Practices And Challenges Of Instructional Leadership In Government General Secondary Schools (Grade 9-10) Of Hetosa Woreda In East Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional State

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the current status of practices and challenges of instructional leadership in government general secondary schools (grade 9-10) of Hetosa woreda in East Arsi Zone, Oromia Regional state. To successfully achieve its purpose, the study employed a Mixed Research Approach, which was supplemented with both quantitative & qualitative research methods. This study was carried out in proportional allocation to give equal chance for all government Secondary Schools in Hetosa woreda and followed by availability method to have the all three (100%) government general secondary schools found in Hetosa woreda. Then, 101 teachers and 211 students were selected using simple random sampling techniques and 3 principals, 4 vice principals, 18 department heads and 15 PTSA members were included by using census to collect large data. Questionnaire was the main instrument of data collection in this study. Interview, focus group discussion (FGD) and Document Analysis of data collection instruments were also utilized to gather adequate & pertinent data as well as to triangulate the data collected through the questionnaire. Frequency & Percentage was employed to analyze the quantitative data, while qualitative data which was obtained through open ended questions, interview and focus group discussion and document analysis were analyzed using narration. The results of the study revealed that, the effectiveness of principals in the areas of motivating teachers, creating conducive climate, implementing and improving curriculum were below average. On the other hand, the role of the school principals in the areas of school based supervision and delegation was moderately effective. Hence, the study recommends the importance of providing continuous training for principals and knowledgeable teachers should be assigned in the schools were some of the recommendations forwarded\offered based on the findings: so as to minimize the Challenges encountered and to enhance the practices of instructional leadership in the sample secondary schools under study.