School Heads’ Experiences and Perspectives on Critical Leadership Competencies in Zimbabwe: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experiences of Zimbabwean school heads and, from these experiences, draw their resultant perspectives on the critical competencies required for effectively leading schools within the Zimbabwean context. School leadership has evolved into an inevitable pillar in education research and practice, with governments worldwide investing in school leadership development as part of broader strategies to enhance their education systems and improve learning outcomes. As a result, many school leadership models and competencies have been developed and identified, with some being adopted by and adapted to African contexts. Yet, a look at most of these models and competencies shows that they are primarily derived from the global North and not rooted in African experiences. Zimbabwe has not been immune to this challenge, as reviewed literature pointed to a need for more scholarly work on school leadership in general and school leadership competencies in particular. This gap in the literature on school leadership competencies thus motivated this research. The research sought to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by identifying school leadership competencies drawn from and informed by the lived experiences of Zimbabwean school heads. The study employed a qualitative research method informed by a phenomenological research design, particularly hermeneutic phenomenology. Hermeneutic phenomenology allowed me to interpret my data and make meaning of the research participants’ lived experiences through a fusion of horizons that enabled me to interface these experiences with my prior knowledge of school leadership in Zimbabwe. My data generation involved in-depth face-to-face phenomenological interviews with six school leaders drawn from three provinces. The participants were a balanced mixture of primary and secondary heads, two of whom were female. Additional data was generated from participant diaries that were provided to the research participants to document their contemporaneous leadership experiences over a six-month period. The research applied a generic approach to variables like school levels, geographical locations and gender as the primary variable of interest was school leadership competencies regardless of the mentioned contexts. This presents an opportunity for further studies that may want to build on the research findings by applying a contextualised lens that factors in other variables that this research did not consider. viii The findings of this research show that Zimbabwean school heads viewed the critical competencies essential to their role as grounded in both transformational and instructional leadership, which were the two theories that underpinned this research. The research showed that some competencies straddled both theories, emphasising the importance of integrating these leadership theories to foster effective school leadership, a case that the research made in combining the two theories as the theoretical framework of this research. In total, the research identified twelve competencies that were of an instructional, transformational and blended (cross-cutting) nature.1 Furthermore, the research revealed that leadership competencies alone were insufficient in building effective school leadership and contributing to improved learning outcomes. There is a need for education authorities in Zimbabwe to create an enabling environment that allows school leaders to utilise their competencies effectively. The research thus identified five enabling factors that Zimbabwean school heads singled out as key support pillars in creating an enabling environment that allows competent school leaders to thrive. The research concludes by identifying a set of lessons learned from the study and recommendations that Zimbabwe could consider in enriching its school leadership journey.