An investigation of the perceptions of Lebanese school leaders and teachers of building school capacity for sustainable school improvement -

Abstract

This study examined the perceptions of Lebanese leaders and teachers about building school capacity for sustainable school improvement. It has a threefold purpose: (1) to identify the perspectives of teachers and leaders regarding building school capacity for improvement, (2) to analyze the perceptions of the leaders and the teachers through comparing their perspectives with what the literature recommends regarding building school capacity, (3) to come up with an action plan that would support the school in better building its capacity for sustainable improvement. The study adopted a qualitative case study design and employed the grounded theory methodology. Data included relevant school documents, semi-structured individual interviews and focus group interviews, and journal notes. Data were analyzed and coded using the constant comparative approach. The findings of the study reveal that the perception of the leaders and the teachers regarding building school capacity for sustainable improvement converges in some aspects with the recommendations of literature while in others it does not. However, even though there is some alignment with what literature proposes as effective ways to build the school’s capacity for improvement, participants do not seem to have a framework from which they are operating purposefully, as people’s actions and ideas seem reactionary and on prompt rather than strategically thought off. Drawn from the study results, recommendations for practice are suggested in the form of an action plan and recommendations for research are also proposed.