Values-Centered Leadership: Insights from Schools that Underperform

Abstract

There is an arguable deterioration of values in school leadership, which influences the performance of schools. Underperformance is attributed to a deficit and neglect of a values-centered leadership approach. The article reports on a study whose aim was to investigate the perceptions of teachers and principals on the role that values play in school leadership. This qualitative study in three schools sought to establish what the teachers' and principals' perceptions of values in relation to effective school leadership were. Data were generated from interviews (n = 15), documents and observations that were thematically analysed. The findings revealed that school leadership informed by values in practice was more desirable than leadership that paid lip service to values. The study makes a case for improved school performance through focused implementation of values-centered leadership approach and recommends that leadership development should dwell into practices that are performance lifting and based on communication that encourages performance.