Abstract

The study investigated the role of secondary school heads (SSHs) to improve teachers' pedagogical competence (TPC), and to find out differences in the role of SSHs to improve TPC. The study was descriptive in nature and a survey method was adopted. The population was the secondary school teachers (SSTs) of public secondary schools. Multi-stage random sampling was used. 432 SSTs were selected as a sample. A 5-point Likert scale was used to collect data. The overall reliability of the four constructs of leadership roles was 0.813. The data were analyzed through mean, SD, ANOVA and Post Hoc. The results of the study were that the majority of the respondents agreed that SSHs perform their role as TL, IL, DL, and AL effectively and there were zone-wise significant differences in the perceptions of SSTs about the role of SSHs toward TPC.

Key Words

School Leadership, Teachers' Pedagogical Competence, Secondary School Heads,  Secondary School Teachers

Introduction

The present age is characterized by advances in knowledge, and education. Education is essential for the existence of human beings on this planet; has a worth of backbone for the progress of a nation; improves living standards; outlines the nation's future; investment in human capital for economic growth; brings creativity (Andleeb et al., 2022; Arooj et al., 2021; Kamran et al., 2017; Kamran et al., 2021a; Kamran et al., 2021b; Kamran et al., 2022); converts a country into developed one, and as a result makes a nation world leader (Wen et al., 2022). Leadership can bring change and innovation everywhere and shape the entire system (Muff et al., 2022). 

Leadership is the key element in the rise and fall of any institution and nation (Hermassi, 2022). Leadership leads a nation toward success and weaknesses in it destroy the whole nation. It plays a vital role in every sector, especially in secondary school education (Yamak & Eyupoglu, 2021). The SSHs are educational leaders who have the most power and influence. They are responsible for the smooth running of all educational activities for effective learning of students. One of the key responsibilities is to enhance TPC to obtain desired educational objectives (Warren, 2021; Winarno et al., 2021). 

School heads perform different roles to increase the performance of their staff and especially TPC (Daas, 2021). For this purpose, they develop a vision and consider the pedagogical needs of teachers. They encourage their teachers to enhance their educational and professional qualifications (Belliba et al., 2021; Shava & Heystek, 2021). They produce a conducive work environment for their staff. They also implement technology-based learning (Lie et al., 2022). They provide training opportunities to teachers for a better understanding of pedagogy to meet the demands of the modern age.

Literature Review

Providing quality education to all citizens is the basic objective of an educational system. For this purpose, quality school leaders and quality teachers are essential. School leaders offer their roles as transformational leaders (TL), instructional leaders (IL), distributive leaders (DL), and authentic leaders (AL). In secondary education, the quality of teachers is not up to the mark. In this regard, SSH's role is more important. SSHs plan, facilitate, and evaluate activities to enhance TPC. They arrange training workshops, and stimulate, and encourage the teachers to participate in them to maximize their potential as a teacher. SSHs have to perform different administrative tasks during their job and they also have to work for the improvement of their teachers' teaching practice (Caena & Redecker, 2019). 

School heads as transformational leaders work for the improvement of TPC (Devi & Subiyantoro, 2021). As a TL develops a shared vision for TPC; and considered the pedagogical needs of the teachers (Kwan, 2020). TL involves the teachers in the curriculum development activities in school (Al-Husseini et al., 2021), and encourages teachers to apply new approaches of pedagogy during the teaching and learning process. TL acts as a role model to motivate the teacher toward pedagogical skills (Yang et al., 2020). TL creates teachers' communication forums to share innovative ideas and to help out teachers in teaching and learning (Collums, 2023; Yamamoto & Yamaguchi, 2019). Sholeh (2021) has identified that school heads delegate the teachers to enhance their qualifications, participate in training programs and seminars and join teacher working groups and school social activities.

