Intercultural Leadership Practices among Educational Leaders

Intercultural Leadership Practices among Educational Leaders

Mary Grace V. Lazado., Adrian C. Guinto, Ph.D.

Mabini Colleges, Incorporated, Daet, Camarines Norte

DOI: https://doi.org/10.51244/IJRSI.2025.12010069

Received: 14 January 2025; Accepted: 18 January 2025; Published: 19 February 2025

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the intercultural leadership practices among educational leaders in the Daet North District, Camarines Norte, School Years 2023-2024. The study addresses the intercultural leadership competence of educational leaders along; a) knowledge, b) attitudes, and c) skills related to intercultural practices, their specific leadership actions, and the challenges they face. Using quantitative descriptive correlational research strategy with 206 respondents, the findings indicates that the educational leaders are very competent in knowledge (GWM=3.38), attitudes (GWM=3.31), and skills (GWM=3.35). Significant relationships were found between competencies of knowledge, attitudes, skills and leadership practices, with strong correlations (r values ranging from 0.359 to 0.418). The main challenges identified were managing limited resources and administrative burdens. The study propose a training intervention and a guidance pamphlet to enhance leaders’ competencies and improve their intercultural practices. Recommendations include fostering open communication, involving teachers in decision-making, demonstrating cultural awareness, and promoting community engagement. Future studies will be encouraged to further explore and enhance intercultural leadership practices.

Keywords: Knowledge, attitude, skills, intercultural, leadership, educational leaders

INTRODUCTION

Globalization has significantly impacted all aspects of society, including school life, influencing the roles and practices of school leaders by Jackie (2024). As the interconnectedness of global economies, cultures, and technologies expands, educational leaders are increasingly required to navigate complex, multifaceted challenges that demand adaptive leadership strategies. Effective leadership has become a crucial factor in school improvement, particularly in navigating the complexities brought about by globalization. Intercultural education, shaped by school management’s interpretation of diversity, plays a vital role in this context by Fullan (2020). Research by Adnan et al. (2022) highlights how leaders who employ diverse strategies and prioritize employee engagement foster a more strong workforce and beneficial organization. However, leaders in diverse settings, such as Camarines Norte, faced challenges due to cultural differences, as identified by Taras et al. (2021), which can complicate team dynamics.

The concept of intercultural leadership refers to a leader’s ability to engage and influence followers from all cultures by Wang (2020). This approach promotes understanding and meaningful relationships across cultural divides. Educational leaders must adapt their leadership styles to reflect the realities of multiculturalism in their institutions, aligning with the Department of Education’s initiative to enhance teacher efficacy and student achievement through the Philippine Professional Standards for School Heads (PPSSH).

By fostering communication and relationships within diverse communities, multicultural leadership reshapes the educational system and enhances organizational governance. This study aims to assess the intercultural leadership practices among educational leaders in Daet North District, Division of Camarines Norte, focusing on their challenges in a diverse educational environment and their approaches to engaging teachers from various cultural backgrounds. Ultimately, this research seeks to enhance the capacity of intercultural leaders to effectively influence and engage their diverse communities. Lindsey et al. (2018) found that the intercultural leader looks inward to make changes required to be responsive to their community, it outlines a process for individuals to identify their strength and areas for improvements along a continuum of cultural proficiency and provides the same framework for the community and organization.

METHODS

This study employed quantitative approach, descriptive-correlational research design. The descriptive component focused on assessing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of educational leaders regarding intercultural leadership practices. The correlational aspect aimed to correlate the relationship between educational leaders’ competence and their intercultural leadership practices.

