The Principals and Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Distributed Leadership Practice in Saudi High Schools

Abstract

Research on school leadership shows that effective leadership is crucial to the development of successful schools and improvement of teaching and learning. Principals play a vital role as leaders in high schools in Saudi Arabia. As Saudi Arabia faces the challenge of changes in education, principals have to attain knowledge of the present leadership theory and research in order to acquire and obtain a theoretical understanding of leadership approaches that are able to make schools more successful. The purpose of this study is to explore how principals in Saudi Arabia understand leadership theory and the extent to which they use the distributed leadership approach. It also explores the leadership practices of principals in the context of their Saudi schools and the ways in which they involve their teachers in leadership activities.

In this study, the participants are the principals and teachers from three high schools in Makkah province of Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the principals, and a questionnaire was completed by the teachers. The findings of this study show that the principals have sufficient knowledge for leading their schools; most of their leadership skills have been developed through experience and are concentrated on educational leadership. However, the principals lack theoretical knowledge of multiple approaches and school leadership conceptions, since they have not had opportunities for formal leadership programmes. The results of the questionnaire show that there is some practice of distributed leadership in the schools.