A Model for Integration of Language & Leadership Learning Strategies for Communicative Competency and Transformational Servant Leadership for Students in Secondary Schools in Kenya

Abstract

This research aimed at establishing how English as a medium of instruction could be used as a vehicle for attitude change, exploring how integrated textual and audio-visual media could be used in learning English and leadership, investigating the teachers’ core beliefs and opinions on student leadership, investigating the effects of leadership on the students’ academics and relationships and developing a model for the integration of language and leadership learning.

Literature review comprised of the function of language in the human society, language learning and the transformational servant leadership theories. The sample was; fifty principals, 116 teachers, 146 prefects and 1176 ordinary students. Data was mined using questionnaires, interview protocols and a written Pre and post-test. The study established that language has power to change attitude, gives confidence to communicate and that textual and audio-visual media are significant in the ESL classroom. Teachers’ believed that leaders are made, high achievers make good leaders, fluency, eloquence, personality traits and physical appearance influenced selecting students to particular leadership positions. Teachers felt that prefects should be democratically elected.

Through the triangulation of primary and secondary data a Lingua leadership Model was developed tested and validated. A two tailed t- test was done and the result led to the rejection of the null hypothesis at .001 level of significance. The four skills of language were examined and the results led to the rejection of the null hypothesis at.001 level of significance. It was established that leadership affected the learners’ academics and their relationships. There was a significant difference between the student’s score at primary (KCPE) and the final mean score at secondary (KCSE) at .001 level of significance. This led to the rejection of the null hypothesis. Mistrust among students and between students and their leaders were among the causes of unrests in schools. The relationship between prefects and teachers in most schools was negative. Effects were more felt in Girls’ schools than boys’ schools and were less severe in day schools than in boarding schools.