ABSTRACT
The study examined Occupational Stress Management strategies as correlates of administrative Effectiveness of Secondary School Principals in Abia State’’. The study adopted a correlation design. Eight research questions were answered and eight hypotheses postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. A sample of 400 principals was drawn from a population of 1608 principals in the public secondary schools in the three education zones in the state using Tar Yamen mathematical formula. The instruments for data collection were the researcher developed questionnaire titled: Occupational Stress Management strategies Questionnaire (MOSQ) and Administrative effectiveness of Principals Questionnaire (AEPQ). The instruments were validated by three experts, two from educational Administration and one from measurement and evaluation, all in College of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State. The Cronbach Alpha statistic was used to determine the internal consistency of the instruments which yielded 0.69 and 0.74 respectively. Four research assistants helped in data collection. Pearson product moment correlation was used to answer the seven research questions raised for the study while linear regression analysis was used to test the seven null hypotheses that guided the study at 0.05level of significance. The findings showed among others that the involvement of colleagues as human resources as well as application of physical technique as an occupational stress management strategies significantly to a moderate extent relate to administrative effectiveness of secondary school principals while close staff relationship and the improved team occupational stress management strategies among others significantly to high extent related to administrative effectiveness of secondary school principals.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgements v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables ix
List of Figures xi
Abstract xii
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1
Background to the Study 1
1.2
Statement of the Problem 13
1.3
Purpose of the Study 14
1.4
Research Questions 15
1.5
Hypotheses 16
1.6
Significance of the Study 17
1.7
Scope of the Study 19
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 20
2.1 Conceptual Framework 20
2.1.1 Management 20
2.1.2 Occupational stress 22
2.1.3 Occupational related stress 22
2.1.3.1
Societal stress 24
2.1.3.2 Organizational stress 24
2.1.3.3 Role related stress 25
2.1.3.4 Extra-organizational stress 26
2.1.3.5 Administrative related stress 27
2.1.4 Occupational stress management strategies 28
2.1.4.1 Utilization of colleagues as human resources 28
2.1.4.2 Developing close staff relationship 29
2.1.4.3 Improving team management 30
2.1.4.4 Adopting problem solving approach 30
2.1.5 Principal administrative effectiveness 32
2.1.6 Areas of administrative effectiveness 36
2.1.6.1 Students’ personnel administration 36
2.1.6.2 Staff personnel administration 37
2.1.6.3 School community relations 38
2.1.7 Classroom management 39
2.2 Theoretical Framework 41
2.2.1 Herzberg two factor theory of motivation
(Fredric Herzberg, 1950) 41
2.2.2 Administrative theory (Chester Bernard,
1938) 42
2.2.3 Social process theory by Chester Benard 1938 43
2.2.4 Administrative stress circle theory by
McGrath 1976 45
2.3 Empirical Studies 46
2.4 Summary of Review of Related Literature 55
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 57
3.1
Design of the Study 57
3.2 Area of
the Study 57
3.3 Population
of the Study 58
3.4 Sample
and Sampling Techniques 58
3.5 Instrument
for Data Collection 58
3.6 Validation
of the Instrument 59
3.7 Reliability
of the Instrument 60
3.8 Method
of Data Collection 60
3.9 Method
of Data Analysis 61
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND
DISCUSSION 62
4.1
Results 62
4.2
Summary of the Major Findings 77
4.3
Discussion 78
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 84
5.1
Summary 84
5.2
Conclusion 85
5.3
Educational Implications 86
5.4
Recommendations 88
5.5
Limitation of the Study 88
5.6 Suggestions
for Further Study 89
References
Appendices
LIST OF TABLES
4.1: Correlation
matrix of relationship between involvement of team
building
strategy in the management of stress and administrative
effectiveness of principals in
secondary school 62
4.2: Regression
analysis of relationship between involvement of team
building strategy in the management
of stress and administrative
effectiveness of principals
secondary school. 63
4.3: Correlation
matrix of relationship between role analysis strategy
in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of
principal in secondary school 64
4.4: Regression
analysis of relationship between role analysis strategy
in the management and administrative
effectiveness of secondary
school principals 65
4.5: Correlation matrix of
relationship between emotion focused strategy
in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of
secondary school principals 66
4.6:
Regression analysis of relationship between emotion focused strategy
in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of
principal in secondary school. 67
4.7 Correlation
matrix of relationship between skill support strategy
in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of
Principals in secondary school 68
4.8: Regression
analysis of relationship between skill support strategy
in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of
