Research suggest that just like the rise and fall of nation states and organizations depends on the capabilities of leadership, likewise the success and failure of schools is largely contingent upon the effectiveness of school leadership. Because of its importance, school leadership has long been the focus of Western research, but such a focus in the context of developing countries in general, and Pakistan in particular, is not very extensive. This is the reason the phenomenon of leadership and their capacity buildings have not received enough attention in the educational landscape of Pakistan.
Therefore, the study which was conducted in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan intended to explore what secondary school administrators in Pakistan need in order to improve their performance. A constructivist paradigm was adopted by the application of the case study method. A convenience sampling approach was used to identify two government and two private schools. Besides four school administrators and eight teachers, the perspectives of two educational officials each from private and government sectors were also incorporated in this study. This research was conducted in a time period when the processes of educational development within the country were hampered as a result of terrorist activities followed by a government backed military offensive against the radical elements.
The study explored administrative, educational, and the human resource management skills of four school leaders located in two systems. The study revealed that as compared to government school leaders, private leaders had a better understanding about their role as a manager and as a leader. This clarity of roles led them to become more focused on the instructional development through administrative measures. On the other hand, administrators in government schools were more focused on less productive tasks which in turn distanced them from their instructional responsibilities.
In order to address this issue the study made a number of recommendations ranging from selection of school administrators to the provision of particular administrative, educational, and social skills to the school leaders. To achieve this objective, the study suggests a holistic approach through the involvement of multiple stakeholders and the application of numerous strategies.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-11292010-131608 |
| Date | 03 December 2010 |
| Creators | Khan, Asif |
| Contributors | Dr. W.James Jacob, Dr. William E. Bickel, Dr. Cynthia A. Tananis, Dr. John C. Weidman, Dr. Phyllis D. Coontz |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-11292010-131608/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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