PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP STYLE AND INSTRUCTIONAL
VARIABLES AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGH
SCHOOLS AT HAI PHONG CITY, VIETNAM
A Dissertation Presented to
the Faculty of the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines
in Collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Viet Nam

In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy


Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

In the Graduate School
Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines
in collaboration with
Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
has been approved by the Committee _____________________ ______________________
Member Member

______________________ ______________________ ______________________
Chairman
DR.TERESITA V. DE LA CRUZ DR. APOLONIA A. ESPINOSA
Adviser Dean, Graduate School
Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

Teachers-respondents, for their active involvement and participation for without
their cooperation, the result of this thesis might not be possible;
His family and friends, for the love and support in one way or another; and to all who
have contributed to make this study a success.
NKP
iii
DEDICATION This research is whole-heartedly dedicated to my family and to all my
relatives, my colleagues and friends, and to all classmates, all headmasters and
teachers of high schools of HaiPhong for giving the researcher the non-stop guidance
and sources of everything.

NKP

Hypothesis………………………………………………………………
Significance of the Study ………………… ………… …………….
Scope and Limitation………………………………… … ………….
Definitions of Terms………………………………….…….… ……
CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES.…… …….
Leadership Styles …….………………………………………….
Authoritative or Autocratic Style …….………………………………
Democratic or Participative Style …….………………………………
Delegative or Laissez Faire Style …….………………………………
Instructional Variables …….………………………………
Self-regulated learners …….………………………………
Teacher Charateristics …….………………………………
Technology and Learning …….………………………………
Classroom Climate …….………………………………
Motivation in Diversity …….………………………………
School Performance …….………………………………
Theoretical Framework
…….………………………………
1
3
5
6
6
7
8


CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
…
Summary …………………………….……………………………
Findings………………………………………………………………….
Conclusions…………………………………………………….…….…
Recommendations…………………………………………… ……….
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48
57
62
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72
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2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 3.1 3.2 3.3 4 5.1 5.2

Variables…………………………………………………………….

Correlation of Delegative Leadership Style to Instructional
Variables…………………………………………………………….

HaiPhong City, Viet Nam High Schools’ Performance
from 2008-2013……………………………………………………

Predictor of High Schools’ Performance as to Instructional Variables in
terms of Motivation in Diversity……………………

Predictor of High Schools’ Performance as to Instructional Variables in
terms of in terms of Classroom Climate……………

Page 43 44 46 48 50


Figure Page

1 Research Paradigm ………………………………………….……. 35

ix

there are nine high schools above the average and five (5) below average level of
performance where the highest mean is obtained by Ngo Quyen High School with
94.8 and is consistently leading while the least is Phan Dang Luu High School with
36.3. Motivation in diversity can predict school performance up to 1% while the x

classroom climate by up to 0.5% which indicates negligible correlation. Hence, most
headmasters practice shared decision-making, participative and permissive leadership.
The democratic and the delegative leadership styles are mostly related to some areas
of instructional variables. However, it is still recommended that a balance of the
authoritative, democratic and delegative leadership styles may be constantly practiced
by the headmasters, since each holds benefits to the organizations they serve.
Technology in learning may be improved by the department to further boost the
performance of the high schools in Hai Phong City.
1
Chapter I
INTRODUCTION

Education is counted on as the important aspect of the human life. The ways
how one translates it after receiving into the daily life is dependent largely upon the
way the form of education gets passed on. The topic of educational leadership has
been taught for a number of years in the education management institutions to address
long-standing concern of all educators, students and the entire society. As the
requirement to understand the style which would work best, in combination or alone,
it is imperative to understand all types individually regarding what these types offer
and their methods.
The purpose of utilizing different types of leadership styles in education is
mainly to improve the quality of teaching, that of learning, and to create a unique and

