ABSTRACT
This study examined the development of leadership skills
in schools; an assessment of the contribution of leadership skills to effective
management of Caleb International and Supreme Foundation schools located in
Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. Literature review was carried out
under relevant sub-headings. The descriptive research survey design was applied
in the assessment of respondents’ opinions using the questionnaire and the
sampling technique. A total of one hundred and fifty (150) respondents were
involved in this study to represent the entire population of the study. A total of four null hypotheses were
formulated and tested using the pearson product moment correlational statistic
and independent t-test statistic at 0.05 level of significance. Also, the
bio-data and the responses of the respondents were analysed using the simple
percentage frequency counts. At the end of the data analyses, the results
obtained showed that: there is a significant relationship between authoritative
and authoritarian leadership styles amongst school principals, there is a
significant relationship between permissive leadership styles and democratic
leadership styles of the principals, there is a significant difference in the
leadership of principals who are skilful and those who are not, and there is a
significant difference between the job performance of teachers who teach in
schools where there is principal-teacher relationship and those who work in
schools where there is none. Based on the results obtained at the end of the
analysis, and the conclusions arrived at, at the end of the study, the
researcher recommended that school leaders or administrators should seek
government’s financial support in funding the secondary school system. They
should ensure that atmosphere of peace and harmony is maintained. Principals also
should create good and healthy school climate where academic work is carried
out without hindrance.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Background
to the Study 1
Statement
of the Problem 7
Purpose
of the Study 8
Research
Questions 9
Research
Hypotheses 10
Significance
of the Study 10
Scope
of Study 11
Limitations of Study 12
Definition
of Terms 12
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 14
The
Meaning of Leadership 14
Theories
and Previous Studies of Leadership 17
Contributions
of the Principal to Leadership Skills 21
Contributions
of the Vice Principals to Leadership Skills 50
Contributions
of Teachers to Leadership Skills 36
Contributions
of the School Prefects to Leadership Skills 43
Contributions
of Non-academic Staff to Leadership Skills 47
Summary
of Review 49
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 51
Introduction
51
Research
Design 51
Population
of the Study 51
Sample
and Sampling Technique 51
Research
Instrument 52
Procedure
for Data Collection 52
Procedure
for Data Analysis 52
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSES AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS 53
Introduction 53
Description
of Bio-Data According to Sex, Age, Marital Status,
Qualification,
Teaching Experiences and Position 53
Descriptive Analyses of Responses Based on the
Questionnaire and
Research Questions 57
Description of Students’ Bio-Data According to
Sex, Age, and Class 65
Descriptive Analyses of Students’ Responses
Based on the
Questionnaire and Research Questions 67
Testing of Hypotheses 72
Summary of Findings 76
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
OF FINDINGS, SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 77
Introduction
77
Discussion
of Findings 77
Summary
of Findings 82
Conclusions 83
Recommendations 83
References 86
Appendix
93
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Teacher education
programme is saddled with the responsibility of nation building for the
Nigerian as development society. The quality of the products from teacher
training institutions determines the pace of the nation’s development.
Quality in the
educational sector is considered in terms of exceptionally high standards,
consistency, fitness for purpose, value for money (accountability) and transformative
effects (Atanda 2007). Onuh (2006) claims that quality in education is a
multidimensional concept which should embrace all functions and activities, teaching and academic
programmes, research and scholarship, staffing, students, buildings, facilities,
equipment, services to the community and academic environment (UNESCO 1998).
There are five indicators of quality measures in an organization or the school
system. They include highly trained staff;
adequate funding; visionary leadership; Service to the community/academic
environment and Research and academic activities
There are also some
elements or indicators of good service delivery in schools or organizations.
They are adequate staffing, population (enrolment of students), management of
funds, and adequate management of infrastructure, accommodation and
equipment, provision of adequate
instructional materials, co-curricular activities, uniform input and output
evaluation procedures and provision of scholarship facilities. In schools that
are extremely good, we inevitably found an aggressive, professionally alert,
dynamic principals determined to provide the kind of educational programmes
deemed necessary no matter what (Gold, 2006).
In another
development, (Hechinger, 2005) has this to say “I have never seen a good school
with a poor principal or a poor school with a good principal. I have seen
unsuccessful schools turned around into successful ones and, regrettably
outstanding schools slide rapidly into decline. In each case the rise and fall
could readily be traced to the quality of the principal. Leadership is the
pre-eminence of one or a few individuals in a group in the process of
controlling the societal phenomena”. By this definition, leadership is meant to
be the central focus of a group of people (workers) in the working goals. Thus,
by virtue of his/her special position in the group, the leader serves as the
primary agent for the determination of group activities (Mumford, 2000).