Instructional leadership in schools is the key factor for the improvement of TPC. School heads as instructional leaders (IL) define school goals (Özdemir et al., 2020) for improvement in TPC. IL supervises the teachers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning (Pambudi & Gunawan, 2019). IL provides instructional resources to teachers and also guides the teacher on how to adopt and apply these resources. IL participates in reviewing the process of the curriculum with teachers. IL recognizes the performance of teachers and provides them incentives to motivate them to improve their quality of teaching (Özdemir et al., 2020). Sibomana (2022) described that school heads enhance the performance of teachers by supervising instructions, providing resources, and reviewing curricula.

Distributive leadership in school assigns leadership roles to competent teachers to help out other teachers who are facing problems during teaching (Munje et al., 2020). SSHs as DL creates a collaborative environment to support teachers in their difficulties in teaching (Torres, 2019). DL provides teachers with evidence-based professional development (Xiu et al., 2022), evaluates their performance, and provides constructive feedback for improvement in pedagogical competence (Bagwell, 2019). 

Authentic leadership is a new concept in education, and it attracts the attention of educational leaders (Alazmi & Al-Mahdy, 2022). School leadership as an authentic leader (AL) develops the moral integrity among teachers to perform their duties as a teacher in the classroom honestly (Bahzar, 2019). AL boosts the morale and confidence of teachers and provides a positive ethical environment for teachers. AL has open communication with teachers to share ideas and information with teachers. IL builds transparent relationships with teachers and helps them in classroom management for improving the pedagogical competence of teachers (Egeberg et al., 2021; Srivastava & Shree, 2019).

Pedagogical competence is the ability to administer the students learning (Rusilowati & Wahyudi, 2020) i.e., to understand the students' characteristics; design and manage learning; evaluate desired outcomes; and maximize the individual potential. Teachers can manage students learning i.e., develop a learning program, supervise the learning process, and conduct assessments. Pedagogical competence is commonly used to define the basic professional necessities for somebody to perform specific tasks in the education field. It refers to a teacher's abilities and personality in controlling the educational process through instructional approaches and resource usage (Karim et al., 2021; Rusilowati & Wahyudi, 2020).

Objectives

i. To investigate the role of SSHs to

improve the TPC

ii. To find out differences in the role of SSHs to improve TPC based on three zones of Punjab

Research Questions

i. What are the perspectives of SSTs about SSHs' role to improve TPC?

ii. Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs' role as a TL to improve TP

iii. Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs' role as an IL to improve TPC?

iv. Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs' role as a DL to improve TPC?

v. Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs' role as an AL to improve TPC?

Hypotheses

Hypotheses No.1

H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as TL to improve TPC    

H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as TL to improve TPC    




Hypotheses No.2

H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs role as IL to improve TPC    

H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as IL to improve TPC    




Hypotheses No.3

H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as DL to improve TPC    

H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as DL to improve TPC    




Hypotheses No.4

H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as AL to improve TPC    

H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as AL to improve TPC 

Methodology

Research Design, Population, and Sample

The study was descriptive in nature and used the quantitative design for collecting quantitative data. All the secondary school teachers (SSTs) were the population of the study. Multi-stage random sampling was used to collect quantitative data from secondary school teachers (SSTs). Punjab was divided for study into three zones i.e., north zone, central zone, and south zone. Randomly two districts were selected from each zone and further two tehsils were selected from each district. So a total of six districts and twelve tehsils were selected from these zones (One hundred forty-four schools- 144 from six selected districts, 24 schools from each selected district, 12 schools from each selected tehsil in which 6 urban and 6 rural, and gender-wise from each tehsil urban 3 male schools and 3 female schools, and in rural area 3 male schools and 3 female schools). From each school, three secondary school teachers (SSTs) were selected. Four hundred thirty-two SSTs were selected as the sample of the study.




