Viability of distributive leadership and teacher autonomy for effective schools in developing nations: A case study from Nigeria

Distributive leadership is often associated with teacher autonomy, decentralisation and effective schools. This article aims to investigate how distributive leadership is practiced by principals and is connected to teacher autonomy within the context of federal schools in northwest Nigeria. Adopting a quantitative analysis method, this descriptive survey reveals that the implementation of distributive leadership by principals and teachers’ perspective of their autonomy are both moderate. The study also identified that, contrary to some evidence, teacher autonomy is irrelevant to school effectiveness, while distributive leadership significantly affects school effectiveness. This research explores distributive leadership, teacher autonomy and school effectiveness in a devolved education system. Furthermore, this work contributes to the literature on the subject by presenting evidence that devolution does not necessarily ensure high distributive leadership and teacher autonomy, and its presence does not guarantee highly effective schools. In response to the demand for additional non-Western literature, this study explains the dynamics of distributive leadership, teacher autonomy and school efficacy in a decentralised Nigerian environment.