Servant Leadership of Catholic School Administrators under Suratthani Diocese


  •  Watcharaporn Budda    
  •  Wan Dechpichai    
  •  Navarat Waichompu    

Abstract

The Objectives of this study were 1) to develop servant leadership of school administrators in Catholic schools within the Diocese of Surat Thani and 2) to examine the effects of implementing servant leadership among these administrators. This research employed the Delphi Technique and a quasi-experimental design (Pretest–Posttest One Group Design) and was conducted in two phases.

Phase 1 focused on developing servant leadership of school administrators in Catholic schools within the Diocese of Surat Thani. The participants were 17 Catholic clergy and religious leaders serving as school managers, directors, and vice-directors. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered in two rounds. Analysis revealed that all nine dimensions of servant leadership achieved a median greater than 3.5, an interquartile range of less than 1.5, and a difference between the mode and median (Mo–Md) not exceeding 1.0, indicating consensus among the experts. The nine dimensions were deemed suitable as the servant leadership framework for Catholic school administrators in the diocese of Surat Thani, named LEAD SERVE.

Phase 2: involved implementing LEAD SERVE in Thida Mettatharm Kindergarten School, Phatthalung. LEAD SERVE comprised nine dimensions with a total of 45 indicators: 1) Long Vision (L) – 5 indicators, 2) Empathy (E) – 5 indicators, 3) Affection (A) – 5 indicators, 4) Dedication to Serve (D) – 5 indicators, 5) Strengthen Others (S) – 5 indicators, 6) Egolessness (E) – 5 indicators, 7) Raise People (R) – 4 indicators, 8) Value and Spirit (V) – 6 indicators, and 9) Equity and Trustworthy (E) – 5 indicators.

The results of the implementation revealed that knowledge of servant leadership, values toward servant leadership, and overall effectiveness in school administration-including academic management, budgeting, personnel, and general administration-significantly improved after applying LEAD SERVE. Posttest scores were higher than Pretest scores across all dimensions, demonstrating that LEAD SERVE is an appropriate and effective servant leadership framework for use in Catholic schools within the Diocese of Surat Thani.



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