secondary school principals 69
4.9: Correlation
matrix of relationship between occupational stress
management strategy and
administrative effectiveness of principals
secondary school 70
4.10: Regression analysis of relationship between applying occupational
stress management strategy and
administrative effectiveness of
principals in secondary school. 71
4.11 Correlation
matrix of positive palliative technique and
administrative
effectiveness of secondary school Principals for
research
question six 72
4.12 Regression analysis of relationship between positive
palliative technique
and administrative
effectiveness of secondary school principals for
hypothesis six 73
4.13 Correlation
matrix of application of physical technique and
administrative
effectiveness of secondary school principals for research
question
seven 74
4.14 Regression analysis of relationship application
of physical technique
and administrative
effectiveness of secondary school principals for
hypothesis seven 75
4.15 Correlation
matrix of classroom management and administrative
effectiveness
of secondary school principals for research question eight 76
4.16 Regression analysis of relationship classroom
management and
administrative effectiveness
of secondary school principals for
hypothesis
eight 77
LIST OF FIGURE
2.1 Ideographic (individual based) 44
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
Every organizational
setting has its stipulated measures for controlling, directing and leading both
human and non-human resources towards achieving organizational goals. In the
course of doing this, stress becomes an inevitable element in managing these resources.
The term stress is used constantly to describe with emotional state of an
individual, which makes it a condition or situation, internal or external which
imposes demand for adjustment on the individual. It can be linked to concepts
such as anxiety, conflict and frustration.
Stress in an organization
tends to frustrate the efforts of workers in carrying out their functions
effectively. Slyers (2011) defines stress as a general response which the human
body makes to any demand on it. This therefore entails that any physical,
emotional, psychological and sociological worry that emerges as a result of
inability of meeting up with certain demands in a given environment becomes
stress. Agreeing to this fact, Chen (2017) defines stress as a psychological
and a physiological reaction to a real or perceived threat that requires some
actions or resolution. This implies that stress is a cognitive, behavioral and
biological response that is sustained with significant negative effect. In a
different view, stress remains the rate of wear and tears in the human body as
related with any vital activities. Stress emerges when an individual’s working
or living condition places demand beyond his/her personal capacity to handle
such emotionally and physically. Stress therefore, could occur as a result of
disturbances in the system, strain, obstacles in the path of achieving goals,
conflicting demands, uncertain role prescription and tasking work conditions in
the organization.
Occupational stress could
be linked to stress emanating from working environment. This kind of stress
emerges when discrepancy exists between the work demand and personal capability
to execute, those work demand. Mahmood, Nudrat and Zahoor (2013) agreed with
this view that occupational stress occurs as a result of Principals’ inability
to carry out the demand of work required. Quick and Henderson (2016) defines
occupational stress as a chronic condition that requires an understanding of
the epidemiology or life history of the problem prior to exploring protection,
prevention and intervention alternatives. These epidemiological factors could
be understood through proper insight on the causes of stress (the risk factor),
response or reaction to the stressor (which may be internal pressure, external
pressure or environmental factor) as well s understanding of the consequences
of the stressor. There is evidence that problems such as work overload,
pressure, conflict between the school management and parents, students’
indiscipline, poor academic performance of students amongst others remain a
major source of occupational stress encompassing principals in achieving
effective administration in the secondary school system. Occupational stress
thus could be seen as a universal issue facing school administrators in
achieving effective administration in the school system especially in
pre-secondary and secondary school education.
Occupational stress
therefore could emanate in the school organization as a result of stressor or
stress condition which may take form of societal, organizational, role related
and extra organizational stress. These environmental driven stress often times
limits administrator’s performance or effectiveness thus leading to partial
hindrance of school system goals. The societal induced stress from the teaching
perspective, occurs from pressure on the school as an institution of learning
by social and political forces within the community; as organizational stress
in education occurs as a result of failure of schools or educational sector to
organize its resources properly to meet the general expectations of its clients
as well as meeting with the staff personal administration and pupil personal
administration in the system by the principal.
