An exploratory study of information communication technology integration leadership in three senior high schools in the central region, Ghana

Abstract

This study explored various dimensions of ICT integration from a leadership perspective in three public Senior High Schools in the Central Region of Ghana. An embedded mixed method design was adopted, with a dominant qualitative strand and supportive quantitative strand. Following the distributed leadership model, interview data were collected from 12 leaders who were purposively sampled from the three schools to explore their perceptions of and strategies for leading ICT integration, challenges, and support systems for effective ICT integration. For the quantitative strand, 230 teachers were randomly sampled from the three schools to respond to a 14-item questionnaire that sought to determine their perceptions of ICT integration in teaching and learning and independent samples and One-Way ANOVA tests were used to analyse how gender and age influenced these perceptions. The major finding from this study is that the school leaders admit that they are digital immigrants, yet they appreciate the importance of ICTs to teaching and learning. Moreover, they have not been exposed to professional training to equip them with skills to successfully lead ICT integration in their schools. As a result, the support they provide for ICT is management oriented. Moreover, results from the survey showed that male and female teachers differ significantly in their perceptions of ICT integration, with males having more favourable perceptions than females. Age differences on the other hand were not found to predict the teachers’ perceptions of ICT integration. In conclusion, results from the study have been presented to inform educational stakeholders on how to equip school leaders for effective ICT leadership.