EXPLORING SELF-LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AMONG PRINCIPALS AND HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS IN ZIMBABWE
| Authors | Contact |
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Sumayah Ebrahim Department of Education Management and Leadership Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa |
sumayahe7@gmail.com ORCiD: 0000-0002-0029-8607 |
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Peter Babajide Oloba Department of Languages, Cultural Studies and Applied Linguistics Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa |
olobapeter4u@gmail.com ORCiD: 0000-0002-1201-4341 |
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Emmanuel Tendai Pfupa Department of Education Management and Leadership Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa |
manupfupa@yahoo.com
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Abstract
This study explored the manifestation of self-leadership in practice among high school principals and Heads of Departments (HODs) in Bindura District, Zimbabwe. It was undertaken against the backdrop of persistent challenges facing public schools, including resource shortages, declining staff morale, inadequate leadership preparation, and increasing institutional pressures. Although self-leadership has been widely recognised as a strategy for strengthening organisational effectiveness, limited research has examined how it is enacted within Zimbabwean school contexts. The study therefore aimed to explore how self-leadership manifests in the daily leadership practices of school managers within resource-constrained educational environments. Guided by the interpretivist paradigm, the study adopted a qualitative case study design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 12 participants, comprising four principals and eight HODs purposively selected from four public high schools in Bindura District. Data were analysed thematically using Braun and Clarke’s six-step framework. The findings revealed that self-leadership manifested through collaborative teamwork, delegation, context-responsive decision-making, innovative resource utilisation, and selfregulation. These practices enabled leaders to distribute responsibilities, strengthen organisational adaptability, sustain school operations, and manage emotional and professional demands within challenging school environments. However, the findings also revealed tensions associated with emotional labour, accountability pressures, resource limitations, and organisational constraints. The study contributes to educational leadership scholarship by extending self-leadership theory beyond individual selfregulation to include collaborative, adaptive, and context-responsive leadership practices within under-resourced schools. Therefore, it recommends strengthening collaborative leadership cultures, distributed leadership, emotional well-being support, adaptive decision-making, and innovation-oriented leadership development programmes. The study concludes that self-leadership is a multidimensional and contextually embedded process essential for sustainable and effective school management in contemporary educational environments.
Keywords
accountability, collaboration, delegation, innovation, school management, self-leadership, Zimbabwe
