Abstract

The study aimed to examine the relationship between the degree to which principals of basic public schools in Qalqilya governorate, Palestine, practice participatory leadership, and the level of organizational culture prevailing among them as perceived by male and female teachers. Furthermore, the study wanted to identify the nature of the differences in the degree to which school principals' practice participatory leadership, and their level of organizational culture attributable to variables of (Gender - years of experience- educational qualification). The study used the Participatory Leadership Scale and the Organizational Culture Scale. The sample consisted of (140) male and female teachers from the basic government schools in Qalqilya governorate. The results showed that the degree of school principals' practice of participatory leadership was high, with an average of (3.87), and a percentage of (77.4%). the level of organizational culture among the principals was high, with a mean of (3.93) and a percentage of (78.6%). The results showed a statistically significant positive correlation (alpha=0.05) between the degree of school principals' practice of participatory leadership and the level of organizational culture they had as perceived by the respondents. The results did not show statistically significant differences in the scores of the study sample on the participatory leadership scale due to the gender variable except for the dimension of human relations, and the differences were in favor of males, while differences were found attributable to academic qualification in the total score of the scale, and in the human relations dimension in favor of the bachelor degree holders compared to the master's degree and above, and those differences did not appear according to the variable of years of experience. Besides, the results showed that there were statistically significant differences in the degrees of the study sample on the scale of organizational culture and its dimensions attributable to gender, in favor of males, as well as in the total score of the scale, and on the dimensions of incentive systems and processes attributable to academic qualification in favor of the bachelor degree holders versus master degree holders and higher. However, no statistically significant differences appeared in the level of organizational culture prevailing among school principals attributable to years of experience as perceived by the respondents.