Personality and self-leadership of school principals as determinants of school performance

Abstract

In this article, we argue that personality and self-leadership are determinants that play a role in the performance of a school. We consider aspects such as the leadership style of the principal, motivation, and support in this regard. We followed a qualitative phenomenological approach in the interpretivist paradigm. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight principals in both performing and underperforming schools. We found that the principals of both kinds of schools had the same types of personality and concluded that the personality of a principal does not determine whether a school is performing or underperforming. Self-leadership occurs more naturally in the principals of performing schools than in those of underperforming schools. Furthermore, the self-leadership of principals in underperforming schools is suppressed because of their particular circumstances. It is recommended that principals practise and develop self-leadership.