Transformational Leadership in the Managerial Practice of Public Educational Institutions in District 09D07, Guayaquil – Ecuador

Resumen

This work presents results derived from a doctoral research and analyzes the alignment between practices exercised by school principals and the principles of transformational leadership, focusing on public institutions within District 09D07 in Guayaquil. The research employed a quantitative approach with a non-experimental, descriptive, and cross-sectional design. Data were collected through a structured survey administered to 42 in-service teachers, based on the four dimensions proposed by Bass and Avolio’s theoretical model: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. The findings revealed that transformational leadership practices were generally infrequent or inconsistent across most of the evaluated schools. Inspirational motivation and individualized consideration emerged as the most prominent dimensions; however, they did not reach levels sufficient to consolidate a fully transformational leadership style. Responses indicated that principals face challenges in positioning themselves as ethical role models or as drivers of a shared institutional vision. Likewise, there was limited stimulation of teachers’ professional development. Overall, the results underscore the need to strengthen school leaders’ competencies in transformational leadership as a key strategy to foster continuous improvement, pedagogical innovation, and organizational cohesion within educational institutions.