Military head teachers' leadership styles and their implications for teacher motivation and pupil performance in selected army aided schools of Lusaka district.

For a school to perform well both in academics and in co- curricular activities, effective
leadership is needed (Cole, 2004). The head teachers’ leadership thus plays a critical role in
influencing the teachers’ performance to achieve the school’s goals. Per Onyango 2001), the
school leaders set the tone of the school, the climate of learning, the level of professionalism and
the morale of the teacher. Any success or failure is attributed to the school head teacher. It is
against this background that the study analyzed the military head teachers’ leadership in relation
to the Human Relations Theory which recognizes that the actions of a head teacher had a direct
influence on the subordinates. The research data was collected using questionnaires and
interviews. The mixed method research approach (qualitative and quantitative) was used in
analyzing the data. The evidence from the literatures indicates that a blend of the leadership
styles would be beneficial to head teachers for the motivation of the teachers as no single
leadership styles provide answers in all situations. The study reviewed that the authoritative
leadership was more dominant in the Army aided School. The authoritative leadership refers to
an approach in which a manager maintains and runs an organization with a tight leash on the
apparatus of power and in which failure to reach a consensus, coercion was used with a
combination of threats and promises such as benefits and retributions. The implication of this
leadership is that teachers are not sufficiently motivated to perform their duties adequately. At
best, they feel compelled to discharge their duties. In the use of the democratic leadership style,
(participative style) which per the findings was very minimal, the head teachers strived to
involve employees in decisions making during staff meetings and delegated tasks to teachers
through the various departments in the school. These motivated the teachers. The study also
reviewed that among the things that affected the academic performance of the pupils in these
schools were: Inadequate teaching and learning materials for effective learning; Enrolments
which exceeded the recommended number of pupils as per Ministry of Education standard; None
standardized school assessment policy; and the non-availability of incentives to motivate the
teachers to carry out their duty diligently.