Measure

The self-developed scale was used for the collection of the data. It had two i.e., the first part had demographic questions like gender, area, marital status, etc. while the second part had questions about the variables mentioned in the title of the study. The research tool was a Likert-type questionnaire for collecting quantitative data from secondary school teachers. The scale trustworthiness was tested through Cronbach alpha (internal consistency reliability technique). Cronbach alpha for the scale of secondary school teachers was .813. Further detail of the reliability Co-efficient is as under:

Table 1

S. No	Dimensions	No. of items	A
1	Role of SSH as a Transformational Leader	9	0.812
2	Role of SSH as Instructional Leader	8	0.818
3	Role of SSH as Distributive Leader	8	0.806
4	Role of SSH as an Authentic Leader	7	0.816
5	Overall reliability co-efficient	32	0.813

Data Analysis Results

Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analysis as under




RQI: What are the perspectives of SSTs about SSHs' role to improve TPC?

Table 2

S. No	SSHs' Role to Improve TPC	Mean	SD
1	SSHs' Role as a TL to Improve TPC	3.93	1.04
2	SSHs' Role as an IL to Improve TPC	4.03	1.08
3	SSHs' Role as a DL to Improve TPC	3.96	.86
4	SSHs' Role as an AL to Improve TPC	3.92	.92
Overall SSHs' role to improve TPC		3.966	.97

 Table 2 indicates the perspectives of SSTs' overall SSHs role to improve TPC. The results show that the majority of the respondents agreed with the statements about SSHs' role as TL, IL, DL, and AL with mean scores 3.93,4.03,3.96, and 3.92 respectively for improving the TPC. The overall mean score of four SSHs roles (TL, IL, DL, and AL) was 3.9665 comes in the range of 3.41-4.20 representing the majority of the respondents agreed with the total statements of all four SSHs roles for the improvement in TPC






RQ2: Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs role as a TL to improve TPC?


Hypotheses No.1
H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs role as TL to improve TPC    
H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs role as TL to improve TPC  

Table 3

S. No	Zone-wise Responses	N	Mean	SD	SE
1	South Punjab	144	4.28	.35	.02
2	Central Punjab	144	3.76	.65	.05
3	North Punjab	144	3.75	.75	.06
	Total	432	3.93	.65	.03

 Table 3a

Source	SS	DF	MS	Eta-s	F	Sig
Between Groups	26.82	2	13.41	.144	36.00	<.001
Within Groups	159.78	429	.372

 Table 3b

(I)           Zone	(J) Zone	MD (I-J)	SE	Sig
South Punjab	Central Punjab	.52469	.07192	<.001
	North Punjab	.53241	.07192	<.001
Central Punjab	South Punjab	-.52469	.07192	<.001
	North Punjab	..00772	.07192	.915
North Punjab	South Punjab	-.53241	. .07192	<.001
	Central Punjab	-.00772	.07192	.915

 Table 3 shows the difference in zone-wise SSTs perspectives about SSHs role as TL to improve TPC. The mean value of South Punjab respondents (X=4.28, SD=.35), Central Punjab respondents (X=3.76, SD=.65), and North Punjab respondents (X=3.75, SD=.75) explore that all the respondents agreed with all the statements regarding SSHs role as TL to improve TPC. ANOVA test (F=36.006, Sig=<.001) reveals that there is a significant difference in the perspectives of South Punjab, Central Punjab, and North Punjab respondents. ANOVA effect size (Eta-squared) was calculated as .144. Hence the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. A Post Hoc test (LSD) was applied to find out the differences among all zones in detail. The results showed that in the comparison of zone 1: South Punjab had a significant difference with Central Punjab and with North Punjab (P=<.001). In Zone 2; Central Punjab had a significant difference with South Punjab (P=<.001) but had no significant difference with North Punjab (P= .915> .05). In Zone 3: North Punjab had a significant difference with South Punjab (Sig. <.001) but had no significant difference with Central Punjab.


RQ3: Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs role as an IL to improve TPC?

