The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of effective school leadership. The study was conducted in senior secondary schools in the southern region of Botswana. The southern region comprises of the south and south central regions which has twelve (12) senior secondary schools, out of which seven (07) schools were randomly sampled for the study. Both interviews and questionnaires were used as research tools. One hundred and eighty nine (189) questionnaires were distributed and only one hundred and four (104) were completed and returned. Eight interviews were conducted among school leaders. Results from the questionnaires were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and tables. Results from the interview were analyzed within a framework that was structured along the lines of the research questions. The study reveals that most of the teachers have a teaching qualification (PGDE), have adequate teaching experience, and are generally young (30-35 years). In terms of position of responsibility, most of them are clustered around senior teacher II (42.3%) and teacher/educator (36.5%). The study also reveals that schools performance is hampered largely by indiscipline and laziness towards schoolwork by both stakeholders. The school leaders must act as catalysts in creating a learning environment and be actively involved in implementing improvement strategies that help both students and teachers to enhance their learning and achievement (cf. 2. 16. 2). / Thesis (M.Ed)--North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of effective school leadership. The study was conducted in senior secondary schools in the southern region of Botswana. The southern region comprises of the south and south central regions which has twelve (12) senior secondary schools, out of which seven (07) schools were randomly sampled for the study. Both interviews and questionnaires were used as research tools. One hundred and eighty nine (189) questionnaires were distributed and only one hundred and four (104) were completed and returned. Eight interviews were conducted among school leaders. Results from the questionnaires were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and tables. Results from the interview were analyzed within a framework that was structured along the lines of the research questions. The study reveals that most of the teachers have a teaching qualification (PGDE), have adequate teaching experience, and are generally young (30-35 years). In terms of position of responsibility, most of them are clustered around senior teacher II (42.3%) and teacher/educator (36.5%). The study also reveals that schools performance is hampered largely by indiscipline and laziness towards schoolwork by both stakeholders. The school leaders must act as catalysts in creating a learning environment and be actively involved in implementing improvement strategies that help both students and teachers to enhance their learning and achievement (cf. 2. 16. 2). / Thesis (M.Ed)--North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2007

The purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of effective school leadership. The study was conducted in senior secondary schools in the southern region of Botswana. The southern region comprises of the south and south central regions which has twelve (12) senior secondary schools, out of which seven (07) schools were randomly sampled for the study. Both interviews and questionnaires were used as research tools. One hundred and eighty nine (189) questionnaires were distributed and only one hundred and four (104) were completed and returned. Eight interviews were conducted among school leaders. Results from the questionnaires were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and tables. Results from the interview were analyzed within a framework that was structured along the lines of the research questions. The study reveals that most of the teachers have a teaching qualification (PGDE), have adequate teaching experience, and are generally young (30-35 years). In terms of position of responsibility, most of them are clustered around senior teacher II (42.3%) and teacher/educator (36.5%). The study also reveals that schools performance is hampered largely by indiscipline and laziness towards schoolwork by both stakeholders. The school leaders must act as catalysts in creating a learning environment and be actively involved in implementing improvement strategies that help both students and teachers to enhance their learning and achievement (cf. 2. 16. 2). / Thesis (M.Ed)--North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2007

Den ökande jämställdheten i samhället har medfört förändringar i ledande positioner. Detta har skapat en osäkerhet inför ett främmande ledarskap där manligt ledarskap tidigare varit norm. Frågan har därför väckts om vilka skillnader som finns mellan manliga och kvinnliga ledare samt hur dessa grupper ställs mot varandra. Forskningen har inte nått koncensus i frågan huruvida det finns skillnader mellan män och kvinnor som ledare. Detta har skapat en möjlighet att bidra till ämnet vilket underbyggs av samtida forskare som förklarar att det behövs ytterligare forskning inom området kön och ledarskap för att utveckla förståelsen.  Kärnan i ledarskap i organisationer ur ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv är att skapa förutsättningar för att gemensamt uppnå mål. Syftet med studien är att förstå hur ledarskap hos män och kvinnor tar sig uttryck förklarat med hjälp av olika ledarstilars egenskaper för att uppnå ett framgångsrikt resultat. Tidigare forskning om ledarskap hos män och kvinnor i kombination med teoretiska modeller om ledarstilar har använts för att uppnå syftet. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer med ledare inom ett privat vinstdrivande detaljhandelsföretag samlades empiri in för att svara på de forskningsfrågor som formulerats utifrån syftet. Data från intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och kodades utifrån forskningsfrågorna. Utöver teman förankrade i forskningsfrågorna framkom även andra teman som relaterats till företagsekonomi och med hjälp av grundad teori kodades innehållet. Resultatet visade bland annat att informanternas ledarskap tog sig uttryck genom ledarstilarna demokratiskt, tranformativt, karismatiskt och situationsanpassat ledarskap. Utöver dessa analyserades informanternas svar i relation till ett flertal andra ledarstilars egenskaper, men en reflektion var att verksamhetens sätt att organisera sig skulle kunna påverka vilka ledaregenskaper som kommer till uttryck. Till skillnad från delar av den tidigare forskning som använts till underlag för studien påvisade resultatet inte några skillnader mellan manliga och kvinnliga informanter i deras ledaregenskaper. Utifrån de undersökta ledarstilarna går det att dra slutsatser om vilka egenskaper som kan anses fördelaktiga för ett framgångsrikt ledarskap. Slutsatsen av undersökningen visade att egenskaperna: Involverande, relationsorienterad, utmanande och att vara flexibel i sitt ledarskap är mest fördelaktiga för att uppnå ett framgångsrikt resultat. / The increasing gender equality in society has led to changes in leadership. This has created uncertainty regarding unfamiliar leadership where male leadership previously has been the norm. The question has therefore been raised about the differences between male and female leaders as well as how these groups are set against each other. Research has not yet reached consensus on the question of whether there are differences between men and women as leaders. This has created an opportunity to contribute to the subject, which is supported by contemporary researchers who explain that further research in the field of gender and leadership is needed to develop understanding. The essence of leadership in organizations from a business economics perspective is to create the conditions for cooperatively achieving goals. The purpose of the study is to understand how leadership of men and women is expressed using the characteristics of different leadership styles to achieve successful results. Previous research on leadership of men and women in combination with theoretical models of leadership styles has been used to achieve the purpose. Through qualitative interviews with leaders within a private for-profit retail company, empirical data was collected to answer the research questions formulated based on the purpose. The data from the interviews were analyzed with the help of a qualitative content analysis and coded based on the research questions. In addition to themes rooted in the research questions, there were also other themes related to business administration and with the help of grounded theory theses where also coded. The results showed, among other things, that the informants' leadership was expressed through the leadership styles democratic, transformative, charismatic, and situational leadership model. In addition to these, the informants' answers were analyzed in relation to several other leadership style characteristics, but a reflection was that the business's way of organizing itself could affect which leadership qualities are expressed. Unlike parts of the previous research used as a basis for the study, the results did not show any differences between male and female informants in their leadership characteristics. The conclusion of the study showed that the qualities: Engaging, relationship-oriented, challenging and being flexible in their leadership are most favorable to achieve successful results.