Exploring School Leadership Praxis in Ghanian Education Through School Leaders’ Sensemaking

This presentation explores school leadership theorizing and practice among elementary and secondary school principals in Ghana. Leadership is an important factor in improving learning for students (Leithwood, et al., 2020). The OECD (2008) identifies school leadership is an education policy priority around the world and has called for the development of school leadership frameworks ground ed in local contexts. It draws on qualitative research conducted with 25 secondary and elementary school principals in the Central Region of Ghana. Educational leadership scholars have called into question the continued domination of Western leadership epistemologies and frameworks. The lack of an African leadership perspective and borrowing of Western leadership frames within education and schooling continues to be a challenge (Guramatunhu Cooper & Lyons, 2017; Moorosi & Bush, 2020). Exercising leadership and realizing its potential depends on context. The World Bank (2018) report identifies challenges in education systems across Sub-Saharan Africa attributing the learning crisis to unprepared students, poor teaching quality, focus on ineffective inputs, weak school management, and leadership development. School leadership development is seen as crucial in addressing these challenges, but they cannot come solely from Western frameworks (Moorosi & Bush, 2020; Eacott & Asuga, 2014; Hallinger, 2017). Within the African context school leadership development has not always been a central policy focus, and where it exits there has been an over reliance on western models and a lack of theorization grounded in African epistemologies (Moorosi, 2021; Eacott & Asuga, 2014). Research was conducted between 2023 – 2024 utilizing narrative inquiry, undergirded by sensemaking theorization. Narrative inquiry centres the stories of participants and seeks to understand the context and ways that their stories were constructed and positioned (Mischler, 1986; Riessman, 1993). Research participants included 14 secondary and 11 elementary school principals, 13 of which were women and 12 were men. Goals of the research were to gain insights into a) how school leaders in Ghana make sense of their leadership roles, b) the challenges and successes they experience as school leaders, c) the unique characteristics of leadership, leadership competencies and leadership development do school leaders see as relevant in their context; and d) ways that the philosophy of Ubuntu might support their work as school principals. The following questions guided the research: 1. How do school leaders in Ghana understand and make sense of their leadership roles? 2. What challenges and successes have they experienced as school leaders? 3. What unique characteristics of leadership, leadership competencies, and leadership development do school leaders see as relevant in Ghana? 4. How might the philosophy of Ubuntu support their work as school principals in Ghana Sensemaking is an important leadership capability that involves constructing understandings of one’s context and changing dynamics in the world through data collection, action and conversation. Sensemaking enables leaders to have a better grasp of what is going on in their environments, thereby facilitating other leadership activities such as visioning, relating and inventing (Ancoma, 2012). Sensemaking enables leaders to turn the ongoing complexity of the world into a “situation that is comprehended explicitly in words and that serves as a springboard into action” (Weick, Sutcliffe, & Obstefeld, 2005, p. 409). Findings reveal that school principals in Ghana understand their leadership roles within the context of the community the school serves, and that school leadership and community are inextricably linked. As part of their jobs, they are constantly asking questions about community impact in addition to questions on curriculum and learning outcomes. Findings reveal need for more leadership development and capacity building for principals before they enter the role. Participants indicated that they would like to see more workshops, seminars and focus on leadership and management theories, financial management, how to work with stakeholders. Several participants indicated that they did not have formal training before entering the role. One secondary principal noted “before you become a head there are some workshops for you to get knowledge …but you have to do some research yourself and reach out to colleagues”. The study also revealed challenges with issues such as policy for promotion, school fees and working with teachers. Participants shared successes in improving the ranking of their school and improved performance of students. While notion of Ubuntu was not in everyday discourse, one principal described Ubuntu as a “theory stimulates teamwork…the whole issue of leadership is about people, it's about teamwork and relationships…for you to be able to succeed you must get the support of the people”. The study has implications for school leadership development and praxis not only in Ghana, but sub-Saharan Africa. References Ancoma, D. (2012). Sensemaking: Framing and acting in the unknown. In S. Snook, N. Nohria, & R. Khurana (Eds.), The Handbook for Teaching Leadership: Knowing, Being and Doing (pp. 3-20). Sage Publications. Eacott, S., & Asuga, G. (2014). School leadership preparation and development in Africa: A critical insight. 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