Perceptions On Principals' Leadership Styles

Leadership of secondary schools is becoming more challenging in Tanzania as a result of the governments' to plan for the expansion of the secondary system in order, to accommodate the rising population of students. This study was conducted to find out the students and teachers perceptions on principals leadership styles in public secondary schools in Iringa District in Tanzania. Survey and naturalistic designs were employed, the sample size composed of 345 respondents. Fifteen secondary schools were randomly selected for the study. Questionnaires and interview guide were used to collect data.The study revealed that the students ' and teachers' perceived their principals as either having little, moderate or excellent leadership styles. The principals rarely involved students and teachers in solving instructional problems, the principals did not delegate responsibilities and principals were not transparent in financial management. It was recommended that principals should attend trainings on leadership, practice transparency of financial management, delegate of responsibility, and should foster a good working relationship in schools.