Abstract
This study investigated the principals’ leadership
styles and secondary school teachers’ job performance in Education District IV
of Lagos State. The study was
carried out in ten secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State. A total of 190 individuals have participated in the
study. 170 teachers were included as a sample through simple random sampling
technique. Additionally, 20 secondary school principals were included.
Questionnaire and interview were the main instruments of data collection. The
instrument for the study was a five-point Likert type questionnaire.
Principals’ leadership styles and teachers’ performance were identified as the independent variables and as the dependent variable respectively. The
questionnaires on communication, decision-making and delegation of duties were
used to describe the principals’ leadership styles. While lesson plan,
assessing students and co-curricular activities were used to determine the
teachers’ performance in the schools. The analysis of the quantitative data was
carried out by using frequency, percentages, mean, standard deviation, one-way
ANOVA, Post Hoc Test and Pearson correlation. The findings indicates that there
is a positive relationship between leadership styles and teachers’
performance(r=0.890) the relationship is significant (Sign=0.000 at 0.05
level).
From
the entire study and findings, the
results revealed that the principals adopted three leadership styles in their
administration namely; autocratic, laissez faire and democratic, it is clearly evident that there is no leadership style that is
superior to one another. The findings revealed that the independent variable
(democratic) was the most practiced leadership style in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos
State. In general the findings was supposed to
conclude, that principals leadership style in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos
State had significant effect on decision-making,
communication and delegation to improve the level of teachers performance and
teachers have not been performing to the expectation. Based on the findings, it
is recommended that the principals in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos
State should neat a mixture of autocratic and
democratic styles of leadership. While teachers ideas and taught should be
considered in decision-making about the training criteria in their
administration in order to enhance better performance amongst teachers.
Key
words: Leadership Styles, Job Performance,
Teachers, Secondary Schools, Principals.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Table
of contents v
List of Tables vii
List of Figures viii
Abstract ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 6
Purpose of the Study 7
Research Questions 7
Research Hypotheses 8
Scope of the Study 8
Significance of the Study 8
Limitations of the Study 9
Operational Definition of
Important Terms 10
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Major Highlights of the Research
for Review 11
The Conceptual Framework 11
Leadership styles 12
Types of Leadership styles 13
Democratic Leadership Styles 14
Autocratic Leadership Styles 15
Laissez Faire Leadership Styles 16
Review of Empirical Studies 20
Communication and Teachers
Performances 20
Involvement in Decision-Making and
Teachers Performance 24
Delegation of Duties and Teachers
Performance 28
Theoretical Literature 32
Trait theory 32
Situational theory 32
Contingency theory 33
Behavioural theory 33
Path goal theory 33
Appraisal of Literature Reviewed 38
CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 41
Population of the Study 42
Sample and Sampling Technique 42
Research Instrument for Data
Collection 44
Validation and Reliability of the
Research Instrument 46
Method of Data Collection 46
Method of Data Analysis 47
CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Data Presentation 49
Answers to the Research Questions 50
Testing of the Research Hypotheses 79
Summary of Findings 90
Discussion of Findings 91
CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of the Study 93
Implications of the Findings for Policy and for
Practice 98
Conclusion 100
Recommendations / Contributions to Knowledge 100
Generalizability of Research Findings 101
Suggestions for Further Research
REFERENCES 102
APPENDICES 106
List
of Tables
Table 1 Teachers’
responses on background information 50
Table 2a: Teachers’
responses on the way they make lesson preparation 53
Table 2b: Teachers’
responses on how they assess the students 56
Table 2c: Teachers’
responses on the way they involve in co-curricular activities. 57
Table 2d Summary of
overall distribution of teachers’ by their performance 60
Table 2e: Distribution of
ratings of teachers’ performance 61
Table 3a: Distribution of
Respondents opinion on whether their principals involve 63 Teachers in decision-making or not.
Table 3b: Distribution of
Respondents opinion on whether principals communicate to 68 teachers or not.
Table 3c: Distribution of
Respondents opinion on whether principals delegated duties to 71
teachers or not.
Table 3d: Summary of
distribution of the respondents by opinion on principals’ 76
involvement of teachers in decision-making, communication to teachers
and delegation of duties to teachers.
Table 4: Average
distribution of teachers’ respondents by opinion on leadership styles 78
practiced by secondary school principals in Education District IV of
Lagos State.
Table 4a: Pearson
correlation statistics
80
Table 4b Descriptive
Statistic Results Obtained from Principals involvement of Teachers 83
in Decision-Making for Teachers
Performance.