ways, as in some situations, actions and features seem much more favorable than the
others at different times and levels. In the broad ways, there are differet types of
leadership styles that may be applied in educationl management. To mention few,
most popularly used in the field of education is Lewin’s leadership styles as to
authoritative, democratic, and delegative.Others that are used in versatile combination
or individually are transformational, facilitative and hierarchical.
Meanwhile, performance of schools may not only be attributed to the
schoolheads’ leadership styles but may also be looked into another factor like the
instructional variables. There are studies citing that instructional variables like
classroom climate, teacher characteristics, class structured self-regulated learners, and 3

educational technology could be factors in uplifting the school performance as a
whole (Pierce,2006; Acikgoz, 2005;Liao,2009).
Considering leadership styles and instructional variables as a whole, school
performance can be viewed in a clearer and more precise perspective. Quality school
performance requires competent and well-skilled teachers and administrators in
reconstructing and implementing school plans, policies and rules to strengthen
learning. Based from the above premise, this study was conceived.
Background of the Study
High schools functions are far different from the primary schools since the
former are of relatively high independence. Hence, the possible role of management is
extremely important for principals. School heads as leaders if they fulfill the
necessary strength and run the rail track will definitely reach the target in all aspect of
management professional groups.
However, the quality of teaching staff of a school being still inadequate in
terms of number of teachers, structural mismatches, professional capacity of teachers
not timely responding to the increasing demands of the innovation education

most influential in the industry management system to learn results of school's
students. The style of principal work affects operating environment of the school. In
addition to capability to design programs and plans, principals must have thought of
suggestive referendum and decide the goals to remedy the inconsistent management
solutions, lack of scientific institutions from the direct innovation programs, teaching
and learning methods, and the use of information technology to manage and improve
teachers. This prompted the researcher to conduct the study on the principals’ 5

leadership style and the instructional variables affecting the performance of high
schools at Hai Phong City in Vietnam.
Objectives of the Study
This study determined the principals’ leadership styles and instructional
variables affecting the performance of high schools and with an endview of
developing a strategic action plan at Hai Phong City, Vietnam, for school year 2012-
2013.
Specifically, it sought to attain the following objectives:
1. Determine the leadership styles of the respondent principals as to;
1.1 Authoritative
1.2 Democratic
1.3 Delegative
2. Find out the instructional variables that may affect the performance of high schools
in terms of:
2.1. Self-regulated learners,
2.2. Teacher characteristics,
2.3. Classroom climate,
2.4. Technology and learning, and
2.5. Motivation in Diversity.

to raise the school performance.
Students. Since the heart of the teaching-learning process are the students,
they would be benefited for they are the main concern of both the school heads and
the teachers. A school with conducive environment, flexible school heads with the 7

good leadership styles, and committed teachers would create better school
performance as a whole.
Future Researchers.This study would give future references to those
researchers who wish to have a similar study and likewise develop a strategic plan.
Thus, knowledge on the leadership styles and important instructional variables could
serve for their future reading resources.
Scope and Limitations
This study was conducted in Hai Phong City focusing only in the types of
leadership styles and the instructional variables that may affect the school
performance.There were 14 high schools involved in this study with a total of 896
respondents comprising of headmasters and teachers.
The types of leadership styles used in this study were based from Lewin’s
authoritative, democratic and delegative styles. On the other hand, instructional
variables identified in this study were self-regulated learners, teacher characteristic,
technology and learning, motivation in diversity, and classroom climate.A strategic
action plan was developed based from the results of the study.
To gather the data, the researcher used the validated questionnaire of Mentilla
(2011) in determining the instructional variables that may affect the school
performance. It was composed of 50 statements that describe each variable. The
instrument to measure the leadership styles of respondents was based from leadership
styles survey instrument used by Clark (2010). It was composed of 30 statements
modified to suit to Vietnam High School setting.
9

