ETHICAL LEADERSHIP FOR SCHOOL GOVERNANCE: A CASE STUDY OF FOUR SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN GABORONE

Abstract

The importance of ethics in school leadership cannot be overemphasized. Even with well laid down
education policies on ethics, cases of unethical practices in schools abound. This study examined
the place of ethical leadership (EL) in promoting school good governance (GG) in Botswana. The
study selected participants from four senior secondary schools in Gaborone and was based on postempiricist paradigm and a concurrent mixed method research design. Data was collected through
questionnaires and interviews. The participants’ understanding of attributes of EL and GG showed
that school leaders are ethical in governance. However, in triangulating the qualitative and the
quantitative data, it was found that school leaders’ argument that they involved stakeholders in
decision-making was questioned by 45% of the teachers. Furthermore, most of the teachers (76%)
and school leaders argued that they are not faced with ethical dilemmas as instructional leaders
and leaders respectively. Although there is no unified code of ethics used by the schools, there are
some ‘unwritten’ codes of ethics embedded in their schools’ organizational culture which are
generally implemented. Overall, the study showed that EL leads to school GG. The study
recommends the formulation and enactment of a code of conduct to regulate the professional
behaviour of educators in Botswana. It also recommends training and re-training programmes on
the enacted code of conduct.