Table 4

S. No	Zone-wise Responses	N	Mean	SD	SE
1	South Punjab	144	4.05	.77	.06
2	Central Punjab	144	3.96	.64	.05
3	North Punjab	144	4.05	.61	.05
	Total	432	4.02	.68	.03

 Table 4a

Source	SS	DF	MS	Eta-s	F	Sig
Between Groups	.790	2	.395	.004	.850	.428
Within Groups	199.581	429	.465

 Table 4b

(I)           Zone	(J) Zone	MD (I-J)	SE	Sig
South Punjab	Central Punjab	.089	.803	.267
	North Punjab	-.002	.803	.974
Central Punjab	South Punjab	-.089	.803	.267
	North Punjab	-.092	.803	.253
North Punjab	South Punjab	.002	.803	.974
	Central Punjab	.092	.803	.253

 Table 4 shows the difference in zone-wise SSTs perspectives about SSHs role as IL to improve TPC. The mean value of South Punjab respondents (X=4.05, SD=.77), Central Punjab respondents (X=3.96, SD=.64), and North Punjab respondents (X=4.05, SD=.61) explore that all the respondents agreed with all the statements regarding SSHs role as IL to improve TPC. ANOVA test (F=.850, Sig=.428) reveals that there is no significant difference in the perspectives of South Punjab, Central Punjab, and North Punjab respondents. ANOVA effect size (Eta-squared) was calculated as .004. Hence the null hypothesis was accepted and the alternate hypothesis was rejected. A Post Hoc test (LSD) was applied to find out the differences among all zones in detail. The results showed that all three zones had no significant difference from each other.


RQ4: Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs role as a DL to improve TPC?

Table 5

S. No	Zone-wise Responses	N	Mean	SD	SE
1	South Punjab	144	4.235	.369	.030
2	Central Punjab	144	3.801	.546	.045
3	North Punjab	144	3.886	.606	.050
	Total	432	3.974	.549	.026

 Table 5a

Source	SS	DF	MS	Eta-s	F	Sig
Between Groups	15.228	2	7.614	.117	28.411	<.001
Within Groups	114.975	429	.268

 Table 5a

(I)           Zone	(J) Zone	MD (I-J)	SE	Sig
South Punjab	Central Punjab	.43390	.06101	<.001
	North Punjab	.34896	06101	<.001
Central Punjab	South Punjab	-.43390	06101	<.001
	North Punjab	-.08495	06101	.165
North Punjab	South Punjab	-.34896	06101	<.001
	Central Punjab	.08495	06101	.165

 Table 5 shows the difference in zone-wise SSTs perspectives about SSHs' role as DL in improving TPC. The mean value of South Punjab respondents (X=4.235, SD=.369), Central Punjab respondents (X=3.801, SD=.546), North Punjab respondents (X=3.886, SD=.606) explore that all the respondents agreed with all the statements regarding SSHs role as DL to improve TPC. ANOVA test (F=28.411, Sig=<.001) reveals that there is a significant difference in the perspectives of South Punjab, Central Punjab, and North Punjab respondents. ANOVA effect size (Eta-squared) was calculated at .117. Hence the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. A Post Hoc test (LSD) was applied to find out the differences among all zones in detail. The results showed that in the comparison of zone 1: South Punjab had a significant difference with Central Punjab and with North Punjab (P=<.001). In Zone 2; Central Punjab had a significant difference with South Punjab (P=<.001) but had no significant difference with North Punjab (P= .165> .05). In Zone 3: North Punjab had a significant difference with South Punjab (Sig. <.001) but had no significant difference with Central Punjab (P= .165> .05)


RQ5: Is there a difference in how zone-wise SSTs perceive SSHs' role as an AL to improve TPC?


