Leadership Practices of Department Heads and Teachers Engagement of JHS Teachers in Selected Private School in Gumaca, Quezon: Basis for Professional Development Program

The study investigated the leadership practices of Department Heads and Teachers' Engagement of JHS teachers in Selected Private Schools in Gumaca, Quezon, to come up with a Basis for Professional Development Program. The study was designed using a descriptive method. The Junior High School teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire was utilized as the main data-gathering tool. This study revealed that the leadership practices of the respondents towards selected department heads were excellent as employed or applied in the schools. This is reflected in innovative leaders, where the department heads have the abilities and qualities to push for innovation in the activity field of the organization. When it comes to Charismatic Leaders, the department heads seize new opportunities in order to achieve goals. And, as referred to by Command and Control Leaders, the department heads apply to all subsets of an enterprise, to the functions performed, to the levels of organizations, and to the focus of the activity, whether strategic or tactical. In addition, the leadership practices of the department heads have an excellent impact on teachers' engagement and motivation, as can be observed in the school performance. This can be inferred to Unity of Purpose where the school mission provides a clear sense of direction for teachers, teachers understand the school's mission, and the school mission statement reflects the values of the community. Along with Collegial Support, it indicated that teachers are willing to help out whenever there is a problem and that other teachers value teachers' ideas. In terms of professional development, it is exemplified that teachers regularly seek ideas from seminars, colleagues, and conferences and that the faculty values professional development. Lastly, in general, there is no significant relationship between leadership practices and the impacts of leadership practices on teachers' engagement and motivation. However, each leadership practice has at least one but at most five of the teachers' engagement indicators exhibiting a significant relationship between leadership practices and their impacts on teachers' engagement and motivation.