Abstract

This study intended to examine the prevalence of destructive leadership behavior (DLB) in colleges of teacher education (CTEs) in the State of Amhara, Ethiopia. A convergent parallel explanatory design with a mixed–method approach was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 397 proportionally selected CTE teachers through a standardized questionnaire. Qualitative data for the study were collected from eight experienced teachers and four college deans through semi-structured interviews. The major quantitative data analyses included mean, standard deviation, one-sample t-test, independent sample t-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The findings revealed that DLB was significantly prevalent (p < .05). There was no perception difference among different demographic characteristics (p > .05). DLB was exhibited differentially among CTEs, F (9,387) = 2.86 (p < .05). From the findings, it can be concluded that CTEs are suffering from DLB, and the prevalence of DLB is perceived similarly across demographics. Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, recommendations such as continuous follow-up of CTE deans’ leadership behavior, continuous capacity building on constructive leadership, arranging experience sharing among CTEs, and conducting other studies aiming to explore the root cause of DLB exhibition in CTEs were forwarded to potential stakeholders.