Hypotheses No.12
H0: There is no significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as AL to improve TPC    
H1: There is a significant difference among the perspectives of South, Central, and North Punjab SSTs about SSHs' role as AL to improve TPC     

Table 6

S. No	Zone-wise Responses	N	Mean	SD	SE
1	South Punjab	144	4.088	.584	.048
2	Central Punjab	144	3.775	.536	.044
3	North Punjab	144	3.915	.640	.053
	Total	432	3.926	.600	.028

  Table 6a

Source	SS	DF	MS	Eta-s	F	Sig
Between Groups	7.057	2	3.528	.045	10.188	<.001
Within Groups	148.574	429	.346

 Table 6b

(I)           Zone	(J) Zone	MD (I-J)	SE	Sig
South Punjab	Central Punjab	.31250	.06935	<.001
	North Punjab	.17262	.06935	.013
Central Punjab	South Punjab	-.31250	.06935	<.001
	North Punjab	-.13988	.06935	.044
North Punjab	South Punjab	-17262	.06935	.013
	Central Punjab	.13988	.06935	.044

 Table 6 shows the difference in zone-wise SSTs perspectives about SSHs' role as AL to improve TPC. The mean value of South Punjab respondents (X=4.088, SD=.584), Central Punjab respondents (X=3.775, SD=.536), North Punjab respondents (X=3.915, SD=.640) explore that all the respondents agreed with all the statements regarding SSHs role as AL to improve TPC. ANOVA test (F=10.188, Sig=<.001) reveals that there is a significant difference in the perspectives of South Punjab, Central Punjab, and North Punjab respondents. ANOVA effect size (Eta-squared) was calculated at .045. Hence the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternate hypothesis was accepted. A Post Hoc test (LSD) was applied to find out the differences among all zones in detail. The results showed that all zones had a significant difference with each other. 

Discussion

The study aimed to investigate the role of SSHs

in the improvement of TPC and to find out differences in the perceptions of SSTs in three zones of Punjab. The respondents agreed that SSHs as a TL develop a shared vision (Shava & Heystek, 2021) for the improvement of TPC. They considered the pedagogical needs of teachers (Belliba et al., 2021), and encourages them to enhance their educational qualifications. They act as a role model and motivate them toward pedagogical competence (Wulandari et al., 2023). They create subject-teacher communication forums to help out the teachers in teaching and learning. Sholeh (2021) also described that the head teacher creates a teacher communication forum, and to motivate the teachers to enhance their qualifications.  SSHs as IL play an effective role for TPC. They provide opportunities for training of teachers (Zahed-Babelan et al., 2019), and provide instructional resources for better teaching.  Ansari et al. (2021) and  Kriswanto and Hasanah (2021) also describe that SSHs provide resources and training opportunities. SSHs supervise in planning, implementation, and evaluation of learning. SSHs as a DL create a team of competent teachers to provide help with teaching difficulties (Mosoge & Mataboge, 2021). They are available for guiding the teachers in their time of need related to pedagogy. SSHs as AL develops moral integrity in teachers to teach students honestly (Berkovich & Gueta, 2022). They create an ethical learning environment for teacher to perform their role as a teacher in the classroom effectively (Srivastava & Dhar, 2019).   

Conclusions

The study was designed to find out the role of SSHs in TPC. In this regard, a questionnaire was designed to collect the data from SSTs of the Punjab province. The results showed that the majority of the respondents agreed that their heads perform their roles as TL, IL, DL, and AL for improving the TPC. ANOVA test and Post Doc test were applied to investigate the differences in the perceptions of SSTs regarding SSHs' role for TPC. The results showed that there was a significant difference among the perceptions of the three zones of the Punjab province. The SSHs perform their roles for improving TPC effectively as compared to the other zones of the Punjab province.   

Recommendations

1. Although the majority of the respondents are satisfied with the role of secondary school heads toward teachers' pedagogical competence; there is some need for perfection. So Directorate of Staff Development should organize training for school heads to improve teachers' pedagogical competence.

2. School Education Department should introduce training sessions in schools at the local level to enhance the pedagogical skills of teachers.

3. School Education Department and as well as school heads should develop subject-teacher communication forums, especially in rural schools

4. School heads should develop a leadership team in school to help out in school activities; especially in teaching and learning.

5. School heads should encourage technology-based learning in schools

References