Abstract:

This quantitative study examines whether teachers’ perceptions of instructional leadership differ by years of teaching experience, qualification, and grade level taught. The research employed a quantitative cross-sectional research design and surveyed 455 teachers (n = 455) from one school district in Ghana to complete a modified version of the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS).

The survey item asked participants to rate and evaluate their perceptions of instructional leadership and the connection between instructional leadership, years of teaching experience, qualifications, and grade level taught. Responses were scored on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Approximately 57.6% (n = 133) of participants who completed the survey were male; 42.9% (n = 99) were aged 40-49 years; and 32.9% (n = 76) had 11-15 years of teaching experience.

A three-Way ANOVA was conducted to investigate whether there were differences in how teachers perceived instructional leadership by years of teaching experience (1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years, 16-20 years, 20+ years), academic qualification (Diploma, Bachelor’s Degree, Master Degree) and grade level taught (K.G, Primary, Junior High School, Senior High School).

Preliminary results revealed that participants with over 20 years of teaching experience (M = 18.68, SD = 2.10), a Master’s degree, teach at the Junior High level (M = 18.23, SD = 2.95), perceived instructional leadership slightly higher than those with a Bachelor’s degree (17.73, SD = 3.11), and have taught for 16-20 years (M = 18.67, SD = 3.08).

The three-way ANOVA overall results revealed a statistically significant, F(53, 177) = 1.703, p = .005, difference in teachers' perceptions of instructional leadership (p < .05). Levene’s test indicated that the assumption of homogeneity of variance was satisfied (p > .05), explaining 33.8% of the variance in teacher perceptions.

Years of experience and grade level taught significantly influenced teacher perceptions (p < .05). However, academic qualification did not significantly affect teacher perceptions (p > .05). A significant interaction effect was found between academic qualification and grade level taught, F(6,177) = 2.498, p = .024, indicating that the relationship between academic qualification and teacher perceptions varied depending on the grade level taught.

Keywords:

Teacher perceptions, instructional leadership, experience, qualification, grade level.