FEMALE TEACHERS ASPIRATION TO LEAD PUBLICAND PRIVATESECONDARY SCHOOLS OF SHONE TOWN, SOUTHERN NATIONS, NATIONALITIES AND PEOPLES’ ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess private and public secondary school female teachers’ aspirations towards secondary school leadership positions in SNNPR, Shone Town Administration. In this study, descriptive survey research design with quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed. All the 3 public and the 2 private secondary schools in shone town, were taken as a sample by using purposive sampling technique. The sample teachers 145 and the 2 female school principals were selected by using census sampling technique. The instruments of data collection were questionnaires, semi structured interview and document review. The quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency, percentage and standard deviation; and inferential statistics such a t- test and ch –square test. The qualitative data gathered were analyzed through narration. The findings of this study disclosed that 28.77 % ( 42) of the respondents hold school leadership positions and the remaining 71.2 % (104) of the respondent teachers served as a teacher. This implies that majority of the respondents were not included in school leadership activities or positions. So, the major findings of this study show that female teachers showed low aspiration to secondary school leadership position; but there were no significant difference in aspiration between married and unmarried teachers, and also private and public school teachers. The study further disclosed that some of the challenge that could hinder highly female teachers’ aspirations towards secondary school leadership position was lack of role model, lack of community and family support, lack of self confidence, complex nature of the job, and lack of a mentor. Based on the above finding, it was recommended that schools should have to design women empowering strategies like short and long trainings, giving recognition and encouragement to better performing female teachers and female students at school level. It is recommended that the Town Administrative Education Office should have to work jointly with other offices and Politicians to bring attitudinal change in the communities to evade stereotypic misconceptions about women