Table 4c: ANOVA Results
Obtained from Principals involvement of Teachers in Decision 84 Making for
Teachers Performance.
Table 4d: Post Hoc Test
of Multiple Comparisons on
Decision-Making Using Tukey HSD 84
Table 4e Descriptive
Statistic Results obtained from Principals’ Communication to Teachers on
Teachers Performance. 86
Table 4f ANOVA Results
Obtained from Principals’ Communication to Teachers on 87 Teachers
Performance
Table 4g: Post Hoc Test
of Multiple Comparisons on
Communication Using Tukey HSD 88
Table 4h: Descriptive
Statistic Results Obtain from Principals’ Delegation of Duties to 89
Teachers on Teachers Performance.
Table 4i: ANOVA Results
Obtained from Principals’ Delegation of Duties to Teachers on 89 Teachers’
Performance.
Table 4j: Post Hoc Test
of Multiple Comparison on Delegation of duties Using Tukey HSD 90
List
of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual framework relating leadership
styles to teachers’ 19
Performance
in secondary schools of Yaba Local Government Area of Lagos
Figure 2: Path-goal theory of leadership 37
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
The success of any
organization is highly rated upon the head, boss or the manager of such an
enterprise, like business, school or any organization. The leadership impact is
desirable in an organization to aid easy and maximum success. Leadership is an
instruction used in an organization for behavior modification. It determines
the goals of an organization and means of accomplishing them. Therefore,
leadership in an organization has been seen as motivator whereby one person who
is the head motivates others towards the achievement of specific goals of the
organizations.
However, fellowship is the
essence of leadership, in other words it is the willingness of the people to
follow that makes a person a leader. Moreover, people follow those perceived to
be providing means of achieving their own desires, wants and needs. In this
case, we can see that leadership and motivation are closely interconnected.
Motivation enables us appreciate better what people want and why they act as
they do. In secondary school administration, the success of any school to
achieve its stated goals or objectives depends on the ability of the chief
administrator otherwise known as the principal and his leadership style.
Effective leadership role provided by the
principal will lead to the achievement of the schools goals and objectives.
Education among other concern is an instrument for effecting national
development with the formulation of national policy on education. To achieve
the stated aims and objectives of the national policy, all stakeholders in the
educational sector have different roles to play. At the grass root level, the
management of available resources rest solely upon the schools principals
inclusive in principals’ roles is the provision of effective administrative
skills which cannot be separated from their leadership styles. The principals’
leadership style in secondary schools is a pointer of the level of productivity
of teachers or their job performance. With the close review of the setbacks
being experienced in some secondary schools, pressure groups are agitating for
effective leadership styles. It is glaring that some principals in Yaba Local
Government area of Lagos have not considered their styles of leadership as the
determinants of teachers’ job performance level. Hence, some principals seem to
find it difficult to effectively administer their schools (Gronn, 2000, Adeyemi
2004). Every school principal is in a unique position as the manager or
administrator of the resources in their schools.
The school administrator is
a leader of the staff and the students of the school. He is expected to be
knowledgeable in the area of administration. He should be able to address
difficult issues or problems at different point in time. The leadership style
of the principal is demonstrated in his abilities which make him to be
recognized as leader of a group. Many people strongly believe even when there
is an educational plan, good school programme, adequate staff and facilities,
what is more important is good administrative leadership style to coordinate
all these for the progress and success of the school. In case, where the
leadership style of the principal is ineffective, even the best school
programme, the most adequate resources and the most motivational staff and
students will be rendered futile. Therefore, the importance of good leadership
style in an organization cannot be overemphasized. The key for an effective
leader is the ability to lead effectively, coordinate a complex situation and
show concern through prudent management of human and material resources
available. According to Koontz (2008) “If all school principals can’t rely upon
all the subordinates to contribute towards group goal accomplishment with zeal
and confidence, there would be no need to develop the act of leadership”. There
is always the need to boost the moral of teachers, which will even make them to
serve to their maximum capability. Therefore, among the administrative
functions of the principal is to persuade teachers and use his leadership style
to coordinate all activities to ensure they contribute willingly to
organizational goals. It’s worth knowing that the improvement of any
educational institution depends on quality of its teachers. The main objectives
of any educational system are to promote teaching and learning process.
Teachers are therefore expected to be committed to facilitate the teaching
process.
To ensure the possibility,
principals too must provide conducive atmosphere for their teachers. The type
of leadership style being operated in the school will make staff in schools to
be inspired, zealous and co-operate to work harmoniously with the principal.
