Instructional Leadership and Lecturers’ Job Performance in Public Universities in Uganda

Abstract

Uganda’s public universities are still grappling with the challenge of lecturers’ job underperformance. While a growing body of research has identified various factors to explain this underperformance, it has not paid much attention to the analysis of whether instructional leadership is among the causes and if it can provide a solution to this challenge. Therefore, this study provides this analysis. The study employed a cross-sectional correlational survey involving collection of questionnaire data from 341 lecturers and 35 heads of departments (instructional leaders) selected from Makerere University and Kyambogo University using stratified sampling. The data was analysed using descriptive, data transformation, and linear regression analysis. Findings established instructional leadership as a positive and significant predictor of lecturers’ job performance. These findings suggest that improving instructional leadership by availing lecturers with adequate instructional resources and supervising and monitoring them effectively can improve their job performance. Accordingly, the study recommends to the management of Uganda’s public universities to stock sufficient teaching resources and to ensure that their heads of departments play their supervisory and monitoring roles effectively.