Correlation between the Challenges of Teachers in the New Learning Delivery Modality and Leadership Practices of School Heads

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected education worldwide due to community lockdown and quarantine, driving students and school personnel to study and work from home and leading to various learning delivery modalities. Findings revealed that teachers’ challenges in the new learning delivery modality were “to a very large extent.” On the other hand, school heads “highly performed” their leadership practices with teachers claiming them “performed.” Moreover, teachers’ challenges in the new learning delivery modalities were moderately and positively correlated with and significantly related to the school heads’ leadership practices. The study concludes that the current instructional modality limit learners’ interaction opportunities with their teachers and classmates and affect their holistic development. Likewise, the disparity between teachers’ and school heads’ perspectives on the leadership practices could be due to the limiting connection between teachers and school heads, failing to monitor activities fully in the course of duty. The study recommends that teachers are encouraged to study and attend training to understand how different learning modalities are related to students’ experiences and learning to be fully equipped with what constitutes effective instructional design in distance learning contexts. Finally, leadership skills and managerial practice standards should be explored among school heads to structure quality school monitoring and evaluation to help teachers cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.