EFFECTIVENESS OF LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SCHOOL CULTURE AT THE SECONDARY SCHOOL LEVEL IN PAKISTAN

Leadership in schools is a flexible and ever-changing concept. School headteachers' leadership styles are complicated, and they play a significant role in shaping a school's culture. The current study explores the school's effectiveness concerning headteachers' leadership style and school culture. It had three research objectives; 1) to compare headteachers' and secondary school teachers' perceptions regarding the indicators of school cultures, 2) to investigate the difference between secondary school teachers' perceptions regarding the indicators of school effectiveness, and 3) to find the relationship between headteachers' leadership styles and school culture. The nature of the current investigation was quantitative, and the researchers opted descriptive survey research design. The study sample comprised 1014 respondents consisting of headteachers (342) and secondary school teachers (672) from two districts of Punjab. The data were collected by using two different questionnaires, and it was analysed using inferential statistics. The investigation showed that school leaders had a somewhat better understanding of the characteristics of school culture than teachers in secondary schools. Principals gave indicators of school culture greater weight and attention than the relevant teachers. A significant relationship was found between headteachers' leadership styles (democratic and authoritative) and the school culture. The current paper suggests school leaders deploy the democratic and authoritative styles in the students' best interest to develop a student's centerd school culture. Furthermore, secondary school teachers had a less established awareness of school culture and effectiveness than school leaders. Therefore, the research recommends expanding teacher education to raise educators' understanding of school culture and effectivenss issues. Keywords: Leadership styles, school culture, school effectiveness, democratic styles, authoritative style