Principals’ Leadership Needs for Effective Management of Secondary Schools in Meme and Fako Divisions of Cameroon

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess principals’ leadership needs for the effective management of secondary schools in Meme and Fako Divisions in Cameroon by examining their professional, instructional, and communication skills. The study population consisted of 175 teachers, 31 department heads, 26 unit heads, and 16 principals from 12 schools. The findings revealed that continuous professional training and retraining, instructional supervision, effective communication, and creating a conducive environment for teaching and learning were vital to principals’ effective management of schools. Based on these findings, provisions should be made for the continuous professional training and retraining of principals; principals should frequently carry out instructional supervision and also make use of vertical and horizontal communication to clearly communicate school goals. RésuméL’objectif de cette étude est d’évaluer les besoins en leadership des directeurs d’école de la Meme et du Fako au Cameroun en examinant les habiletés professionnelles, pédagogiques et communicationnelles des directeurs pour assurer une gestion optimale des écoles secondaires dans ces deux départements. La population de cette étude comprend 175 enseignants, 31 chefs de département, 26 chefs d’unité et 16 directeurs dans 12 écoles. Les données ont montré qu’une formation et un recyclage professionnels réguliers, une supervision pédagogique attentionnée, une communication efficace, et la création d’un environnement positif pour l’enseignement et l’apprentissage sont essentiels pour assurer la bonne gestion d’une école par son directeur. D’après les données, des mesures devraient être prises pour la formation et le recyclage professionnels réguliers des directeurs d’école; d’autre part, ces derniers devraient régulièrement assumer la supervision pédagogique, et ils devraient recourir à la communication verticale et horizontale pour transmettre clairement les objectifs de l’école. Keywords / Mots clés :: principals’ leadership needs, effective school management, professional development, professional training and retraining, instructional leadership, school leadership / besoins en leadership des directeurs d’école, gestion efficace d’une école, développement professionnel, formation et recyclage professionnels, leadership pédagogique, leadership d’une école

Competencies of Secondary School Principals in Cameroon

“…Lyonga, (2019) concluded that transformational leadership (empowerment) was a necessary component that was likely to have a significant impact on teacher satisfaction and their professional commitment. In a study on the types of leadership most used by the Cameroon's principals, namely, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership, the findings of Wirba (2015) concurred with those of Lyonga (2019) in that transformational leadership appeared to best characterize the anglophone-sector school leaders according to the latter, their staff, and their teachers.…”

“…Because examining the professional activity of school principals helps to structure, develop, and identify key competencies to exercise this profession, we deemed it of relevance to apply these research findings to the context in Cameroon. While studies on principals' professional practices in francophone and anglophone secondary education are rare in this country (Besong Besong, 2013Lyonga, 2019;Wirba, 2015), they do touch upon their professional activities and standards under different angles.…”

“…Besong Besong (2013), Lyonga (2019) and Wirba (2015) studied school management competencies from another perspective, in the southwest region of Cameroon. Besong Besong (2013), who examined the level of effectiveness of both private and public-school principals in Cameroon (more specifically in the city of Maroua), found that the principals' practices in these two sectors differed significantly regarding shared leadership, staff motivation, administrative management, and financial resources management.…”