Higher education institutions in Cameroon have undergone a major transformation (since the 1993 reforms) with a major objective to improve the quality of graduates. However, concerns about leaders central to implementing 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 that the quality of education depends on the quality of teachers, this paper presents heads of department (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 significant strategies to engage teachers in the institution's mission and vision: problem-solving, decision-making, shared responsibilities, and staff development approaches. These strategies improved management, social capital and the capacity building of teachers.
Keywords: Higher Education, Leadership, Teachers' Engagement, Ubuntu
Manuscript submitted to Perspective in Education| This article was made possible by a Carnegie Corporation of New York grant. The authors also acknowledge the support of the Future Africa Research Leadership team and the University of Pretoria, South Africa, which coordinated the entire project and supported its execution. Special thanks also go to the administration of the home institution, the University of Buea, Cameroon, for their tremendous support and collaboration in the realisation of the project. We thank the five principal research assistants (Elime Teddy Enongene, Tigma Maximillan, Nanfouet Marco Alberto, Mbulle Solange Edie and Ebude Ewane Miranda) for assisting the team in data collection.