The study had 206 sample respondents from 369 population in the Daet North District, who were identified using Slovin’s Formula with 5% margin of error. Likewise, stratified random sampling was utilized to have equal representation from each school. Additionally, each intercultural competence underwent descriptive statistical test such as weighted mean, and ranking. While the significant relationship between educational leaders’ competence and their intercultural leadership practices used Pearson Product Coefficient or Pearson r.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Knowledge, Attitude, and Skills of Educational Leaders on Intercultural Leadership

Table 1. Knowledge of Educational Leader on Intercultural Leadership

Indicators	Weighted Mean	Interpretation
1.     The educational leader is knowledgeable about different cultures and key characteristics of their teachers.	3.53	VC
2.     The educational leader understands cultural differences and their impact on communication and collaboration.	2.50	SC
3.     The educational leader is familiar with team diversity and individual differences.	3.55	VC
4.     The educational leader knows planning, and supervision.	3.56	VC
5.     The educational leader knows effective instructional leadership	3.58	VC
6.     The educational leader knows decision-making	3.57	VC
Average Weighted Mean	3.38	VC

Rating scale          Descriptive Interpretation

3.26 -4.00             Very Competent (VC)

2.51- 3.25             Competent (C)

1.76- 2.50             Slightly Competent (SC)

1.00- 1.75             Not Competent (NC)

The educational leaders in Daet North District had no issues concerning knowledge of intercultural leadership, because the general weighted mean was WM= 3.38 interpreted as very competent. However, the sub-indicator concerning understanding cultural differences and their impact on communication and collaboration should be taken seriously the result was WM= 2.50 interpreted as slightly competent. Even though the educational leaders were very competent, the issue about cultural differences and their impact on communication and collaboration must be prioritized in order to have balance in the organization having members coming from distinct ethnic backgrounds, customs, religions, and traditions.

The result highlights the significance of cultural differences and their impact on communication in the employer-employee relationship. Understanding teachers’ cultural origins should improve communication and collaboration, significantly impacting their innovative working environment. Furthermore, allowing time for everyone to adjust to each other’s cultural and ethnic backgrounds was critical in achieving the organization’s objectives and vision.

Similarly, the study by Khan (2020) conformed the arguments as to the findings of the present study. It uncovers the relationship between leadership styles and innovative work behavior, highlighting the effect of leadership styles on innovative work behavior under the mediating and moderating roles of organizational culture. His study supports the present study’s claim that allowing time for everyone to adjust to each other’s cultural and ethnic backgrounds was critical in achieving the organization’s objectives and vision.

Table 2. Attitude of Educational Leader on Intercultural Leadership

Indicators	Weighted Mean	Interpretation
1.     The Educational Leader is a character builder and goal-setter.	3.43	VC
2.     The Educational Leader respects the diversity of employee and their individual preferences	2.50	SC
3.     The Educational Leader has a strong stress tolerance.	3.51	VC
4.     The Educational Leader has work-skills flexibility.	3.50	VC
5.     The Educational Leader has a dynamic concept in dealing with relations between teachers.	3.50	VC
6.     The Educational Leader is approachable and easy to deal with.	3.43	VC
Average Weighted Mean	3.31	VC

Rating scale          Descriptive Interpretation

3.26 -4.00             Very Competent (VC)

2.51- 3.25             Competent (C)

1.76- 2.50             Slightly Competent (SC)

1.00- 1.75             Not Competent (NC)

As reflected in the results, the general weighted mean was WM=3.31 which implied that the educational leader was very competent. However, indicator 2 reflected that the diversity of employees’ and teachers’ unique preferences had been given lesser priority with WM= 2.50, which means slightly competent. The researcher concluded that teacher diversity and individual preferences were not an issue; rather, the educational leader ensured successful governance by appreciating the importance of staff diversity. As a leader, it was critical to consider the professional development and individual variations of teachers from various cultural backgrounds while developing challenging school development programs and practices.

The result was conformed by Bloetner’s (2023) as he proved that the capacity of educational leaders to interact successfully across diversity of cultures was not only insuring successful governance through professional development and individual variations of teachers from various cultural backgrounds while developing challenging school development programs and practices, but rather it was also important to combine with empathy, could significantly impact the success of providing an inclusive learning environment. His research examined the significance of these two attributes, including their role in guiding communication and their influence on corporate relationships and culture. He emphasized the importance of this talent, noting that intercultural competency may improve intercultural leadership.

