Introduction
This study has shown that the cultural norms of society have a great impact on how teachers perceive their women principals. Teachers in this study expressed the view that the cultural roles and gender stereotypical notions of women’s roles in society influenced how they initially responded to their women principals in their various schools. Furthermore, the matriarchal and patriarchal backgrounds they came from also influenced their attitudes and beliefs about women being leaders. Teachers coming from a matriarchal background tended to be more lenient in accepting women principals, while teachers coming from a patriarchal background at first questioned why women became principals. However, these perceptions held by participants have changed over time as they experienced the leadership of a women principal.
The most significant finding from this study about women principals’ leadership at the organisational level was the participants views on the effective and influential leadership styles that women principals practiced. This was an important finding in that teachers perceived and valued some of the leadership styles of their women principal, such as delegating responsibilities to teachers, interpersonal relationships that female principals demonstrated, decision- making style and the visionary principal she was. The leadership styles of their female principals influenced most of the teachers in the study to become more motivated in their teaching practice. Some of these teachers even found that under a women principal they had certain skills and talents that they would have never discovered if their female principal had not delegated responsibilities to them. The interpersonal relationships that were built between teachers and their female principal created trust and understanding with some teachers in this study. The principal’s style of decision-making and the ability to be firm in the presence of men during meetings developed aspiration in some female teachers, and
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admiration and respect for her leadership. Lastly, her style of strategic planning brought a sense of female principals being visionary leaders. It was evident, in that all the four schools of this study had developments to do with infrastructure going on at the time of the study. Teachers themselves explained that developments were taking place around the school. Taken together, these findings suggest that even though a society’s traditional culture about women’s role is still strong, individual teachers’ perceptions about women principals have changed over time. They have learned to appreciate and value the leadership of their women principals.
The second major finding dealt with women principals’ leadership in the context of school organisation itself. Due to the demand placed on the principals’ role in school organisation there are expectations and challenges that teachers face while working with women principals. This was highlighted in the conversations with teachers. Some teachers pointed out that only half of their expectations were met by their women principal, however they learned to accept such circumstances. One of the significant expectations expressed by all teachers was the presence and regular monitoring of their women principals of the classrooms in her school. The principal being visible each day around the school demonstrated to the teachers that she was interested in the students and teachers themselves. The challenges that some teachers faced while working under women principals were often to do with her approaches at times towards the teachers. This lowered the moral of teachers and made them feel insecure in trusting her leadership. Other additional challenges were to do with how discipline of students was carried out, and the need for man power in a school. However, these additional challenges were minor, and can be seen in schools with male principals as well.
Another significant finding was the changing perceptions that teachers had of women principals. Exposing participants to women in leadership led teachers in this study to change attitudes and beliefs they had initially held of women principals. Certain stereotypic notions such as that women could not lead and they could not make decisions, changed while teachers worked under women
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principals. Most of the teachers learned to accept value and appreciate the leadership of their women principals. The experience of working with a woman principal created a different understanding by teachers as they perceived leadership to be based not on gender, but on the individual’s capability and confidence in being able to be a leader. This leads to their ideas about the need of a gender balance of leadership. Gender balance is seen by teachers in this study to give the opportunity for more understanding of the needs of male and female teachers, and fairer balance of male and female perspectives in school life. Furthermore, the findings highlighted the changing aspirations of female teachers towards leadership. Leadership styles of women principals influenced female teachers’ perceptions about women leadership. These findings suggest that even though the patriarchal norms of society are still strong, the experience of working under the leadership of women by the teachers in this study can change how some members of society view women principals.
The findings in this research add to the body of literature on women in educational leadership in developing countries; - especially Melanesian women in leadership and in particular women principals’ leadership in Solomon Islands. The current findings will add more understanding as to how teachers perceive their leaders, especially women principals, and shed light on the leadership style of women principals as seen by teachers. As such, this study shows that in a society that is still strong in patriarchal norms, perceptions held of women in leadership do change over time. This study will serve as a base for future studies, especially for scholars who are taking up educational leadership, and in particular women scholars who are aspiring towards leadership, and who would like to look at women leadership in a Melanesian context.