TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
Research Questions
Research Hypotheses
Significance
of the study
Operational
Definitions of Terms
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Definition
of Leadership
The
Importance of School Leadership
Leadership
Approaches
Scientific
Management Approach
The Human
Relations Approach
Theory X
and Theory Y Approach
Situational / Contingency Approaches
Charismatic Approach
Theories of Leadership
Trait
Theories
Behaviour
Theories
Power and Influence Theories
Social Power Theory
Transformational Theory
Transactional Leadership Theory
Contingency
Theories
Cognitive
Resource Theory
Leadership Practice
The
Impoverished Leader
The
Authority-Compliance Leader
The
Country-Club Leader
The
Middle-Of-The-Road Leader
The Team
Leader / High-High
Directive
Leadership Style
Supportive
Leadership Style
Participative Leadership Style
Achievement-Oriented Style
The
Leadership Studies Related To Head Teachers
The Models
of School Performance
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Introduction
Location of the Study
Research
Design
Population
Sample / Sampling Techniques
Procedure
for Data Collection
Instrumentation
Validity /
Reliability of Instruments
Methods of
Data Analysis
Ethical
Considerations
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS AND DATA PRESENTATION
Question 1
Question 2
Question 3
Question 4
Question 5
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSION, SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusion
Recommendations
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Globally, educating a nation remains
the most vital strategy for the development of the society throughout the
developing world (Aikaman & Unterhalter, 2005). When people are educated,
their standards of living are likely to improve, since they are empowered to
access productive ventures, which will ultimately lead to an improvement in
their livelihoods (Nsubuga, 2008). As a result, much is expected from the
education sector of every nation to meet up the growing educational needs of
its people (Nkata, 2005) and this has prompted UNESCO to suggest 23% of every
nation’s budget to be allocated for education (UNESCO 2003).
Education in Nigeria is an instrument
for effecting national development. The country’s educational goals have been
set out in the National Policy on Education in terms of their relevance to the
needs of the individual and the society (FGN, 2004). Towards this end, the
National Policy on Education set up certain aims and objectives which were to facilitate
educational development in the country. These aims and objectives are to
prepare the individual for useful living within the society, and higher
education guides educational activities in all the 36 States and Capitals in
Nigeria of which Lagos State is not an exception. In fostering these aims and objectives, the
school principal has important roles to play (Adeyemi, 2010). Among these roles
include, providing effective leadership in secondary schools, thereby enhancing
better instructional effectiveness. How effective the principal is, in
performing these roles has been a matter of concern to many educationists
(Aghenta, 2000; Ige, 2001).
The Minister of
Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i, decried the poor quality of
outcome in the country’s education system. However, the minister explained that
there was a marginal improvement in performance in public examination in 2012,
with WAEC recording 39 percent of those that made five credits and above
including English and Mathematics over the previous year while NECO had 31.58
per cent as opposed to 8.06 per cent in 2011(www.gtbank.com). The Minister
specifically asked state governments to do more in addressing such problem of
poor performance of students, saying that states have greater role to play in
turning round the massive failure in our examinations, especially when viewed
from the fact that basic and secondary education are controlled by the states.
According to statistics made available to journalists at the event, students
from the Northern states of the country performed more poorly in public
examinations. For instance, out of a total of 16, 633 that sat for WAEC in
2012, only 251 of them were able to obtain five credits and above, including
English and Mathematics. In Gombe State, only 906 out of 21,233 had five
credits and above, Adamawa State, only 1,706 made it out of 32,410 in 2012 WAEC
(www.gtbank.com).
In Lagos State, the state government is concerned
about the not-too-encouraging performance of students recorded in examinations
in recent times, especially external ones like WAEC and NECO. However, machinery set in
motion by the State Government in the last two years {2010-2012} seems to have
yielded results as expressed by Chief Fatai Olukoga the Special Adviser to the
governor on Education, who expressed satisfaction with the performance of its
students in the 2012 May/June WAEC examinations. He stressed that the state recorded a
significant improvement in the students’ performance in the examinations. The
state scored 38 per cent outstanding performance in core subjects in the
results released by WAEC. It is the best in the country and the main reason for
the improvement is the government policy which ensures that pupils are only
promoted on merit in our primary and secondary schools (Daily Times Nigeria,
December 29, 2012).
The rapid growth of educational
institutions in Nigeria and worldwide and the ever-increasing enrollment will
require improved management; therefore, educational practitioners have
recognized leadership as vitally important for education institutions, since it
is the engine of survival for the institutions (Nsubuga, 2008). This
recognition has come at a time when the challenges of education development in
Nigeria and worldwide are more demanding than ever before (Nkata, 2005).
Building a sense of educational development in school structures leads to the
realization that a shared vision focusing on the relationship between school
leadership and performance of schools is the only prerequisite for effective
standards (Oyetunyi, 2006).
