Effectiveness of Spiritual and Moral Leadership in the Administration of Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Run Schools in Bulawayo Province, Zimbabwe.

Abstract

The growing occurrence of moral decline in church-sponsored schools highlights the need for research on its impact on school administration. This study aimed to examine school administrators’ views and experiences regarding spiritual and moral leadership and how it influences school management. The research employed a qualitative interpretive approach to investigate school administrators’ views concerning spiritual and moral leadership and its impact within a school setting. Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews, transcribed verbatim, translated to English, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The study focused on administrators from Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) schools in Bulawayo Province, with a sample size of twenty (20) selected from four purposively chosen schools. The majority of participants highlighted key qualities of spiritual and moral leadership, including being centered on God, integrity, setting a good example, and serving others. Subsequently, the study identified specific traits associated with effective spiritual and moral leadership practices in schools, such as achieving high-quality outcomes, fostering disciplined learners, ensuring sufficient resources, and maintaining excellent infrastructure. The findings of this study strongly indicate that by adopting the highlighted attributes, educational leaders in SDA-run schools could decrease moral decline. Within the school environment, the impact of spiritual and moral leadership is demonstrated through achieving high-quality outcomes, fostering disciplined learners, ensuring ample resources, and maintaining top-notch infrastructure. These findings were crucial for school administrators and researchers as they heightened awareness about spiritual and moral leadership practices. Additionally, it was expected that these findings would influence the values and practices of future school leaders.