Gbadamosi
and Adebakin (2006) hold the view that a leader is one who inspires others to
work willingly towards the achievement of a goal through maximum application of
his/her personal qualities and capabilities. In order words, people are said to
be leaders endeavour to the extent that they succeed in their attempt to
influence others to perform a goal or an activity. In doing so, the leader is
expected to have some basic attributes such as skill, intelligence,
determination, imagination, endurance, charisma and courage. This means that
leadership means the process of influencing the activities of an individual or
group of individual in their efforts towards the accomplishment of goals and
objectives of the organization (Hersey and Blanchard, 1999). From the above
descriptions, one can affirm that leadership involves social influence and
interaction between the leader and the subordinates, the aim of which is to
achieve a stated goal.
Therefore,
the importance of leadership in an organization or work environment cannot be
overemphasized. This is because leadership concerns the total manner by which a
manager influences the actions of the subordinates. This includes the issuing
of orders that are clear, complete and within the capabilities of workers to
accomplish. It also implies a continuing training activity in which
subordinates are given instructions to enable them carry out the particular
assignment in the existing situation (Makinde, 2005).
According
to Eskor (2001), there are two broad views of leadership such as psychological
and the sociological views. Eskor opines that the psychological view holds that
the primary function of leaders is to develop an effective motivation system.
The psychologists also believe that the leader must stimulate their
subordinates in such a manner that they would be able to contribute positively
to the organization’s achievement of goals and objectives. They think that the
Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs is a model good enough for leaders to use in
developing the most effective motivational system for their subordinates. They
also hold the view that a motivational system which focuses on the entire needs
of the subordinates (i.e.) physiological, safety, social, system and
self-actualization, will have a higher probability of success than a system
which covers the needs spectrum only in parts.
The above statements
show that it is the leadership of the school that makes the difference between
mediocrity and excellence.
A capsule description
of the qualities and behaviours that characterize principals in successful
schools; qualities that have surfaced again and again in the research
literature, runs as follows:
(a) Effective principals have a strong vision of
what their schools can be, and they encourage all staff to work towards realizing
that vision (Gunge, 2000).
(b) They hold high expectations for both
students’ achievement and teacher staff performance.
(c) They observe teachers in classrooms and
provide positive constructive feedback aimed at solving problems and
improvising instruction.
(d)
They encourage excellent and efficient
instruction time and design procedures to minimize disruptions.
(e)
They use material and personal resources
creatively.
(f)
They monitor the individual and collective
achievement of students and use the information to guide instructional planning
(Adamson 2001).
Unfortunately, many
less effective principals define their role as managers of the building and
budget, keepers of the records, chief disciplinarians and communicators with
everyone (Davis,
2000). According to Willower (2002); many less quality or effective principals
leave teaching to teachers.
Research on the activities and behaviours of principals indicate that most
school principals spend very little time on curriculum and instructional
matters; while few of them have been trained and prepared for instructional
leadership.
As
Goodhead (2003) puts it, most teachers, parents and interested others are not
aware of the pivotal role an instructionally active principal can play in
creating an effective school, a school where everyone is concerned with
learning and achievement, where expectations are high and educational
improvement is a daily concern.
The daily routine of
every school principal, although routine is hardly the correct word includes activities
which are described as “varied, brief and disjointed” Lee (2007), and “varied
brief and fragmented” by Martin and Willower (2001); While Greenfield concluded
that the activities of effective school principals involve “an endless series
of brief interpersonal encounters and exchanges with students, teachers,
parents, supervisors and others”.
Principals must deal
with competing values and expectations along with shortages in space, staff,
funds, equipment and materials and miss communications are common (Barnett et
al, 2004) The work of the principal is largely verbal. Principals dispense information
about procedures and politics to veteran teachers, new teachers, substitute, teachers, special education teachers, reading
specialties, counsellors, school psychologists, maintenance staff, students,
parents and others in the community. Well-trained and experienced school
principals answer questions about the availability of aids, space, materials
and other resources and details about forth coming events in the schools where
they are found (Bloomberg, 2007). According to Morris et al (2002), the
principals’ activities are classified into monitoring school activities,
serving as school spokesperson, disseminating information to school staff,
handling resources and so on.
The school principal is
the arrow head of the school system. This means that the school principal
determines the pace at which things or events move in the school. In this
regard therefore, the quality of the school principal to a large extent,
determines the services he/she renders to the school. According to Goodhead
(2003), many less effective principals view the role they play in the school as
managers of the school building and budget keepers of the school records and
communicators with every one. They unfortunately, leave the teaching to the
classroom teachers. Most principals spend little time on curriculum and
instructional matters. Most principals in the school system today are poor
school leaders, inefficient administrators, who lack the required capacity and
academic process to keep the school moving ahead. They lack experience and
qualification with which high and qualitative services are rendered in the
administration of the school (Ola, 2004).