Blazing the trail and dominating the
field in this direction, scholars and researchers like Mullins (2002), Steyn
(2005) and Maicibi (2005) note that the study of school leadership is necessary
to make school activities effective. This argument is further augmented by Sashkin
and Sashkin (2003) who contend that leadership matters, because leaders help
reduce ambiguity and uncertainty in organizations. In support of this statement
Abari and Mohammed (2006) said that organization facilitates effective
administration and in every organization of human composition, it is the end
that justifies the means. Thus, school leadership can be situated within the
larger framework of institutional leadership where leadership skills are
necessary for effective management and performance. Linda (1999) in Oyetunyi
(2006) indicated that there is a positive relationship between teacher morale,
job satisfaction and motivation on the type of leadership in schools, indeed,
head teachers have the capacity to make teachers’ working lives so unpleasant,
unfulfilling, problematic and frustrating that they become the overriding
reason why some teachers do not perform as expected and some have to exit the
profession.
The manner in which the leader
performs roles and directs the affairs of the organization is referred to as
his/her leadership practice (Oyetunyi, 2006). According to Oyetunyi (2006),
leadership practice therefore is the way a leader leads. Some leaders are more
interested in the work to be done than in the people they work with, whilst others
pay more attention to their relationship with subordinates than the job. The
leader’s emphasis on either the task or human relations approach is usually
considered central to leadership practice. In lieu of this issue of leadership
Oyetunyi (2006) opined that the ways in which leaders behave, and the specific
acts by which they play out their leadership roles are based on certain
assumptions about human nature. Consciously or unconsciously, he emphasized
that leaders operate on the basis of some personal theory of human behavior; a
view of what their subordinates are like as people. One of the assumptions is
that some heads of schools employ the task-oriented philosophy of management
whereby they confer it upon themselves that teachers and students are naturally
lazy in achievement; they need to be punished in order to stir up their
enthusiasm, commitment and support; the task-oriented style explores styles
such as the autocratic and the bureaucratic leadership styles; the autocratic
head teacher is concerned with despotic principles of management which
concentrate leadership on the top rather than from the bottom, whilst the
bureaucratic head teacher, on the other hand, is concerned with the rules of
the game, procedures, and regulations as a way of transforming productivity.
Another assumption is that of employee-oriented philosophy of management which
focuses upon putting the subordinate at the centre of progress, with a view to
tying the organization’s success on the shoulders of the subordinates; hence,
the subordinate is treated with compassion, care, trust and consideration that
place him in the realm of school governance; consequently, subordinates’ inputs
in school functions are often high as a result of high morale and motivation
(Oyetunyi, 2006). Others include behavioral-leader philosophy of management
which explores styles such as the democratic, participative and laissez faire
leadership styles.
According to Muyingo (2004), the
democratic style of management regards people as the main decision makers. The
subordinates have a greater say in decision-making, the determination of
academic policy, the implementation of systems and procedures of handling
teaching, which leads to school discipline and hence academic excellence and
overall school performance in the fields of sport and cultural affairs. Aside
these categories, there are other existing associated terms which conforms with
the foundational functions of the autocratic, democratic and laissez faire type
of leadership practice (The Wallace Foundation, 2011; Abari and Mohammed, 2006;
Sola – Aina, 2011; Bradley, Paul, Michael and Lauren, 2003).
The principal as a leader in a school
system will be an effective principal in function by shaping a vision of
academic success for all students; creating a climate hospitable to education,
cultivating leadership in others; improving instruction; and managing people,
data and processes to foster school improvement (The Wallace Foundation, 2011).
Though defining educational performance is difficult and yet also essential.
With this regard Genck in Oyetunyi (2006) opined that it is not just academic
achievement, but the social and emotional dimensions of the child’s overall
development and the role of the school in the community considering performance
in terms of all three domains of education (affective, cognitive and the
psychomotor domains). Similarly, Elliot (in Luyten, Visscher & Witziers,
2004) concludes that learning is an unpredictable process. According to him,
school performance should not only rely on academic results, but on the
teaching and learning process. In addition, Scheerens (in Luyten et al., 2004) contends that the
school’s financial resources and the professional experience of its teachers
are the two categories of school inputs that significantly contribute to its
performance. Further, he claims the nature of school leadership, teacher
cooperation within the school and the school level characteristics also affect
the student’s achievement directly or indirectly (e.g. the quality of instructions).
In reference to principals’ leadership style and its relationship
with instructional effectiveness DeCenzo and Robbins in Oyetunyi (2006) examine
performance in relation to effectiveness and efficiency. According to them,
effectiveness refers to goal accomplishment while efficiency evaluates the
ratio of inputs consumed to the output achieved and that greater the output for
a given input, the more efficient you are. So in this case performance has been
examined in terms of productivity (DeCenzo & Robbins, 1998). In addition,
productivity, as measured in terms of efficiency and effectiveness, can also be
used to describe an employee who not only performs well in terms of
productivity but also minimizes problems for the organization by being at work
on time, by not missing days and minimizing loss.
