study examined headteachers’ leadership styles as predictors of teacher commitment in public basic schools in Ghana. The ‘full-range leadership theory’ developed by Bass and Avolio (1995) and the ‘organizational commitment model’ postulated by Meyer and Allen (1991) served as theoretical framework for the study. The study employed the explanatory sequential mixed methods research design by collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. A multistage sampling was used to select 256 headteachers and their teachers from public basic schools in Ghana. Data was collected using an adapted version of Bass and Avolio’s (1995) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Meyer and Allen’s (1991) Organizational Commitment Questionnaire, and a self-constructed semi-structured interview guide. Quantitative data was analysed using multiple linear regression with the aid of SPSS version 26.0 whilst qualitative data was analysed through content analysis. The study revealed that leadership styles predicted 22% of teacher commitment. Besides, transactional leadership style made the highest and statistically significant unique contribution to the prediction of teacher commitment (?=0.27, p<0.05) than transformational (?=0.23, p<0.05) and laissez-faire (?=0.13, p<0.05) leadership styles. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service should organize in-service training for headteachers in the practice of the full range of leadership styles to boost teacher commitment levels of teachers to retain teachers in the public basic schools in Ghana.