Teachers’ Perceptions of Bolman and Deal’s Leadership Frames in Nine-Year Schools in the Durrës District, Albania

Abstract

This study examined teachers’ perceptions of Bolman and Deal’s four leadership frames; structural, human resource, political, and symbolic, in nine-year schools within the Durrës district of Albania. Adopting a quantitative descriptive design, data were collected from 610 teachers across 60 schools, selected through purposive and proportional sampling to ensure representation of urban, suburban, and rural areas. The Leadership Orientation Instrument (LOI) developed by Bolman and Deal (1990) was used to assess teachers’ perceptions of leadership orientations. Descriptive statistics and standardized Z-scores were applied to compare and categorize the four frames. Results indicated moderate and balanced levels across all dimensions: structural (68%), human (67%), political (68%), and symbolic (68%). Approximately one-fifth of the schools achieved high ratings across all four dimensions, showing that leadership orientations are generally balanced, with similar levels observed across the four frames. The findings provide a descriptive overview of leadership orientations in Albanian basic education and offer a foundation for future studies exploring relationships among leadership frames and contextual variables. Interpretations should be considered in light of the study’s geographic focus and reliance on teachers’ perceptions.