Effects of selected leadership styles on teachers’ motivation: A case of six primary schools in Dedza and Ntcheu districts, Malawi.

Abstract

This study was aimed at finding out the effects of selected leadership styles on motivation of teachers in public primary schools in Dedza and Ntcheu districts of Malawi. The study looked at the following leadership styles: Democratic, Autocratic, Transactional, Transformative, Charismatic and Laissez-faire. The key leadership style that informed the research was the Democratic leadership style. The specific objectives of this study were to identify leadership styles used by primary school headteachers in Dedza and Ntcheu, investigate the effects of each leadership style, find out the leadership style that motivates teachers most and outline practices that motivate or demotivate teachers. The research was conducted in the Central West Education Division of Malawi, and it had a sample of 42 participants comprising of 6 headteachers and 36 teachers from six primary schools in Dedza and Ntcheu districts. The research used interviews and observation as ways of collecting data and the tools for collecting data from participants were interview guide and observation checklist. The results of the research were analyzed using mixed analysis method. This analysis, according to Fetters and Guetterman (2021), aims at bringing the data together through a visual means and draw out new insights beyond the information gained from the separate qualitative and quantitative results. The study found out that the Transactional leadership style was the most common leadership style in the two districts. It was also found out that the Laissez-faire leadership style was the most motivating leadership style in the primary schools in the two districts. There were also a number of factors that teachers said motivated them, and the most cited factors were rewards, equal treatment, and encouragement. On the other hand, lack of rewards, open criticism and favoritism were cited to be the most demotivating factors in the schools.