Abstract:

In the classroom, the teacher is arguably the one who achieves the greatest improvement in students’ performance and behaviour. This growth is inconceivable without the knowledge and motivational skills of the teacher. Through their influence teachers become leaders. The concept of the teacher as a leader in the classroom brings a new perspective to the teacher's responsibility. Methodological training for higher education teachers is essential, and this study of teachers’ leadership skills contributes to the development of guidelines for teacher training.

The research aimed to identify the leadership behavioural dimensions of university teachers in project-based and normal program in engineering education. It also provides a comparison of whether there is a difference between the leadership characteristics of the favourite and least favourite teachers. The survey involved first and second year engineering students from both project-based and normal programs. The Leader's Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) was used to identify the consideration (relation orientedness) and initiating structure (task orientedness) of teachers.

The results showed that, the overall mean of the leadership behaviour in terms of the two dimensions differentiated for the favourite and least favourite teacher. The favourite teachers had high values in both dimensions (consideration and initiating structure) and they manifest behaviour characteristics of a dynamic leader. The favourite teacher manifests, on most occasions, the qualities attributed to the leadership behaviour called consideration. Students view them as “willing to listen to students' opinions respectfully”, “friendly and approachable,” and “treating all students as equals. Furthermore, the favourite teachers are scored lower in the initiating structure dimension than in consideration dimension which indicates they are more people-oriented than task-oriented. The ratings of the least favourite teachers resulted in much lower average scores on both dimensions. On the consideration scale the lowest points indicate that they are seldom “easy to understand” and “willing to make changes”. Based on the initiating scale, they rarely “ensure that the work of class members is coordinated” and “ensure that class members are working up to capacity”. There is a lack of research in the literature comparing teachers' leadership behaviour in project-based and normal program.

Different programs require different teaching competencies and, presumably, different leadership styles. This research has shown that there is no difference in the leadership behaviour of the favourite teachers in the different programs. However, there is a significant difference in least favourite teachers’ leadership behaviour in project-based and normal programs in one dimension (consideration dimension). Based on the results, methodological training for teachers should focus on developing skills in both dimensions, but more emphasis should be placed on relationship orientation.

Keywords:

Classroom Teacher Leadership, project-based curriculum, professional development.