Lebanese Public Schools Principals’ Attitudes, Level of ICT Use and Leadership Style

Yıl 2018, Cilt: 9 , 303 - 315, 18.08.2018

Suzanne El Takach Zalpha Ayoubı İbrahim Kıbbı

Öz

The
purpose of this study was to investigate attitudes towards ICT, level of ICT
use, and leadership style of the Lebanese public schools’ attending a training
program at the Lebanese University, Faculty of Education. The training program, in which 204 principals
from all over Lebanon participated, lasted for three months. At the end
of the program, they filled a survey questionnaire and only 192 filled-in the
questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive analysis and
correlations were calculated to identify the relationships between ICT use and
gender, age, number of computers at school, earned Diploma, geographical
location. School
principals agreed that they benefit greatly from the ICT course; it helped them
in improving their computer skills relevant to their administrative work. Findings
also suggest that there is a no significant correlation between the use of ICT
and school principal gender and age, the good equipment of schools is
irrelevant with the school geographical location (urban/rural city). Moreover, within
this study, the researchers identify significant challenges faced by the
trainees’ school principals, for instance, the little number and the lack of
computers in their schools, the absence of IT teachers and even many of them
did not use often computers in their daily routine works before the training
program. Finally, Lebanese school principals adopted an administrative style
with an emphasis on the accountable management behavior. Future qualitative
studies are recommended to gain in-depth knowledge about the use of ICT by
school principals in their schools.

Anahtar Kelimeler

School principals’ attitudes, University training program, ICT

Kaynakça

• Abdul Razzak, N. (2013). Challenges facing school leadership in promoting ICT integration in instruction in the public schools of Bahrain. Education and Information Technologies. The Official Journal of the IFIP Technical Committee on Education, ISSN 1360-235, 18(4), DOI 10.1007/s10639-013-9283-7. Afshari, M., Ghavifeker, S., Saedah, S., & Rahmad, S. (2012). Transformational Leadership Role of Principals in Implementing Informational and Communication Technologies in Schools. Life Science Journal, 9(1), 281-284. Albirini, A. A. (2006). Teacher’s attitudes toward information and communication technologies: the case of Syrian EFL teachers. Journal of Computers and Education, 47, 373-398. Anderson, R. E., & Dexter, S. L. (2005). School technology leadership: An empirical investigation of prevalence and effect. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(1), 49-82. Crow, G.M., Witherspoon Arnold, N., Reed, C.J., & Shoho, A.R. (2012). The Complexity of Leveraging University Program Change, Journal of Research on Leadership Education 7(2), 172–194. Dawson, C., & Rakes, G. C. (2003). The influence of principals’ technology training on the integration of technology into schools. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 36, 29–49. Frye, B., O’Neill, K., & Bottoms, G. (2006). Schools can’t wait: Accelerating the redesign of university principal preparation programs. Atlanta, GA: Southern Regional Education Board. Ghamrawi, N. (2013). The Relationship between the Leadership Styles of Lebanese Public School Principals and Their Attitudes towards ICT versus the Level of ICT Use by Their Teachers, Open Journal of Leadership, 2(1), 11-20, http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojl.2013.21002. Jacobson, S.L., & Autumn, C. (2012). Important Shifts in Curriculum of Educational Leadership Preparation, Journal of Research on Leadership Education 7(2), 217–236. Laaria, M. (2013). Challenges Encountered by Principals during Implementation of ICT in Public Secondary Schools, Kenya, Journal of Sociological Research, ISSN 1948-5468 2013, 4(2), pp. 1-19, www.macrothink.org/jsr. Laaria, M. (2013). Leadership challenges in the implementation of ICT in public secondary schools, Kenya, Journal of Education and Learning 2 (1) 32-43 http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jel.v2n1p32. Leng, N.W. (2008). Transformational Leadership and the Integration of Information and Communications Technology into Teaching. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 17:1, pp. 1-14. Mwalongo, (2011). Teachers’ Perceptions about ICT, Professional Development, Administration and Personal use. International Journal of Education and Development using information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 7(3), 36-49. OECD (2009). Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS – ISBN 978-92-64-05605-3, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/608025205225. Oluyemisi A. O. (2015). ICT and Effective School Management: Administrators’ Perspective: Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2015 Vol I, WCE 2015, July 1 - 3, 2015, London, U.K. Ottestad, G. (2013). School Leadership for ICT and Teachers’ Use of Digital Tools, Nordic Journal of Digital Literacy, , 8, NR 01-02, 107-125, www.idunn.no. Papaioannou, P, & Charalambous, K. (2011). Principals’ Attitudes towards ICT and Their Perceptions about the Factors That Facilitate or Inhibit ICT Integration in Primary Schools of Cyprus, Journal of Information Technology Education, 10, 349-369. Polizzi, G. (2011). Measuring School Principals’ Support for ICT Integration in Palermo, Italy, Journal of Media Literacy Education, 3:2, 113 – 122. Pont, B., Nusche, D., & Moorman, H. (2008). Improving School Leadership. Volume 1: Policy and Practice, An OECD Publication, www.oecd.org/edu/schoolleadership. Teo, T. (2006). Attitudes toward computers: A study of post-secondary students in Singapore. Interactive Learning Environment, 14(1), 17–24. Rusmini, A. (2012). Managing The Use of ICT in Schools: Strategies for School Leaders, Educational Administration and Management Journals, Institute of Aminuddin Baki. Sangrà, A., & González-Sanmamed, M. (2010) The role of information and communication technologies in improving teaching and learning processes in primary and secondary schools, ALT-J, 18(3), 207-220, DOI: 10.1080/09687769.2010.529108.