درجة ممارسة القيادة الملهمة لدى مديري المدارس الثانوية الحكومية في المحافظات الجنوبية بفلسطين وعلاقتها بفعالية بالأداء المدرسي
The study aimed to identify the degree of practicing inspirational leadership among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine, and its relationship to the effectiveness of school performance from the teachers’ point of view. The researcher employed the descriptive and analytical approach and used the questionnaire as the main study tool, by preparing two questionnaires; the first questionnaire aimed to measure the degree of practice of inspirational leadership among government secondary school principals, and it consisted of (34) items distributed to five areas: (self-confidence - change management - strategic orientation – employee empowerment - clarity of values). The second questionnaire sought to measure the effectiveness of school performance, and it consisted of (20) items. The study population consisted of male and female secondary school teachers in the southern governorates of Palestine, who numbered (4292) male and female teachers, and the study sample, which was selected randomly, consisted of (336) male and female teachers. The researcher also used statistical treatments through the statistical analysis program (SPSS). The most prominent results of the study are the following: 1) The degree of practice of inspirational leadership among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine from the teachers’ point of view was high, with a mean average of 3.92 and a relative weight of (78.43%). 2) There are statistically significant differences between the average estimates of the study sample of the degree of inspirational leadership practice among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine in the areas of (change management and strategic orientation) attributed to gender, in favour of females. 3) There are no statistically significant differences between the study sample's average estimates of the degree of inspirational leadership practice among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine regarding the areas (self-confidence, teacher empowerment, and clarity of values) that are attributed to gender. 4) There are no statistically significant differences between the average estimates of the study sample for the degree of inspirational leadership practice among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine due to the variable of academic qualification and years of service. 5) There are no statistically significant differences between the average estimates of the study sample’s degree of practice of inspirational leadership among government secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine regarding these areas (self-confidence, change management, strategic direction) that are attributed to the educational area, while there are statistically significant differences in the average estimates of the study sample on these two areas (teacher empowerment, clarity of values) that are attributed to the educational directorate. 6) The level of effectiveness of school performance in secondary schools in the southern governorates of Palestine from the teachers’ point of view was high, with a mean average of 3.99, and a relative weight of (79.74%). 7) There are no statistically significant differences at the level of significance (α≥0.05) between the mean scores of the study sample's estimates of the effectiveness of school performance in secondary schools in the southern governorates of Palestine due to the variables (educational qualification, years of service, educational organization), except for the gender variable, which showed differences in favour of females. 8) There is a statistically significant strong correlation between the practice of inspirational leadership by secondary school principals in the southern governorates of Palestine and the level of effectiveness of institutional performance. Among the most important recommendations of the study are the following: 1) Working on enhancing the employees’ self-confidence and contributing to raising their level of satisfaction and loyalty. 2) Accepting the views and opinions of employees, and providing a supportive organizational climate for all employees in the school work environment. 3) Developing a clear plan to improve teachers’ performance according to the training needs of each teacher. 4) Motivating the school’s staff to contribute to the change process and providing them with material and moral incentives. (Author’s abstract)