TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICES OF PRINCIPALS AND

THE TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN PUBLIC

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS OF DISTRICT V, MAKATI CITY

 CHAPTER 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

For the 2022 - 2023 academic year in the Philippines, all public

and private schools have finally started face to face mode of learning

after almost two years of online learning. The Department of Education

(DepEd) has released the guidelines for the said school year with its

commitment to the resumption of 5 days of in-person classes under the

DepEd Order No. 034 series of 2022, signed by Vice President and

DepEd Secretary Sara Z. Duterte of which the school year has started

last August, 2022 and will end on July, 2023.

And as things are getting back to normal, there are also a lot of

downsides challenges. One could be when students are mentally lagged

and burnt out because they're used to having online classes at home. A

lot of learners, especially in the grade school, were excited to go back to

school but with parents still anxious about how they're going to be safe.

we've got your back as here are some of the things that you need to

know about going back to school plus some tips on how one can

practice safety protocols to get oneself back on track with the basic

education while being safe.

In the school setting, leaders are the ones who initiate

organizational shifts. These leaders, the so-called principals make all

the pronouncements and come up with judgments based on what has

been promulgated by the Department of Education. Thus, in September

27, 2021, in line with the preliminary execution of limited face-to-face

classes in chosen low-risk areas in the country, the Department of

Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health (DOH) have identified

mechanisms to ensure safety of participating learners, teaching and

non-teaching staff, and their families.

Preparedness which is an art of workmanship, everyone learned to

embrace life and systematically all efforts were into awareness of

protocols about health issues, all anchored on responsibility. In the

school setting, leaders need to make an organizational shift. During the

early days of COVID-19, it shall be remembered that leaders made

pronouncements and came up with judgments unbelievably quick, with

a small number of people rallying with them on a big strategic shift such

as going digital with on-line classes. These senior leaders in the

education sector made decisions in two weeks that took two years of

implementation. And now, too soon, though expected, the shift from the

new normal to the next normal came about, with few leaders and

teachers in the planning sessions on how to make the school ready for

the face-to-face classes. By this time, there is an unseen crucial issue

over the fast shifting educational reforms, that is the leadership style of

principals and how this can be affecting the classroom practices of

the teachers, both of whom had experienced the trauma of the Covid-a9
pandemic. The principals might need to the big leap to lead and

transform what teachers and middle managers can do most productively

for the students in the post pandemic time.

In the schools, sustainability of existence must also be put to

place. And now, everybody is into preparation of on-site classes, amidst

uncertainties, confusion, and fears. There have been endless rounds of

cost cutting due to economic depression. And possibly, there could be

an ongoing erosion in confidence of what leaders are capable of

accomplishing. To say bluntly, rare, or none of leadership training

happened for the past two years to enable principals and other

administrators to work with teams during the pandemic. And

hammering on a key element here, the role of the manager is in training

and people development.

Principals who are the significant school leaders need to

systematize the learning journeys of students and help shape career

development of teachers. They are there to coach, support, and lead.

When managers spend the majority of their time coaching and leading,

people see real returns. And in this time of deciding to open physically

the gates of the school to all its stakeholders, people are starting to

realize that extra time and appropriate leadership style really will make

a difference in the way teachers would be handling classrooms teaching

and learning practices.

 In fact, any educational organization can only develop and

progress in a manner of its principal’s vision. Principals of any school

essentially have to be cognizant of the essence and values of

management in their schools. It is important for school principals to be

trained as instructional leaders in order to create a healthy learning

environment for students. At present, social changes in many fields

such as science and technology affect and change the educational

landscape as well. As Karahoca & Kurnaz in 2016 state, the influence

and transformation make it necessary for school administrators to have

some competencies in accordance with the requirements of the job

descriptions of the school administrators. And in this process, inspiring

challenges such as predicting the impending appropriately, keeping up

with the requirements of the present, having the bigger picture, and

concentrating on the essentials impose on the principal a strong

administrative skill and force an appropriate kind of leadership style.

As Stewart (2018) used the statement of Leithwood and Riehl in 2003,

while leadership may be responsible to the difference in student learning

across schools, the value of leadership actually has just as much of its

total effect of all school factors. Notwithstanding the apparently

restricted connection, the effect of leadership when compared to all of

the other school factors proves to be substantial and therefore warrants

consideration.
 And to be a leader during this disruptive time can bring about so

much tension and fear for the unknown on the part of the

administrators and those teachers who are being led. Despite much

anticipation of a far better new school year, it seems that everyone shall

start with that déjà vu feeling. As school leaders, in many education

institutions, once again take on responsibility for the classroom

management strategies and the assessment processes leading to

qualifications, they must wonder if the same cycle before the pandemic

will simply repeat itself. The pressure on school leaders and teachers is

already significant. Therefore, it will be essential that they are reassured

that the new school year will not simply be a rerun of the previous one.