Notwithstanding,
role-related stress in secondary schools thus emerges based on teachers and principals
inability to develop appropriate instructional programmes for students with
special needs, finding of sufficient times for professional development,
developing positive relations with principal, while teachers or even parents
remain the major sources of role-related stress. On the other hand,
extra-organizational stress emanates from the administration (Principals) home
environment. This usually takes the measure of poor societal support, family
difficulties and other personal crises which may take the form of death of a
loved one, sickness and some other ill-related challenges in which the principal
as school administrative head have to work with. Principals are often times
faced with stress emanating from their administrative duties which occurs as a
result of unclear definition of roles and hierarchical chain of command, degree
of teachers’ participation and non-participation in the decision making process
as well as relating to the school organizational structure. Chukwudebelu (2012)
defines principal as one responsible for the overall operations of his/her
school. This view above entails that a principal is the administrative academic
and social head of school who through his/her leadership qualities communicates
and delegates’ duties thus supervises such functions to ensure quality productivity
in the system. The principal is responsible for the overall operations of the
school system and reserves right to determine the human and physical resources
needed to make educational objectives realizable.
The principal as a leader
needs to possess some leadership qualities critical to his/her administrative
success such as energy, initiative, and tolerance for ambiguity, sense of
humor, analytical ability and common sense. Agreeing to these facts, Mgbodile
in Okpe (2016) asserted that the principal is the hub on which the success of
secondary school education revolves because they help to translate policies on
education into action.
The principal is a manager of resources:
material, financial, facilities, support services, organizational, operational
services as well as legal services which makes the principal a bearer of
enormous amount of headache. This shows that in carrying out required functions
and duties as entrusted to the principal as the secondary school head, there
are lots of challenges he/she encounters in carrying daily functions. Osakwe,
Abdulrahman and Nwankwo in Alonge (2019) identified the administrative roles of
the school principal to include organizing the school activities, initiating
work activities, coordinating various units/organs in the school, controlling
both staff and students and being responsible to both students and teacher’s
welfare. Factors of stress or occupational stressors become burden to the
principal as he engages in his managerial and administrative duties.
Notwithstanding, the principal plays three cardinal roles in school which are:
supervision of school programmes (curricula and extra curricula activities),
interpersonal relations (school discipline, evaluation of teachers and students
performance; community support and involvement in resolving both staff and
students personnel problems thus enhance school-community relations) and
management of school resources/plants and other relevant resources that aid
effective and efficient functioning of the school.
Imperatively, the
principal must possess adequate administrative competence to meet with various
functions in the school. The position of the principal in secondary school
therefore becomes vital in achieving positive result in terms of school
programmes, activities, discipline, staff personnel administration, students’
personal administration, curriculum implementation, school community relations,
proper monitoring and supervising of organizational personnel amongst others. Source
of stress to the principal include: unpleasant working condition involves total
school working hour, physical environmental factor, poor planning of school
programmes, inadequate resources to schools, lack of implementation of school
programmes, lack of job status and prospect of advancement, poor staff
development programme and lack of job security amongst others. There are sources
of stress faced on routine bases by the secondary school administrators, the
Principals in particular.
Imperatively, the
principals in dealing with stressors could experience tension, conflict with
teachers and students, anxiety, fear, panic, feeling frustrated, hopeless or
disappointed a situation that gives him/her a sense of failure in the pursuit
of the school stipulated goals. The manifestation of incessant anger, temper
and headaches could be an indicator of occupational stress as encountered by
the Principal. In line with this view, quick et.al (2016) averred that when
examine the causes of occupational stress, three factors emerge in our mind
which are occupation and work, home-bases or family and individual generated or
internal imposed stress. Obegbulam (2011) agreed that stressor could be
identified as intrinsic to the job and which boarder on unpleasant working
condition such as total school working hour and environmental factors such as
over populated students, problem with school plant, inadequate and ill-equipped
teachers with lackadaisical attitudes towards work, students with poor academic
background and negative attitude towards learning; parental ambivalence towards
the educational well-being of their children amongst others. It is very
important that measures should be taken to reduce or manage stress in the
secondary school system.