Evidently, this study would show that the educational leaders were character builders and goal-setters. They had strong stress tolerance and flexibility in their work. Furthermore, they had a dynamic concept in dealing with relations between teachers, and approachable and easy to deal with as they play an important role in building positive relationships within their organizations which was very vital in promoting harmonious connections among the employees.

Table 3. Skills of Educational Leaders on Intercultural Leadership

Indicators	Weighted Mean	Interpretation
1.     The educational leader can communicate effectively with individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds.	2.49	SC
2.     The educational leader is skilled in managing intercultural communication challenges.	3.46	VC
3.     The educational leader is proficient in managing cross-cultural differences	3.44	VC
4.     The educational leader can mediate conflicts between team members	3.48	VC
5.     The educational leader can build and lead a diverse team effectively	3.48	VC
6.     The educational leader is accountable for leading an organization	3.46	VC
7.     The educational leader is skilled in the school improvement process.	3.50	VC
8.     The educational leader can communicate well with the community and stakeholders.	3.46	VC
Average Weighted Mean	3.35	VC

Rating scale          Descriptive Interpretation

3.26 -4.00             Very Competent (VC)

2.51- 3.25             Competent (C)

1.76- 2.50             Slightly Competent (SC)

1.00- 1.75             Not Competent (NC)

 After analyzing the intercultural leader’s management skills in intercultural communication, cross-cultural disparities, and effectively establishing various teams, it was discovered that the educational leaders were very competent with WM= 3.35. However, indicator 1 had WM= 2.49 interpreted as slightly competent, to effectively communicate with teachers from various cultures. The educational leader must bridge this gap and listen to the voices of the employees because the employees contribute significantly to the growth of the organization. Communication does not mean to talk more often but simply listening to the problem behind the organization or the employees themselves. An educational leader must strive for the betterment of the organization and must build intercultural competency and become a visionary leader. Leading the working environment toward long-term goals can be achieved through consistent communication.

The interpretation of the researcher was conformed   by Wang (2020), who stated that intercultural leadership was becoming more popular in leading organizations around the world. To attract and retain talent for long-term growth in today’s multicultural world, leaders must strive to improve cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity in the workplace, build multicultural teams, and develop intercultural capability. Intercultural leadership was vital for fostering diversity and inclusion. This suggests that both Wang’s study and the present study agreed on the importance of building intercultural competence and becoming a visionary leader.

Intercultural Leadership Practices of Educational Leader

Table 4 Intercultural Leadership Practices of the Educational Leader

Indicator	Frequency	Rank
1. Educational leaders inspire people to accomplish positive change.	182	3.5th
2. Educational Leader raises team morale.	156	14th
3. The Educational  Leader helps resolve conflict.	170	6.5th
4. Educational Leaders inspire teachers to achieve something greater than their previous achievement.	160	11th
5. The Educational Leader uses the structure of leadership through partnership and equity within the employee	153	16th
6. Educational Leaders foster cooperation among teachers.	184	2nd
7. The Educational Leader shared the responsibility, authority, and accountability for practice-related decisions.	181	5th
8. Educational Leader improves the quality of the working environment.	168	8th
9. Educational Leader relies on group decision-making, active member involvement, honest praise, and criticism.	162	9.5th
10. The Educational Leader encourages the members to share their thoughts and ideas.	190	1st
11. The Educational leaders encourage creativity among members.	182	3.5th
12. The Educational Leader promotes high productivity and strong contributions from the group.	162	9.5th
13. The Intercultural Leader establishes rules and tends to be clearly outlined and communicated.	133	20th
14. The Educational Leader makes all decisions and dictates all policies.	170	6.5th
15. The Educational Leader provides clear direction and strict control over the organization.	151	17th
16. The Educational Leader values control and authority	155	15th
17. The Educational Leader provides direction at the beginning of a project but then allows group members to do their jobs with little oversight.	150	18th
18. The Educational leader has a policy of letting the employee do their task with little supervision.	159	12th
19. The Educational leaders trust the employee and allow the group members to make decisions.	156	13th
20. The Educational leader allows group members to solve problems on their own.	136	19th

Table 5 shows the intercultural leadership practices of the intercultural leader in Daet North District, the researcher identifies the top 5 best practices and incorporates them in the intercultural leadership intervention intended for dissemination. The first rank (1^st) was the Educational Leader encouraged the members to share their thoughts and ideas. Second Rank (2^nd), the Educational Leader fosters cooperation among teachers. Both Ranked (3.5) Educational Leader inspires people to accomplish positive change and Educational Leader encourages creativity among members). Fifth Rank (5^th), The Intercultural Leader shared the responsibility, authority, and accountability for practice-related decisions.

