Abstract
We examined the perceptions of teachers on the importance and competence of
principals as leaders before and after an intervention programme on holistic leadership.
The research was quantitative and contextualized in the Secunda region of
Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The methodology followed a literature study
and an empirical investigation in the form of a pre- and post-test experimental-type
design. A structured questionnaire was administered to 400 teachers in 40 randomly
selected schools divided into two groups. One group of 20 principals was provided
with an intervention programme regarding the dimensions of holistic leadership. The
other group of 20 principals was not exposed to the intervention programme. The
perceptions of teachers from their schools were probed using a pre-post-test design.
The intervention programme and biographic variables served as independent
variables whilst the seven factors of holistic leadership formed the dependent variables.
Principals who were exposed to the intervention programme were perceived
by their teachers to be more competent than their counterparts who were not exposed
to the programme.