Abstract
School principals are pivotal to the quality of instruction, yet empirical evidence on how their leadership approaches shape teachers' instructional efficacy in underserved, conflict-affected regions of the Philippines remains limited. This study examines the leadership approaches practiced by elementary school principals in Parang West District, Sulu, and determines their influence on teachers' instructional efficacy. A quantitative, descriptive-correlational research design was employed. Respondents consisted of 65 teachers and 8 principals drawn from 11 elementary schools using universal sampling. Data were gathered through validated Likert-scale questionnaires assessing three leadership dimensions—autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire—and teachers' Individual Performance Commitment and Review Form (IPCRF) ratings as a proxy measure of instructional efficacy. Descriptive statistics (mean, SD) and Spearman's rank-order correlation (ρ) were used for analysis. The democratic leadership approach was most prevalent among principals (M = 3.75, SD = 0.35 for self-report; M = 3.61, SD = 0.39 for teacher perception), with evidence of mixed leadership traits. Teachers reported a slight overall impact of principals' leadership on classroom instructional practices (general M = 2.44). Spearman's correlation analysis found no statistically significant relationship between any leadership style and teacher instructional efficacy (Autocratic: ρ = .076, p = .545; Democratic: ρ = −.020, p = .877; Laissez-faire: ρ = −.019, p = .881). Although democratic leadership dominates in the district, it does not significantly predict teachers' instructional efficacy as measured by IPCRF ratings. These findings suggest that teacher performance is influenced by contextual factors beyond leadership style alone and point to the need for multi-faceted professional development and further qualitative inquiry in remote and resource-constrained school contexts.