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

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

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 laissez-faire leadership style 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 laissez-faire leadership style had a negative but moderate relationship with burnout, according to the correlation between them, which is r = -0.39, which shows a negative relationship between the two variables. This means that laissez-faire leadership does not lead to burnout since the two variables move in different directions. Therefore, high laissez-faire leadership was associated with reduced burnout.  The researcher recommends that teachers’ training colleges and universities need to restructure their curriculum to include in depth coverage of leadership styles and motivation as a way of preparing teachers for leadership positions or producing responsible teachers who are not going to demand for excessive freedom on their jobs. An emphasis on ethics will produce responsible teachers who will work well with their head teachers to improve their schools without injuring the relationship that exists between the two parties. Future head teachers will enter the teaching profession better equipped with skills that would lead to effective enhancement of leadership in schools. 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, head teacher, School and relationship

CITE AS: (2024). Jerald Kule, Tukur Muhammad, Wanjala Gidraf Joseph, Jovita Nnenna Ugwu and Abakunda Johnson. The Relationship between Head Teacher’s Laissez-faire Leadership Style and Teachers’ Burnout in Secondary Schools in Ibanda Municipality, Ibanda District, Uganda. NEWPORT INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN EDUCATION,4(3):1-15. https://doi.org/10.59298/NIJRE/2024/4311560