Good schools, bad schools : principles motivating Lebanese teachers

This research aimed to identify the impact of the Principal's leadership style on teachers' motivation in some Lebanese intermediate public schools. It aimed to reveal those teachers' needs, enabling them to perform professionally. Moreover it sought to find out the extent to which the instructional leadership style had been adopted by the Principals in these schools. A small-scale survey approach was used where a cross-sectional study design was assumed.;By sampling extreme cases (five high-performing schools and five low-performing ones), the researcher was able to reveal the differences that existed in the teachers' attitude towards motivation as well as towards their Principals' leadership styles in the two sets of schools selected. Moreover, it enabled her to identify the different factors that affected the school performance level. To achieve her objective, the researcher triangulated the quantitative data collected from questionnaires administered to 203 teachers, with the qualitative data collected from interviews conducted with twenty teachers using a semi-structured interview schedule.;Teachers at the high-performing schools were found to be significantly more motivated than their colleagues in the low-performing ones by recognition and by the school climate. Teachers reported their need for a higher level of equity to be prevailed among teachers, where high-quality teachers are to be better recognized. However, most of the teachers seemed to be cherishing the job security that the public educational system is offering.;Principals in the schools investigated were found to assume climate-related functions more than the technological ones under the instructional leadership style. Both sets of functions were significantly more performed by the Principals in the high-achieving schools in comparison with the Principals in the low-achieving ones.;The factors that affected the school performance level were teachers' quality and the way they are motivated, the Principal's leadership style, the physical conditions of the school (including the required tools and equipment), as well as the students' SES.;The researcher ended up by recommending the remedies required to keep teachers motivated, and by advancing some strategies to enhance the teaching's quality in Lebanon.