SCHOOL HEADS AND RESEARCH

Abstract

This article discusses the role of school heads in research towards school improvement and uses
the constructivist framework by applying an interpretive/hermeneutic design. This approach is
motivated by the authors’ belief that school improvement is ‘context based’. The discussion draws
arguments from a desk-study in which documentary analysis on school heads and research was
conducted. In-school studies and studies by out-of-school researchers in Botswana were also
analyzed. International literature was also examined. Literature was explored with the purpose of
eliciting the role that school heads play in research as a critical activity in school improvement.
The findings of the study reveal that very little in-school studies led by school heads exist in
Botswana. Minimal engagement of school heads in these in-school research activities shows that
research in Botswana is still more of a rhetoric than practice. Findings in international literature
show that schools that engage in research activities generally do better than those that do not. This
also apply to school leaders who engage in research.