Stress management, thus
becomes vital for proper and effective administration of secondary schools
education. Management is an act of getting people together to accomplish
desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and
effectively. Nwoku in Affianmagbon and Nwokeocha (2011) sees management as a
total system of organization that is getting organizational personnel to
accomplish their work so as to achieve organizations objectives. This entails
that management is a human action to produce useful outcome in the system. In
the context of this present study, management deals with ability to control, coordinate,
plan and direct organizations’ resources to achieve fairly stress free
organization for achieving its policies and programmes. Oluchi and Nwamuo
(2013) defines stress management as the amelioration of stress especially those
that are chronic and capable of affecting ones physical, psychological and
environmental state. This entails that the administrations inability to handle
or manage stressors may lead to poor physical, psychological and environmental
state. Stress management thus becomes vital in the school administration such
that it helps the administrators (Principals, HOD and Dean) to have conducive
working atmosphere that is free from endangering their health, anxiety and
aggressiveness.
Management is an
essential element in an organization geared towards controlling all resources
and situations that may arise in the day to day activities of such
organization. Eya (2004) listed the characteristics of management to include
activities such as planning, staffing, coordinating and control of all the
factors resources in an organization. This view enumerates management to
broadly cover decision making (forecasting, planning and organizing) and
implementation “(commanding, coordinating and control).
Stress management thus is
a problem-solving effort made by an individual faced with demands that are
highly relevant to his/her welfare but taxing his adaptive resources.
Hornby(2010) sees stress management as a skill used in dealing with situations
that are stressful and may eventually lead to burnout.
In a different dimension,
stress management could be viewed as measures or ways taken to cope with trying
periods so that a state of psychological, physiological and emotional
equilibrium is re-established and generally maintained. This means that a poor
stress management could be a barrier to achieve participation of various
occupational groups, especially to teachers and school administrators.
Stressors such as ill-health, headache, harsh conditions, indigestions, stomach
ache, body pains and emotional imbalance often times result to poor
administrative process and as such, the school administrators lose focus in the
activities of the day.
Stress management
strategies refer to the interventions designed to reduce the effect of
stressors in organizations and in this case the school system. Organizations
have adopted various strategies to manage stress in the workplace. Fredrickson
(2010) opined that individuals flourish when their positive feelings outweigh
their negative feelings. This in essence proves that social support remains the
basic management strategy for occupational stress. Oboegbulam and Onwurah
(2011) aptly listed the following coping strategies used in reduction of
occupational induced stress to include: Utilization of colleagues as human
resources, developing close staff relationship, improving team management and hiring
of competent personnel to assist in administration amongst others.
Stress among Principals
in Public, Private and Faith-based schools may occur as a result of work
overload, pressure from parents, curriculum implementation problems, students’
poor academic performance, indiscipline among students, poor working
environment, conflict between work and family. These remain major components of
occupational stress faced by the secondary school principals.
Secondary school
education as established in Nigeria was designed to provide equal educational
opportunities for primary school learners to enhance their educational career.
It also provides measures for equipping its participants to live effectively in
their dynamic societies through inculcation of national unity and projection of
national consciousness amongst the students. Ogwo-Aja and Obunadike (2018)
defines secondary school as education meant to prepare the individual for
successful living within the society and for higher education. The need to
achieve secondary school goals, objectives, programmes and implementation of
its curriculum thus calls for competent personnel (Principals) to achieve such
goals. Secondary school principals thus are persons employed to look after the
affairs (academic, personnel management, pupils personnel administration, staff
personnel; administration, school plant maintenance and management of the
totality of school system as provided in his/her service guide) to ensure
successful outcomes in the system. The school Principal is vested with the
primary responsibilities of planning, organizing, coordinating, directing and
decision making as well as implementation of the curriculum and policies at
secondary school level of education. Mgbodile in Ugwu (2009) opined that the
success of any secondary school be it public, private or faith-based school to
a large extent depends on the Principals skills, talents and effort to harness
and utilize both human and materials resources available to him. It is therefore
salient to say that occupational stress is common among administrators
irrespective of gender.
Gender refers to the
social constructed roles, behaviour, activities and attribute that a given
society considers appropriate from men and women. Nwabueze (2016) contends that
gender is determined by the conception of task, functions and roles attributed
to women and men in society and in public and private life especially in the
educational institutions. This in essence implies that gender deals especially
either diverse assigned responsibility to either male or female creature. In
various secondary schools, principals deployed to manage the school may either
be a male or female (man or woman). However, some scholars have stated that
female administrators have better charisma as far as occupational task
performance of principal is concerned. Gender in aspect of administrative
effectiveness in schools entails a situation in which a qualified male or
female characteristic is assigned with the responsibility of managing a
secondary school in a given area. The gender construct tends look at the
various ways that the either male or female principle reasons and reacts to
management of occupational strategies as correlates administrative
effectiveness. Qualification of principals irrespective of gender to an extent
determines the principals’ administrative effectiveness.