The nature of academic performance
can be based on two models, that is, the holistic and the integrative models.
Armstrong’s (2001) holistic approach to academic performance is helpful in
exploring a comprehensive view of the constituents of academic performance. The
holistic theory focuses on what people do (work), how they do it (behavior),
and what is achieved (results). In the context of leadership, an effective
leader dedicates himself to knowing the academic task, how to accomplish it,
and the results expected. Hence, he directs his effort and legitimate power
towards addressing these elements for effective academic performance according
to the holistic theory. While, the integrative model on the other hand examines
how academic performance is integrated into the way the school is managed, and
should link with other key processes such as the business strategy, employee
development, and total quality management processes in institutional
development. In this regard, Armstrong (2001) opines that academic performance
can be linked to school inputs like the availability of funds, quality of
teachers, students’ entry scores, the education policy and strategy in relation
to the process involved in achieving academic performance in terms of parents
and other stakeholders’ participation.
Statement of the Problem
The relationship between principals’
leadership practice and instructional effectiveness has been a subject of
controversy by researchers (Nwadian, 1998; Adeyemi, 2006). The controversy was
centered on whether or not the leadership practice of principals influences the
level of instructional effectiveness. Common observation in the school system
shows that the leadership practice of a principal could perhaps have serious
impact on instructional effectiveness (Adeyemi, 2010; Ijaiya, 2000; Evan, 1998;
Oluwatoyin, 2003). Hence, the problem of the study therefore was to determine
what relationship exists between principals’ leadership practice and instructional
effectiveness in Junior Secondary Schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government
Areas (L.G.A) of Lagos State, Nigeria.
Research Questions
In addressing this problem, the
following research questions were raised:
Which leadership style is
most commonly used by school principals of junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun
local government area of Lagos State, Nigeria?
What is the level of
instructional effectiveness among teachers of junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun
local government area of Lagos State, Nigeria?
Is there any
significant difference in principals’ leadership practice and instructional
effectiveness of junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun local government of Lagos State, Nigeria?
Is there any significant
difference in principals’ leadership practice and instructional effectiveness
on the basis of monitoring students’ work in junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun
local government of Lagos State, Nigeria?
Is there any significant
difference in principals’ leadership practice and instructional effectiveness
on the basis of evaluation of teaching in junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun
local government of Lagos State, Nigeria?
Research Hypotheses
The hypotheses of this research include the following:
There is no significant
difference in principals’ leadership practice and instructional effectiveness
of junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun local government of Lagos
State, Nigeria.
There is no significant
difference in principals’ leadership practice and instructional effectiveness
on the basis of monitoring students’ work in junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun
local government of Lagos State, Nigeria.
There is no significant difference
in principals’ leadership practice and instructional effectiveness on the basis
of evaluation of teaching in junior secondary schools in Ajeromi-Ifelodun local
government of Lagos State, Nigeria.
Significance of the study
The findings of this research will be
useful to the education policy makers and implementers in the various fields of
education. The study will shed light on the relationship between principals’
leadership practice and instructional effectiveness. This will be useful to
authorities who appoint and deploy school principals as well as those who
monitor the effectiveness of instructional materials in schools. The findings
will also be used by those involved in support supervision and monitoring of
schools, where special emphasis will be placed on the factors which influence
instructional effectiveness in secondary schools.
Stakeholders in the ministry of
education may also benefit from the study, because the findings will guide them
in prioritizing the allocation of resources. By focusing on the specific
leadership factors which influence instructional effectiveness, the study might
motivate future researchers to identify others factors with a view to
establishing the role each factor plays in the overall instructional
effectiveness in the school. In terms of the system of performance appraisal of
school managers, the findings of the study will also indicate the strength of
leadership practices, and their contribution to instructional effectiveness
secondary schools in Lagos state. For those responsible for organizing
induction courses for newly appointed school managers, the study would provide
some lessons to draw on. The study will also shed light on the view of leadership
as involving more than the leader’s personality and focusing on leaders as
dominated by headship.
Operational Definitions of Terms
Leadership
Leadership is a process of inspiring
individuals to give off their best in the pursuit of desired results. Leadership
focuses on getting people to move in the right direction, gaining their
commitment and motivating them to achieve their goals.
Leadership Practices
The manner in which the leader
performs roles and directs the affairs of the organization is referred to as
his/her leadership practice. Leadership practice therefore is the way a leader
leads.
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructional effectiveness
encompasses the full range of instructional activities that would characterize
the objectivity of the set of instructions in the curriculum as being
successful.
Secondary Schools
In this content, the focus is on junior secondary schools whose
class of students range from basic 7 to 9.
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