The importance of trusting the professional educational leaders has

never been so important or critical as now.

Considering leadership as a crucial factor that can potentially

influence effective classroom management practices, it is important to

examine the transformational leadership that is particularly relevant to

this current climate of change in schools, and this is known as

transformational leadership (Leithwood, 1994, 2018). The ideas and

models of the theory of transformational leadership, whose origins are

usually traced to the work of James McGregor Burns (Burns, 1978,

2020), have been extensively studied and developed in industrial

settings (e.g., Bass, 1985; Bass & Avolio, 1993, 2022). However, the

ideologies, practices and strategies of transformational leadership have

also been explored, adapted and applied to the field of education (e.g.

Brown, 1993; Leithwood, 1994; Sergiovanni, 1990, Stewart, 2018) and

are well supported by empirical researches (Fisher, 1994; Jantzi &

Leithwood, 1996; Lam, 2002; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000; Yu, Leithwood

& Jantzi, 2002, Ng Wee Leng, 2019). Some experts have in fact

concurred that practices of transformational leadership do contribute to

the implementation of innovations in schools (e.g., Yukl, 1994;

Leithwood, 1994).

McDonald in 2021 further states that transformational leaders

take collaborative approach to management and serve as a strong role

model. By empowering others, the leader creates a shared desire to

improve and reach goals. This leadership style involves clearly

communicating at all levels, setting large-scale objectives, and

delegating tasks without having to closely monitor performance and

progress. As an approach, even transformational leaders must also

know the basics of other leadership styles. This means that

transformational leaders have to inspire and motivate others, how to

focus on the self-interest and intellectually and emotionally inspire and

motivate subordinates. In the school setting, transformational

administrators are expected to cultivate loyalty and respect among

teachers which would then be affecting student performance.

While the effects of transformational leadership on organizational

conditions and student engagement with school (Leithwood & Jantzi,

2000) and on teachers' commitment (Yu et al., 2002) have been

researched, no study has been conducted to examine the relationship

between transformational leadership and classroom management

practices. Normally, there had been studies that supported the concept

that transformational leadership seems not only to influence job

satisfaction, but also to determine job commitment (Emery & Barker,

2007); the relation between job commitment and job satisfaction has

been proven to be reciprocal, as done by Riaz et al., in 2011. The

influence of this type of leadership lies in the ability of the leaders to

promote those values related to goal achievement and emphasize on the

impact of the employees’ performance on the latter.

The extensive use of wide range skills and techniques by the

teachers to make the learners organized, orderly, focused , attentive

on tasks and academically productive refer to classroom management.

Classroom management practices is so crucial because of its direct

effects on the learners’ ability to learn and the teachers’ ability to teach.

These practices impact a teacher's ability to be effective, efficient and

finally enjoy teaching. Obviously, a well managed classroom can highly

impacts students' academic success. As Emmer and Stough (2001,2007)

stated, for educators to have positive educational outcome, the ability of

teachers to organize classrooms and manage the behaviors of their

students is critical. Though it cannot be a guarantee that sound

behavior management would mean effective instruction, however, the

environmental context will undoubtedly make possible good

instruction.

As school leaders once again take on responsibility for the

classroom management strategies physically and supervise on the

assessment processes leading to qualifications on a face-to-face basis, it

is significant to find out if the old leadership style and practices are just

being repeated as it was in the pre-pandemic leadership style and also

the teachers’ classroom management practices. Transformational

leadership is adhered to in the public schools. So, this study will

present to educational leaders what their practices need to be

maintained and what not to produce better teacher performance that

would have a great effect on students’ learning. It must be remembered

that one important factor to good school performance are the ways by

which teachers handle classroom management practices. And

transformational leadership practices of principals are vital to this. This

style of leadership is critical in any group to enhance original and

relevant performance. It is, therefore, vital to investigate these

leadership practices and, most importantly, understand how these

variables can influence the practices and sustainability of modernization

in the organizations. This research shall be important to prove that

transformational leadership style can encourage innovation in the

organization.