Administrative
effectiveness remains the main indices of measuring the extent of an
administrator’s achievement in an organization. Madulabum and Owoh (2015) defines
administrative effectiveness as the combination of knowledge, skills and
attitude that can be developed through training aimed at accomplishing specific
tasks by the school heads. Adegun
in Akomofe (2012) sees principals’ administrative effectiveness as a factor
exhibiting attainment of goals in secondary schools. This means that school
administrators must energize the human capital to use their creative and
initiative competence in making good input towards achieving educational goals.
In a different view, administrative effectiveness remains the ability to which
the school administrators were able to coordinate, organize, plan and harmonize
both human and non-human materials in the school system to achieve stated
organizational goals. This reveals that the effectiveness of a school principal
is based on his/her ability to discharge his administrative functions efficiently
through proper coordination of all material inputs in the system. Adegun (2010)
identified some indices of administrative effectiveness to encompass high
productivity, high motivation, turnover rate of teachers, degree of
integration, maximization of individual potentialities, and maximum utilization
of available resources and valuable contribution to the larger society. In line
with this view, Lipham and Hoeh in Owoh (2015) outlined task areas of the
school administrator for administrative effectiveness to include management of institutional
programme, staff personnel administration, financial and physical resources
management, student personnel administration and school-community relations.
Personnel administration therefore
is an essential instrument in attaining organizational success. Students’ personnel
administration thus remains an essential component of administrative effectiveness
in public, private and faith-based secondary schools. Ademiyi and Omoteso (2014) agreed that the
administrators’ capacity to forecast problems before hand shows itself as a
result of the characteristic and behaviors in personnel relationship and
consulting criteria. They further said that in leading these groups, the
concept of leadership is regarded as effectiveness. Principals’ administrative
effectiveness could be determined for useful evaluation of public and private
secondary school administration by applying these elements of administration
which are adaptation, goal attainment, integration and creating and sustaining
original values. Students personnel administration
encompassed services are rendered to students that compliments regular
classroom activities such as guidance counseling, career talk, inventory,
social worker provision, health care services and tips, orientation, seminars,
and disciplines and some other activities that support the students in both
social and academic endeavors, counseling services provided to the student
remain a good administrative technique as it helps in minimization of
disciplinary issues in the school. Oboegulem (2014) is of the view that students’
personnel administration comprises of all the students services and activities
that supplements and supports the usual instructional programmes. In agreement
with this view, Herr and Gramer in Oboegbulem (2014) outlines counseling services
as strategies that can be used to solve existing problems to include
stimulating students to develop and acquire knowledge, skill and competence
necessary for one to become more effective in life.
Woko (2011) asserts that
the significance of guidance and counseling services in school administration
involves provision of preventive and remedial guidance, achieving self-understanding,
teacher understanding needs of the students, provision of academic counseling,
provision of social skills and services rendered to staff. Students’ personnel
administration covers creating conducive learning environment to explore and
produce the best in the students. It therefore deals with those functions,
policies and programmes developed by the school management which geared towards
discipline and production of quality students. The organizational end goals
(school) could be achieved when the students’ personnel administration is given
proper attention and such staff personnel administration as another component of
principal administrative effectiveness has to be equally considered.
Staff personnel
administration remains a vital component of principals’ administrative
effectiveness. It is a unit of establishment for human resources development and
management, recruitment and training of workforce. Flippo in Affianmagbon and
Nwokocha (2011) refer to staff personnel administration as the planning,
organizing, directing and controlling of procurements, development,
compensation, integration and maintenance of individual, original and societal
objectives. Aja-Okorie (2014) aptly observed that staff-personnel
administration rests on the understanding of the most efficient and effective
ways of optimizing result in a school system. This makes staff development to
involve development, application and evaluation of policies, procedures,
methods and programmes relating to the school. Workforces thus, are essential
component in all organizations (education, business, and corporate organization
or government parastatals). Staff personnel department in establishments such
as ministry of education is responsible for personnel activities such as
recruitment, orientation, induction, training, selection, wages and salary and
management.
