Bridging Home and School: Transformational Leadership and Parental Involvement in Behaviour Management among Rwandan Secondary Students

Abstract

This paper examined school-home partnerships in students’ behaviour management in Rwandan secondary schools through Transformational Leadership Theory and Epstein’s School–Family–Community Partnership Framework. The study assessed the levels of transformational leadership, teacher invitations for parental involvement, teacher-parent relationships, teacher self-efficacy in involving parents, and parental involvement in behaviour management. A quantitative descriptive survey design was used with 106 teachers and 308 parents from four secondary schools in Rwanda. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analysed in R through descriptive statistics and a one-sample t-test. Transformational leadership (M = 2.65, SD = 0.69) was significantly below the scale midpoint, t(105) = -5.14, p < .001. Teacher invitations for parental involvement (M = 2.11, SD = 0.75) and parental involvement (M = 2.35, SD = 0.66) were low, whereas teacher-parent relationships (M = 2.58, SD = 0.80) and teacher self-efficacy (M = 2.76, SD = 0.49) were moderate-low. Across parental involvement dimensions, parenting was relatively stronger (M = 3.35), while communication, volunteering, learning at home, decision-making, and community collaboration remained low. By integrating leadership and school-family partnership perspectives, the study shows that parental involvement in the sampled schools remains concentrated in home-based roles rather than collaborative school processes. It recommends strengthening transformational leadership practices, enhancing teachers’ capacity to engage families, and establishing structured mechanisms for parent participation in behaviour management.