Distributed leadership in government secondary schools of East Shewa Zone: Policy, practices, and challenges

Abstract

This study explored distributed leadership in government secondary schools of the East Shewa Zone through a pragmatic worldview qualitative approach. The population of the study includes seven secondary schools chosen using purposive sampling technique. The participants include seven principals, five district education office heads, two city education office heads, and one official each from the Regional Education Bureau (REB) and the Ministy of Education (MoE), with interview as data gathering method. Data analysis follows a qualitative approach where inductive analysis under which categories, themes, and patterns are obtained from the data. Study results indicated that the opportunities and enabling conditions provided medium to high support for the secondary schools; the secondary schools under study were found working under many challenges. To hurdle the challenges, secondary school principals are recommended to provide teachers their deserved benefits. Similarly, district and city education offices need to revisit their selection and placement of principals while the Regional Education Bureau revisits its budget allocation and the Ministry works to include curriculum for fields of study that require special attention in higher learning institutions.

Keywords

• distributed leadership
• principals
• leadership practices
• education policy
• challenges