Put differently, staff
personnel administration is the component of school administration that deals
with the improvement of the totality of employers’ welfare in terms of salary
and wages, quality standard of living, recruitment, selection, orientation, professional
development, positioning, discipline and job evaluation in an organization.
Since the teachers operate within the school environment to ensure that quality
outcome is achieved, school community relation becomes vital in order to ensure
that hostile free environment for the school to operate.
A school-community
relation is another aspect of Principals’ administrative effectiveness. The
school, to Modebelu (2014), is an organization that cannot be isolated from its
host community. This view in essence implies that the school manager
(Principal) should ensure effective co-existence between the school and the
community through community participation and sense of belonging in the school
activities. Ogedi (2017) aptly said that the success or failure of any school
administrator to a large extent depends on its relationship with the host
community. As a result; the school and the community should ensure that ideal
and conducive environment is created for the training of the learners who are
the future leaders of our society. Apparently, good relationship interaction
exist the school and the community where the school is situated. In essence,
the school-community relations remains the process and act of maintaining
quality peaceful co-existence between the school administration and the
community targeted at promoting good value, culture and norms in the absence of
cohesion and hostile environment.
Hostility of the
community to the school administration remains part of occupational stress
emanating from the environment which the Principal often times experience which
also is capable of proving that the Principal is ineffective in discharging
his/her functions. The need to state the problems that necessitated this study
become relevant for the purpose of solving this occupational stress in the
education system.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
Administrative effectiveness is the expected indicator
for effective secondary education. It is characterized by quality resources
control, effective personnel administration, decision-making, and effective
handling of stress related factors in the schooling system. One of the major factors
that promote administrative effectiveness is the absence or minimal level of
occupational stress of school administrative staff.
Currently, the researcher has observed that in majority of the school principals in the
area of study are faced with administrative ineffectiveness that ranges from
poor personnel administration, poor decision-making process, lack of resources
control and coordination of educational resources, lack of teamwork and
delegation of some administrative duties that ease off stressors, lack of close
staff relationship, lack of adaptation of problem solving approach remain the
current situation faced by most administrators in handling occupational related
stress in the secondary school setting. This observed administrative
ineffectiveness could be due to presence or existence of occupational stress
amongst the staff and the school administrators. It appears that sources of
occupational stress and their management strategies are not known to these
principals. They seem to lack the skills and strategies identifying
occupational stress and managing the source. There some evidences of
occupational stress such as role-related stress, administrative-related stress,
societal-related stress, organizational-related stress and extra organizational-related
stress which tends to lower the school administrative effectiveness. It
therefore expects that if the occupational stress is adequately identified,
there will be effective administration of secondary schools in the area of
study.
The problems of negligence of administrative role,
strained relationship with staff, poor work environment, lack of promotion,
over expectation from staff, non-payment of salary, poor school community
relations, students indiscipline, pressure from parents, unqualified staff,
difficulty in curriculum implementation, pressure from the staff, poor students
personal administration, lack of knowledge of various sources and symptoms of
occupational stress and inability to consult competent personnel in assisting
in administration of the school remain the major problem confronting secondary
school principals in administrating the schools effectively
The problem put in question form reads; to what extent
does occupation stress management strategies relates to administrative
effectiveness of secondary schools in Abia State?
1.3 PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY.
The study examined the relationship between management
of occupational stress strategies and administrative effectiveness of public
secondary school principals in Abia State Nigeria. Specifically, the objectives
of the study were to:
1. Ascertain
the relationship between team building
strategy in the management of stress and administrative effectiveness of
principals in secondary schools in Abia State.
2. Examine
the relationship between role analysis strategy in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of principals in secondary schools in Abia state.
3. Find
out the relationship between emotion- focused strategy in the management of
stress and administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools in
Abia state.
4. Ascertain
the relationship between skill support strategy in the management of stress and
administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools in Abia state.
5. Examine
the relationship between occupational stress management strategies and
administrative effectiveness of principals in secondary schools in Abia state.
6. To
find out the extent to which positive palliative techniques relates with administrative
effectiveness of secondary school principals.
7. To
find out the extent to which application of physical technique relates with
administrative effectiveness of secondary school principal.
8. Ascertain
the extent to which of relationship between classroom management and administrative effectiveness of secondary
school principals.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What
is the relationship between team building strategy in the management of stress
and administrative effectiveness of principals in secondary schools?