The top five best practices of the educational leaders were reflected the following; a) they encourage among members to share their thoughts and ideas, b) they foster cooperation among teachers, c) they inspire people to accomplish positive change, c) they encourage creativity among members, d) they shared the responsibility, authority and accountability for practice related decisions.

This finding was conformed by Jamali (2020) study highlighting the positive impact of fostering shared responsibility and accountability in the employee’s performance. Similarly, Amorin (2021) also conformed that there were positive, significant correlations between each type of leadership behavior and organizational culture. These appear to be powerful mechanisms for the organization to rapidly adapt to changing institutional demands, remain competitive, and maintain high levels of performance and effectiveness.

The Educational Leader’s Competence and its Relationship with Intercultural Leadership Practices

Table 5. Relationship Between the Educational Leader’s Competence and Intercultural Leadership Practices

Competence	Intercultural Leadership Practices
	r	p-value	Remarks
Knowledge	.359**	0.00	Significant
Attitudes	.404**	0.00	Significant
Skills	.418**	0.00	Significant

**Correlation is significant @.01 level

Table 6 revealed the test for a significant relationship between the educational leader’s competence and intercultural leadership practices. It was tested using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r). It was revealed that there were significant relationships and their assessed competence in terms of knowledge (r= .359, p-value=0.00), attitude (r= .404, p-value=0.00), and skills (r=.418, p-value=0.00) at 0.01 level of significance. To help the researcher decide whether to reject or accept the null hypothesis the test statistics or p-value was also computed it was revealed that the p-value was 0.00 which means that the smaller the p-value the more likely to reject the null hypothesis. The results suggested statistically that there was a significant positive moderate relationship. Therefore, the decision was to reject the null hypothesis.

As to the relationship between the leadership practices indicator 10 had the highest frequency of 190 and knowledge had WM= 3.38. While the indicator 6 in leadership practices with frequency of 184 and attitudes had WM= 3.35. Finally, the indicator 1 and 11 had a frequency of 182, and skills with WM = 3.35. The data showed that the relationship of the leadership practices and leadership competence had moderately positive correlation.

The study of Ismael (2020) conformed the result of the present study that there was positive relationship between intercultural leaders’ instructional leadership and teachers’ functional competency. He concluded that  the role of instructional leadership had proven to enhance the teachers’ functional competency through the current stream of education, teaching, and learning processes. Sustainable leaders can influence teachers to improve school excellence together to face the 21st century educational challenges.

Challenges Encountered by the Educational Leader

Table 6.Challenges encountered by the Educational Leaders

Indicator	Frequency	Rank
1.The educational leaders encountered challenges in managing the school with limited resources	174	1st
2. The educational leaders encountered challenges in access due to teacher shortages and high student/pupil ratio.	100	10th
3. The educational leaders encountered challenges in administrative tasks because of multiple workloads.	133	2.5th
4. The educational leaders encountered challenges in building connections with stakeholders.	126	4th
5. The educational leaders encountered challenges in giving technical assistance to teachers due to limited time.	115	6.5th
6. The educational leaders encountered challenges in motivating staff to create positive change in the organization.	133	2.5th
7. The educational leaders encountered challenges in staff supervision.	115	6.5th
8. The educational leaders encountered challenges in work-life balance giving more weight to administrative work.	101	9th
9. The educational leaders encountered challenges in human resources.	108	8th
10. The educational leaders encountered challenges in educational leadership and management both learners and teachers.	119	5th