Principal refers to the school headmaster who administers and supervises the
whole academic programs in high schools.
Performance of students refers to the average grades of the students in all
their subjets in a school semester.
Self-regulated learning (SRL) emphasizes the autonomy and control by the
individual who monitors, directs, and regulates actions toward goals of the
information acquisition, expanding expertise, and self-improvement (Paris & Paris
2001). In this study, it refers to students who can learn by themselves and work
without closed supervision by the teacher.
Strategic Action Plan refers to sequence of steps that must be taken, or
activities that must be performed well for the strategy to succeed. An action plan has
three major elements, viz: 1) specific tasks: what will be done; 2) time horizon: when
will it be done; 3) resource allocation: what specific funds are available for specific
activities (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/action-plan.html). It is the
output developed based on the results of the study.
Teacher characteristics form part of instructional variables whichrefer to the
teacher’s personal and professional qualities.Personal qualities deal with their
attitudes and behavioral attributes while professional qualities deal with how they
deliver their teaching.
Technology and learning refers to how technology is used by the teacher in
teaching-learning process, and how students interact with this mode of teaching
delivery. 10


contend that there is no one best way of leading and that is effective in some
situations which may not be successful in others. An effect of this is that leaders who
are very effective at one place and time may become unsuccessful either when
transplanted to another situation or when the factors around them change. This helps
to explain how some leaders who seem for a while to have the 'Midas touch' suddenly
appear to go off the boil and make very unsuccessful decisions.
According to Gardner (n.d.), in On Leadership, "Leadership is the process of
persuasion or example by which an individual (or leadership team) induces a group to
pursue objectives held by the leader or shared by the leader and his or her followers."
If we accept that definition, then leadership style is the way in which that process is
carried out (http://ctb.ku.edu/en/main_1122.aspx.)
Leaders' styles encompass how they relate to others within and outside the
organization, how they view themselves and their position, and - to a very large extent
- whether or not they are successful as leaders. A task needs to be accomplished, how
does a particular leader set out to get it done. Much of the material in this section
looks at individual leaders, but leadership can be invested in team, or in several teams,
or in different people at different times. Many - perhaps most - organizations have
several levels of leadership, and thus many leaders. Regardless of the actual form of
leadership, however, leadership style is an issue. Whether you're the leader of a large
organization or a member of a small group that practices collective leadership, the
way that leadership plays out will have a great deal to do with the effectiveness and
influence of your work.The style of an organization's leadership is reflected in both
the nature of that organization and its relationships with the community. If a leader is
suspicious and jealous of his power, others in the organization are likely to behave 12

similarly, in dealing with both colleagues and the community. If a leader is
collaborative and open, she is likely to encourage the similar attitudes among staff

methods.
Leadership is the process of motivating a group of people to act towards
accomplishing a common task. There are number of recognized versions, or styles, of
leadership, some of which have been shown to be more effective than others. In 1939,
a group of researchers led by the German-American psychologist Kurt Lewin
identified three major leadership styles: authoritarian; participative or democratic;
and delegative or laissez faire. Good leaders may well adopt some element of all of
the styles of leadership.
Authoritative or Autocratic Style
Lewin (1939) as one of the main proponent of the leadership style describes
autocratic leaders who seek to have the most authority in decision-making and
provide the rest of the group with clear expectations regarding what needs to be done
and how it should be done. They try to make as many decisions as possible and
consultation is minimal. This leadership style is effective on short-term projects or in
environments where employees are poorly motivated or need to perform low-skilled
tasks.
This leadership style offers some benefits to managers who use it. It reduces
their stress levels as they know they have full control and it also improves the
working speed of poorly motivated employees, who know they are being watched by
a leader. One of the main disadvantages of this style is that by making all the
decisions, the leader doesn't give the other members of the group the opportunity to
start their leadership development. By taking all responsibility, the leader works at full 14

capacity, which can lead to health problems and poor working relationships with
colleagues.
Autocratic leadership allows quick decision-making, and eliminates arguments
over how and why things get done. At the same time, however, it may reduce the