2. What
is the relationship between role analysis strategy in the management of stress
and administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools?
3. What
is the relationship between Emotion- focused strategy in the management of
stress and administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools?
4. What
is the relationship between skill support strategy in the management of stress
and administrative effectiveness of principals in secondary schools?
5. What
is the relationship between occupational stress management strategies and
administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools?
6. What
is the extent to which Positive palliative techniques relate with
administrative effectiveness of secondary school principals?
7. To
what extent does application of physical technique relate with administrative effectiveness of secondary school principal?
8. To
what extent does classroom management strategies relate with administrative effectiveness of secondary school principals?
1.5 HYPOTHESES
The following formulated null hypotheses were tested
at 0.05 level of significance guided the study:
H01: there is no significant relationship between
team building strategy and administrative effectiveness of principals in secondary
school in Abia state.
H02: there is no significant relationship between
role analysis strategy and administrative effectiveness of principals in
secondary school in Abia state.
H03: There is no significant relationship between emotions
focused strategy and administrative effectiveness of principal in secondary schools
in Abia State.
H04: There is no significant relationship between
skill support strategy and administrative effectiveness of principals in
secondary school s.
H05: There is no significant relationship difference
between the occupational stress management and administrative effectiveness of
principals in secondary school in Abia state.
H06: There is no significance relationship exist
between the responses of principals on positive palliative techniques and
administrative effectiveness f secondary school principals.
H07: There is no significant relationship between
the mean response rating of principals’ response on application of physical
technique and administrative effectiveness of secondary school principal.
H08: There is no significant relationship exist
between principals’ responses on classroom management and administrative
effectiveness of secondary school principals.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The findings of the study shall be beneficiary to the
following; policy makers, ministry of education, educationist, principals,
teachers, students and researchers.
The findings of the study shall be of practical value
and beneficiary to policy makers in gaining knowledge and information on
occupational stress management that relates to administrative effectiveness.
This would enhance their skills in designing clear policies on management of
occupation related stress.
The ministry of education can be of help through the
findings of this study, in organizing periodic seminar, workshop, and
orientation for both the school administrators and academic staff on
occupational stress and technique of coping. The ministry of education would
also benefit from the findings of the study by understand those occupational
stress that relate to administrative effectiveness. This may enable them to
know the areas of emphasis in organizing seminars and workshops on improving
administrative effectiveness in schools.
The findings of this study is beneficiary to the
educationist in setting up conducive working environment that has less and manageable
occupational stressor, hence enable the principals have a good working
situation/ environment that enhances their job performance. This shall help the
principal articulate interest in staff and students’ welfare as such set a
sense of role modeling to ensure positive influence on students’ academic
achievement.
Principals would benefit from the study when the
findings are published. They would know the occupational stress management
strategies that relate to administrative effectiveness in secondary schools
where they head and be conscious of them when they receive training, seminar
and workshops. This would also enhance their knowledge and strategies in
managing occupational stress. This would lead to reduction of rate of
occurrences of occupational stress that relate to administrative effectiveness;
hence their administrative qualities may be enhanced.
Teachers gaining the above may operate in less
occupational stress working environment and work in environment principal’s
administrative effectiveness is achieved. This would ensure effective and
improved teaching.
Students would benefit from the above when teachers
teach without occupational stress and in effective environment which is amongst
the factors that enhance and improves quality learning outcome.
Researchers shall benefit from the findings of the
study when published by referencing and consulting the literature, the findings
and others of the present study to build their own literature.
This would also contribute to the body of knowledge
and theories that supports administrative effectiveness.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The
study was delimited to management of occupational stress strategies as
correlates principals’ administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools
in Abia state, Nigeria. The study covered management of occupational stress
strategies (independent variables); in terms of use of colleagues as human
resources, developing close staff relationship, improved team management, adoption
of problem solving approach, positive palliative technique, physical technique
application and classroom management as contained in the study objectives. The
study covered principals’ administrative effectiveness (dependent variable)
such as: decision making (forecasting, planning and organizing), implementation
“(commanding, coordinating and control) effective resources control and quality
personnel administration. The study was carried out in public secondary schools
in three educational zone of Abia State namely: The Aba zone, Ohiafia zones and
Umuahia zones using principals in Abia State. It also looked the gender
construct of the principal and how it affects their administrative
effectiveness in managing occupational stress
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