Ethical Leadership in Secondary Schools: A Phenomenological Inquiry into Head Teachers' Lived Experiences and Barriers

Abstract

Ethical leadership is a key area for quality school leadership. This study aims to explore the lived experience of secondary school head teachers of ethical leadership and the obstacles they face in their practice. It was a qualitative study with a phenomenological research design. Eight public secondary school head teachers from Gujranwala, Punjab, were selected as the sample through purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews based on a self-developed interview guide. Interviews were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis. Results indicated that ethical leadership is a value-based activity that helps in fostering fairness, honesty, transparency, accountability, integrity, and role modelling. The study also revealed political and community interferences, limited resources, socio-cultural expectations of seniority and gender, and professional obligations as barriers to the emergence of ethical leadership. It is concluded that ethical leadership can serve as a transformative institutional resource to support ethical school climate and ongoing school improvement.