Exploring Transformational Leadership: Practice, Impacts and Challenges Faced by Educational Leaders in Pakistan

Abstract

The current study aims to explore how far are the educational leaders in Pakistan engaging in the practice of transformational leadership, and to identify the impact and challenges pertaining to its implementation. Transformational leadership has a significant role in the overall effective performance of schools. Through a mixed-method approach, a structured questionnaire consisiting of open-ended and close-ended questions was administered to 20 primary and secondary educational leaders of Lahore, Pakistan, via random sampling. The findings suggest that the Pakistani educational leaders are highly engaged in the practice of the transformational leadership. Job satisfaction, employee performance and collaboration were seen as highly impactful, while culture, limited professional development and sustainability were seen as major challenges. Additionally, demographic factors were seen as contributing factors as the older groups were found less engaging in the practice of transformational leadership. It is recommended that policy-makers and educational institutes should invest in leadership and professional development courses to improve leadership practice and address contextual barriers in Pakistan’s education sector.