Strategies for sustaining teachers’ engagement by heads of departments in higher education institutions in Cameroon: Insights from Ubuntu

Abstract

Higher education institutions in Cameroon have undergone a major transformation (since the 1993 reforms) with a major objective to improve on the quality of graduates. However, concerns about leaders who are central to the implementation of these reforms have not been taken seriously. We live in a,multicultural context, especially in Cameroon with diverse cultures and national languages, thus the issue of leadership is relevant for organisational productivity. Premised on the basis that the quality of education depends on the quality of teachers, this paper presents heads of departments’ (HODs) perspectives on how their leadership practices sustain teachers’ engagement in higher education institutions in Cameroon grounded in the philosophy of Ubuntu. It is a qualitative study that involved interviews with heads of departments (n=63) from state and private HE institutions in Cameroon, where thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data. The results revealed that HODs used five major strategies which focused on engaging teachers in the mission and vision of the institution, problem-solving, decision-making, shared responsibilities and staff development approaches. These strategies improved management, social capital and the capacity building of teachers.