Exploring leadership practices in rural context of a developing country
Abstract
The success or failure of any institution has closely been linked with the leadership practices exercised in the institution. Whereas the number of private schools is rapidly increasing in the rural context of Pakistan, the leadership practices of these institutions are interesting and timely questions to ponder upon. Drawing upon the data of a qualitative case study, this paper discusses the leadership practices in a private school in rural Pakistan. It is found that the school leaders in this context have still traditional approach to leadership with little possibilities of shared or distributed leadership. Since the private schools are owned by the individuals and the teachers are hardly involved in decision making processes, they show less motivation towards school activities and thus, there remains a gap between the expectations of the principal and the performance of the teachers. It is suggested that the leadership of these private institutions should have maximum exposure to updated management and leadership theories and practices if they have to successfully run their schools in this challenging and competitive era.