Leadership and Scholarly Praxis: Elevating the Potentials of School Research Coordinators

This study was conducted to determine the relationship of leadership skills, capabilities, and challenges of school research coordinators as a basis for the development of a district-wide training program. A descriptive correlation research design was employed, utilizing a researcher-made and adapted survey questionnaire that consisted of the demographic profile of the respondents, their leadership skills level, research capabilities, and the challenges encountered by school research coordinators during the research process. The researcher considered all the research school coordinators in the 4th Congressional District of Iloilo. Statistical tools used were mean and standard deviation for descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson r, Kruskal-Wallis Wallis and Post Hoc test for inferential statistics. Results revealed that the school research coordinators as a whole exhibit a relatively high level of administrative skills, moderately capable for capabilities in research, and a lot of challenges encountered during the conduct of research. The findings suggest that the level of leadership skills in terms of highest educational attainment, years in service, years as research coordinator, and research conducted did not significantly impact the level of their administrative skills. There was no significant difference in the level of research capabilities according to the highest educational attainment. There was a notable difference in teachers’ years in service, years as research coordinator, and research conducted. There was a significant correlation existed between leadership skills and research capabilities of school research coordinators. The challenges encountered by the school research coordinators during the conduct of research were limited resources, lack of time, lack of funds, and lack of training. It is recommended that the administration should support the teachers in any possible way, depending on their needs and continued professional development, especially in taking up postgraduate education like a master’s degree and a doctorate degree to foster teachers’ effectiveness in the conduct of research. It is also recommended that teachers should be encouraged to attend seminars, training, and conferences related to research.