The Relationship between Head Teacher’s Democratic Leadership Style and Teachers’ Burnout in Secondary Schools in Ibanda Municipality, Ibanda District, Uganda

Jerald Kule, Tukur Muhammad, Wanjala Gidraf Joseph, Abakunda Johnson and Jovita Nnenna Ugwu

Faculty of Education, Kampala International University Western Campus, Uganda

Corresponding email: kule.jerald@stdwc.kiu.ac.ug

ABSTRACT

The investigated the relationship between head teacher’s democratic leadership styles and teacher burnout in secondary schools in Ibanda Municipality, Uganda. In order to ascertain the relationship between the two variables, a correlation design was used, and to accommodate both qualitative and quantitative data, a mixed approach combining quantitative and qualitative research methods was also adopted. 217 teachers and 15 head teachers from the 15 secondary schools in Ibanda municipality provided the data. A questionnaire was given to the teachers, while an interview guide was given to the head teachers. The Leadership Styles Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory served as the foundation for the questionnaire. The findings indicate that democratic leadership style had a positive and strong relationship with burnout. Correlation in them is r= 0.56 and this shows a positive and strong relationship. This means that democratic leadership leads to burnout since both variables move in the same direction. Therefore, high democratic leadership was associated with increased burnout.  The researcher recommends that teacher associations such as PTA, UNATU and UPSTU should adopt appropriate policies to push for better services balancing all teachers regardless of their subject orientation. Motivation of teachers should be in the interests of everyone. The central government should also adopt this as a way of motivating all teachers and ensuring they are satisfied with their jobs hence reducing burnout. Municipal education officers should also intensify monitoring and enforce effective human resource manuals in schools to empower head teachers while protecting the interests of the teachers so as to balance and create a win-win situation that is necessary for reducing burnout. The researcher also suggests doing empirical research in Ibanda’s non-municipality secondary schools and other regions of the country to see whether the study’s conclusions are still relevant.

Keywords: Leadership Styles; Burnout, Relationship, Style, Teachers and Burnout

CITE AS: Jerald Kule, Tukur Muhammad, Wanjala Gidraf Joseph, Abakunda Johnson and Jovita Nnenna Ugwu (2024). The Relationship between Head Teacher’s Democratic Leadership Style and Teachers’ Burnout in Secondary Schools in Ibanda Municipality, Ibanda District, Uganda. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATION 4(3):16-29 https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJRE/2024/4316290