| This study investigated the cognitive frames of school leaders in Belize. The theoretical framework used to guide the study was defined and developed by Bolman and Deal's (1997) four-frame typology. These four leadership perspectives were the Structural, Human Resource, Political, and Symbolic frames. The study also investigated the influence of contextual factors (school location, school management, and school size); and leader characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, years of experience as principal, and academic qualification) on principals' cognitive frame use. The study addressed two overarching questions: What are the leadership perspectives (cognitive frames) of Belizean school administrators? What influence do contextual and leader characteristics exert on their cognitive frames?; Of the 192 Leadership Orientations (Self) Survey distributed to the population of principals of government primary schools, Catholic primary schools, and high schools, 74% (143) were returned. Principals of government primary schools completed 29% of the returned instruments, 53% were returned by principals of Catholic primary schools, and 18% by high school principals. In addition, 14 principals participated in focus group discussions, the data from which were used to complement the quantitative findings in a mixed method design.; Demographics regarding school location, school size, and ethnicity were reflections of demographics in the larger population in Belize. Despite school level, type, and location, the pattern of frame use (Human Resource, Structural, Symbolic, and Political, in that order) was the same for the study participants. Over 50% of the principals used three or more frames frequently. Frame use implied that Belizean principals were effective school managers. Regression analysis results suggested that factors other than those investigated in this study may account for principals' cognitive frame use.; The findings have implications for professional development of school leaders, particularly with regard to use of the Political frame. Results also underscored the need for further studies on the influence of school size on school leaders' performance, the management-school leader relationship, and the disparities in educational attainment in urban and rural settings. All these factors have implications for developing and implementing functional education policies that reflect the multicultural nature of Belize. |