Educational objectives can only be achieved with the full co-operation of the
school community. Effective administrative leadership involves the
understanding of the behavior of members to be led in any organization or
institution of learning. The issues of teachers’ performance in the classroom,
based on principals leadership style is a concern of this project. In addition
to being influenced by motivation, productivity is affected by workers ability
and a number of situational and environmental factors. The objectives of the
school will not be achieved if there is no harmony in the school between
teachers’ performance and principal’s leadership style. Several researchers have
defined leadership style in different contexts, in view of the foregoing,
(Chandan, 2007) defines leadership style as the ingredient of personality
embodied in leaders that causes subordinates to follow them. Okumbe, (2008) on
the other hand defines leadership styles as particular behaviours applied by a
leader to motivate subordinates to achieve the objectives of the organization.
It refers to the underlying needs of the leader that motivate his behavior
(Siskin, 2004; Okeniyi, 2005).
It is the manifestation of the dominant pattern of behaviour of a leader
(Olaniyan, 2009; Okurumeh, 2012). It is also a process through which principal
influences a teacher or a group of others in the attainment of educational
goals (Akinwumiju and Olaniyan, 2006; Adeyemi, 2006). Therefore, the Leadership
style of a principal depends on the leaders behaviors. This behavior is the
main foundation for choosing efficient leadership style (Douglas, 2006).
Scholar has proposed path goal theory to explain leadership. According to
(House, 2008) in the path goal theory, a leader does the following: clarifies and sets goals together with the
subordinates and properly communicates to them. Besides, delegates duties to
subordinates according to their abilities, skills, knowledge and experience.
The leader further helps the subordinates to find the best path for achieving
the desired goals. Defines positions and task roles by removing barriers to
performance and promotes group cohesiveness and team effort.
The leader finally increases personal opportunities for improved work
performance by reducing stress, making external controls and people’s
expectations clearer (House, 2008). In supporting this theory, (Ajayi and
Ayodele, 2011) the behaviour of the leader is acceptable to the subordinates
only if they continue to see the leader as a source of personal opportunities
to improve performance and satisfaction. But, some leaders seem to find it
difficult to effectively administer their schools (Gronn, 2012). Therefore, it is imperative that they learn
and understand the importance of the styles that enhance positive performance
in the schools. As such, leadership style occupies an important position in
school administration as the principal who controls schools’ resources resulted
in positive achievement of educational goals (Adeyemi, 2004). Basically, such
achievements in secondary schools are dependent on three identifiable
leadership styles namely; autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire (Lunenberg &Ornstein,
2009).It is no doubt that there is mounting pressure by styles of leadership
among principals of secondary schools in Education
District IV of Lagos State. It seems however that many principals have not
considered their styles of leadership as determinants of teachers’ performance
in their schools. Teachers’ performance could be described in various
ways. (Robert and Tim, 2009) as the act
of accomplishing or executing a given tasks. On the other hand (Obilade, 2009)
defined teachers performance as the
duties performed by a teacher at a particular period in the school system in
achieving educational goals whereas, (Akinyemi 2003; Okeniyi, 2005) defined it
as the ability of teachers to combine relevant inputs for the enhancement of
teaching and learning processes. However, (Meindl, 2008) argued that teachers’
performance is determined by the workers level of participation in the day to
day running of the organization. Supporting this argument, (Adepoju, 2007)
asserted that variables of teachers’ performance such as effective teaching,
lesson note preparation, effective use of scheme of work, effective
supervision, monitoring of students’ work and disciplinary ability are virtues
which teachers should uphold effectively in the school system.
In this regard, the teachers’ performance could be measured through
annual report of his/ her activities in terms of performance in teaching,
lesson preparation, and lesson presentation, mastery of subject matter,
competence, teachers’ commitment to job and extra-curricular activities. Other
areas of assessment include effective leadership, supervision of students’
work, motivation, class control and discipline of the students are the virtues
that teachers should uphold effectively in secondary schools. As such, (Ibukun, 2007) argued that the main task of
the principal is to create a conducive atmosphere for the teachers to be able
to achieve desired changes in students.
He noted that teachers’ perform effectively under different leadership
styles. Due to this, the principal was expected to encourage effective
performance of their teachers by identifying their needs and trying to satisfy
or meet them. Supporting this argument (Ijaiya, 2010) remarked that teachers in
Nigeria express a desire for more participation in decision-making.
