The Influence of Ethical Leadership on Performance of Public Secondary Schools in Dagoretti Sub County, Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

Education is a lifelong investment whose processes and outcomes are critical in the development of a nation and civilizations. The quality of educational processes and outcomes is of great concern to stakeholders. The study sought to determine the influence of ethical leadership on the performance of public secondary schools within Dagoretti sub-county, Nairobi County, Kenya. This was to assess the values, challenges and possible mitigations to ethical leadership and performance of public secondary schools. A total of 220 respondents were sampled from nine public secondary schools within Dagoretti Sub County, with a population of 9597 students, 353 teachers, school boards of management and sub-county education officers. Dagoretti sub-county is a cosmopolitan rural and peri-urban environment with similarities with most sub-counties within Kenya. The study was anchored on the theories of transformational leadership, distributed leadership and stakeholder-based view. Descriptive survey research design guided by mixed-method research philosophy was adopted. A response rate of 57.73% was achieved. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and in-depth interview guides. Data analysis, interpretation and presentation was done using descriptive statistics of the mean, frequencies, percentages, graphs and tables. Correlation analysis was done using the Spearman’s rho to evaluate the strength of relationship between ethical leadership and school performance. The findings of the study revealed that ethical school leadership values and practices to a great extent influence school performance. Ethical leadership values of honesty, respect and service to others were found to have a moderate positive relationship with effective implementation of school curriculum, plans, teaching and learning environment, and school performance. The study recommends commitment to capacity development of ethical school leaders, mainstreaming value-based education and training, stakeholder involvement and improved communication so as to address ethical lapses and challenges in leadership and school performance. This would enhance the quality of education leadership, processes and outcomes within public secondary schools nationally and in the Sub County. Further research on mainstreaming value-based teaching and learning and stakeholder involvement in public secondary schools would be necessary for better education leadership and management.