Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the perceived effects of leadership styles on the teachers’ classroom performance and also to determine the leadership styles preferred by basic school teachers. It is of utmost importance to note that the roles of head teachers in the management of educational institutions especially at the basic levels cannot be over exaggerated. It is against this background that the study was conducted in order to examine how these perceived effects influence teaching and learning at the basic level. The study was conducted using descriptive survey design and the respondents were sampled through proportional stratified random sampling procedure. Two hundred and sixty-nine (269) respondents comprising 179 males and 90 females were used. The reliability coefficient of .85 which was considered to be strong was used. Among other things, the study revealed that basic public school teachers largely agreed that the leadership styles of their head teachers have effects on their classroom performance. It was also disclosed that teachers preferred democratic, transformational, inspirational and distributed leadership styles. In all, head teachers are advised to practice a mixture of leadership styles since no single leadership style is appropriate for all situations.