Statement
of the Problem
The problem inherent
in the lack of or and adequate leadership skill or competence among secondary
school heads cannot be overemphasized. This is because, principals who are not
competent, who lack the wherewithal to manage the affairs of the school, will
find it extremely difficult to run and control effectively, the school system
placed in their care. Needless to say that most school principals lack the
required skills in terms of the ability and capacity to provide good leadership
quality, to provide good school climate and cooperation. For instance, in
school where there is bad leadership, where the principal lack the necessary
skills and capacities of managing, controlling and organising and leading
effectively, there tend to be chaotic situation in the school. There may be no
leader-follower relationship, and in a situation where there is non-relationship
between the leader and the followers, things do not work well and this affects
growth and development of the school negatively.
For instance, if there
is no good relationship between principals and teachers, and between principals
and students, there will be a confused situation in the school and this can
lead to poor academic performance of students and poor work activities by the
teachers and this gives bad image to the school system on the other hand.
The above identified
problems gave rise to the examination of development of leadership skills in
schools, a contribution of leadership skills to effective management of
schools.
Purpose
of the Study
The objectives of this
study include to:
(1)
examine the difference between authoritarian
and authoritative leadership styles among school principals.
(2)
Investigate the relationship between
permissive leadership style and democratic leadership style of principals.
(3)
find out the leadership skills of school principals.
(4)
examine the difference between the leadership
skills of principals who are skillful and those who are not.
(5)
differentiate teachers’ job performance in
schools where there is principal-teacher relationship and schools where there
is none.
Research
Questions
The following research
questions were raised in this study.
1. Would there be any relationship between
the authoritarian and authoritative leadership styles among school principals?
2.
Is there any relationship between permissive
leadership style and democratic leadership style of principals?
3.
Can the leadership skills of school principals
be investigated?
4.
Will there be any difference between the
leadership styles of principals who are skilful and those who are not?
5. Will there be any difference between the
job performance of teachers who are in schools where there is principal-teacher
relationship and those who are in school where there is none?
Research
Hypotheses
The following research
hypotheses were postulated in this study:
1. There will be no significant relationship
between the authoritative leadership and the authoritarian leadership styles of
principals.
2. There will be no significant relationship
between permissive leadership style and democratic leadership styles of
principals.
3. There will be no significant difference
in the leadership styles of principals who are skilful and those who are not.
4. There will be no significant difference
between the job performance of teachers who are in schools where there is
principal-teacher relationship and those who are not.
Significance
of the Study
This study will be
beneficial to the following:
This study will help
school principals have better insight on the importance of service delivery in
the school. With the recommendations and findings of this study, school
principals would be more aware of the importance of quality in service
delivery.
This will enable them
to imbibe the culture of being exposed to training and retraining in the school
in order to achieve maximum quality for effective service delivery in the day
to day management and administration.
The findings of this
study enables teachers in the school system, who practice teaching on daily
basis, the opportunity of knowing that the quality of a teacher to a large
extent affect the way at which he/she
delivers service in the teaching profession.
With this study,
practising teachers would be able to imbibe the culture of updating their
academics periodically as that will help them to perform their duties
creditably well. It also helps teachers to know that it pays to deliver quality
services in one’s profession.
This study would help
the school authority to be able to provide conducive environment towards the
production of personnel who will be able, available, ready and efficient in
service delivery in the school system. With this study, the school authority
will be able to make policies that would enable staff to be trained and groomed
for better performance and higher productivity in the school. The study would serve as a good and important
reference material to the public and the upcoming researchers and students in
general.
Scope
of Study
This
study covered an investigation into the development of leadership skills of
school principals in Caleb International and Supreme Foundation schools in
Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Limitations of Study
The
constraints of this study include lack of finance, time frame, lack of adequate
materials and other logistics that may arise as a result of collecting data.
Definition
of Terms
The following terms
were defined in this study:
Quality: Quality
is defined as grade of goodness, excellence or degrees (especially high
degrees) of goodness of work.
Service
Delivery: The control and effective management and utilization of
school population, funds, infrastructures, accommodations, equipment, information
communication technology and so on for growth and development of the school
system.
Quality
Service Delivery: This
is a situation in which services or functions are at the apex level. This means
the highest services delivered by those expected to deliver them in an
organisation or institution.
School
Administrators: This refer to those or personnel who manage
the schools as institutions of learning. The headmasters, headmistresses,
principals, vice principals are regarded as school administrators.
Leadership – It
is the way leaders or school principals pilot the affairs of the school.
Leadership also means the way and manner management sees things and applied
control and others in order to get things done.
Effectiveness – The
ability or power to have a notable or desired effect on something.
Performance – The
act of performing something, the action or an act of performing, the ability to
do something especially something needing skills etc. Performance also means
the overall activities of students in a particular school over a period of
time.
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