Table 7 shows the challenges faced by educational leaders, ranked in order based on frequency. The top  challenges are indicator one (1), with a frequency of 174, indicating challenges in managing the school with limited resources and indicators three (3) and six (6) both ranked (2.5), each with a frequency of 133. Indicator three (3) indicates challenges in administrative tasks due to multiple workloads, while indicator six (6) highlights challenges in motivating staff to create positive change in the organization. While the top 2 in the bottom are Indicator four (9) with a frequency of 101, indicating challenges in work-life balance giving more weight to administrative work and indicator two (2), with a frequency of 100, indicating educational leader encountered challenges In access due to teacher shortages and high student/pupil ratio.

The data analysis led the researcher to the conclusion that, despite possessing knowledge, attitude, and skills in intercultural leadership, educational leaders struggled with managing the school amidst challenges such as limited resources, multiple workloads, motivating staff, connecting with stakeholders, and addressing educational leadership and management issues for both students and teachers. However, it was observed that they demonstrated supervisory abilities that correlated significantly with decision-making and managerial skills in planning and organizing, indicating visible leadership among educational leaders.

According to Villanueva et al. (2021), all schools were led by educational leaders who were trained, monitored and held accountable for organizing and leading institutionalized school improvement processes, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9155, known as the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001. He therefore conformed that even though they encountered difficulties they still managed the school with their supervisory, interpersonal, and leadership skills showed significant associations between intercultural leader’s’ decision-making and their managerial skills in planning and organizing.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the obtained results, the researcher formulated the following conclusions:

1. As an educational leader, it is critical to understand their teachers` backgrounds to foster positive employee-employer relationships with them. Failure to do so may result in lack of communication, which is essential in developing the organization`s culture. Thus, the educational leader must bridge the gap and listen to the employee`s inner voice. Because the employee makes a major contribution to the growth of the organization.
2. Intercultural Leadership Practices of the educational leaders are innovative, they want to foster healthy relationships with their teachers. The educational leaders shared responsibility to teachers as the active member engagement. However, if there are problems that need immediate decisions it is time the educational leader imposes their power.
3. The educational leaders’ competence and intercultural leadership practices have significant relationships. This means the knowledge, attitude, and skills of intercultural leaders needs to be strengthened and enhanced through intercultural leadership intervention.
4. Educational leaders are very resilient; even though they face difficulties managing the school with limited resources, multiple workloads, and challenges in educational leadership and management for students and teachers, the educational leader`s leadership is visible through their managerial skills in planning and organizing tasks.
5. From the foregoing findings, the researcher concluded that the intercultural leadership of the educational leaders should be enhanced through the Intercultural Leadership Intervention using a training design and a pamphlet.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The conclusions lead to the following proposed recommendations:

1. The educational leaders may foster open communication, creating an environment where all opinions and suggestions of the employees are heard.
2. The educational leaders may use inclusive decision-making. Involve teachers in decision making processes. This can help ensure that various perspectives are considered and valued.
3. The educational leaders may show cultural awareness and sensitivity. Invest time in understanding the cultural backgrounds of staff. This includes recognizing different communication styles, values, and traditions.
4. The educational leaders may strengthen community engagement. Build strong relationships with community and engage them in school activities.
5. Model inclusivity. Educational leaders may demonstrate inclusive behaviors in leadership style. Show respect for different cultures through your actions and policies.
6. It is also recommended for the future researchers, to conduct other studies about intercultural leadership to improve the weak points of the intercultural leadership practices.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The author expresses heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported her in completing her paper. She thanked God for the strength to persevere, her husband and family for their love and prayers, and the respondents and educational leaders in the Daet North District for their cooperation. Special thanks go to her adviser, Dr. Adrian M. Guinto, for his guidance, and to Dr. Sonia S. Carbonell, for her assistance, as well as the members of the panel Dr. Erlinda J. Porcincula, Dr. Nomelita S. Lo, Dr. Anicia S. Madarang and Jamila Macapundag for their valuable suggestions that enhanced the manuscript.

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