Examining the Core Behavioral and Leadership Competencies of School Heads for Enhancing Professional Development

Abstract : To thrive today, school leaders must cultivate competencies that respond effectively to real-world challenges. This study examines the core behavioral and leadership competencies of identified school heads as basis for the development of a guidebook to enhance their professional development. The descriptive qualitative design was used to gather the school head’s leadership competencies, describe the induction programs attended and their experiences, and develop a guidebook to enhance their behavioral and leadership competencies. Results showed that exposure to the induction program greatly improves the leadership competencies of the school heads. Attendance to training supports school heads in translating their knowledge into a more visible and effective recognition of it as part of their leadership identity. However, the study also found out that the induction program showed inconsistency in terms of opportunity, timing, program naming, content delivery, and strengthened mentorship. Based on these findings, the study suggests institutionalizing the use of this guidebook to cater to inclusion and serve as a complementary tool to the school head’s induction program to enhance leadership competencies. The study also proposes to explore a localized induction program, such as a district level, bridge the gap of inclusion to provide need-based content and conduct a future study on the long-term effects of the guidebook in enhancing the core behavioral and leadership competencies of school heads.