INFLUENCE OF CHANGE LEADERSHIP ON TEACHERS' READINESS FOR CURRICULUM REFORM

Abstract

The study is quantitative in nature and it aims to explore the effect of change leadership on teachers' readiness for curriculum change in public and private secondary schools. Responding to three change-readiness dimensions change appropriateness, management support, and change-specific self-efficacy and one personal valence dimension, the study explores the relationships among the five-core change-leadership behaviours articulating a vision for reform, communicating the change, building a guiding coalition, empowering and supporting teachers, and celebrating short-term wins and the four dimensions of teacher readiness to change. The instruments used were validated instrument and the data collected from a stratified random sample of 360 secondary-school teachers where each analysis directly addressed one of four research objectives and analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and multiple regression. The findings indicate that teacher readiness is strongly positively affected by change leadership with R² = 0.58 and p < .001. Empower and support teachers (β = 0.41) and articulate clear vision for reform (β = 0.34) are the strongest predictors. The study adds to an increasing body of evidence that successful curriculum reform is, first and foremost, a leadership endeavour that takes place at the school level.