As indicated by UNESCO report (2006), there is implicit recognition of
the important role which school management plays in achievement of school
goals. Therefore, principals’ need to display leadership styles that can
enhance teachers’ performance thus improve students achievements.
Leadership styles that were considered in this study were democratic,
autocratic and laissez-faire (Okumbe, 2008). The democratic leadership style
decentralizes power, authority and decisions are made through consultation. The
use of the style makes the teacher feel as part of the organization and will
therefore improve the teachers job performance.
Autocratic leadership style centralizes power, authority and decision
making. In this case, the teacher has a
feeling that he/she is not appreciated thus affects his/her job performance.
Leaders who opt for laissez-faire tend to avoid power and authority. This leadership style may lead to poor performance
and high cases of absenteeism. Therefore, the concern of this study was to
describe the principals’ leadership styles in terms of involvement in decision
making, communication and delegation of duties to teachers in secondary schools
of Education District IV of Lagos State.
Statement of the Problem
The relationship between
principals’ leadership style and teachers’ job performance has been a subject
of controversy by many researchers. The controversy was centered on whether or
not the style of leadership of principals influences the level of job
performance among teachers. Common observation in the school system shows that
the style of leadership of a principal could perhaps have serious impact on
teachers’ job performance.
Therefore, Principals as
educational leaders play a pivotal role in the success of the school. In
building a strong culture of collaboration and creative problem solving, set
appropriate curriculum implementation mechanism, and possess an instructional
leadership quality that takes responsibility for students’ achievement, develop
and Communicate plans for effective teaching, among all staff members and
monitor students learning progress and closely work with parents. Hence, the
collision of principals’ leadership style and teachers’ performance has been a
subject of disagreement by researchers (Nwadian, 2008; Adeyemi, 2006).
The argument was centred on whether or not the principals’ leadership
style influences the level of performance among teachers. Therefore, it was
necessary to determine the extent to which
principals’ leadership styles influence teachers’ level of job
performance since principals need to strive to satisfy the teachers so that
they exhibit maximum production which can be measured through good academic
achievement of the learners in learning institutions. The problem of this study therefore was to
investigate the effects of principals’ leadership styles on teachers’ job
performance in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of
this study was to investigate the influence of the principals’ leadership
styles on secondary school teachers’
job performance in Education District IV of Lagos State.
Objectives of the study.
Specifically, the
study sought to:
1. Find out the most commonly used leadership style
among principals in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State.
2. Examine if there is any significant relationship
between principals leadership style and job performance.
3. Investigate how principals involve teachers in
decision making and the effect it has on their performance in Education
District IV of Lagos State.
4. Investigate how principals communicate with their
teaching staff and the effect it has on
teachers’ performance in secondary schools
5. Determine the leadership style used by principals
that enhances teachers’ performance.
Research Questions
The
following research questions guided the study:
1.
To what extent does teachers lesson
preparation, assessing of students and involving students in co-curricular
activities affects teachers’ performance?
2.
To what extent does school
principals’ leadership styles in terms of decision-making, communications and
delegation of duties influence the level of teachers’ performance in secondary
schools in Education District IV of Lagos State?
3.
Which type of leadership style of
school principals’ enhances teachers’ job performance?
4.
Which leadership style is most commonly used
by principals in secondary schools in Yaba Local Government Area?
Research Hypotheses
Hypothesis1
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between principals’ leadership styles secondary school
teachers’ job performance in Education District IV of Lagos State.
Hypothesis 2
Ho2: There is no
significant difference between principals’
democratic leadership style and secondary school teachers’ job performance in Education
District IV of Lagos State.
Scope of the Study
The scope
of the study covers ten public secondary schools in Education
District IV of Lagos State. The total numbers of teachers in the sample
secondary schools were (341). The teachers and principals, were included in the
study. Thus, out of (341) secondary school teachers’ 180 were taken as a sample
in the study and 22 principals were also taken as a sample in the study. It also covers the extent to which the various
leadership styles by secondary school principals has influenced the teaching
and learning situation.
Significance of the Study
The findings of
this research have deep significance for the enhancement of secondary school
teachers’ performance by prioritizing performance in the study area. In addition, principals of schools are always
regarded by their teachers as leaders in the administration and in school board
of education, parents and teachers and other various public people usually hold
principals responsible for success and failure of school organization. Specifically the
result of
this research has the following importance for
the school principals, teachers, students and others.
First, it may
help the school leaders to be aware of the styles against the level of teacher
performance and the practitioners’ principals to exercise efficient leadership
styles so as to improve teachers’ performance.
Second, it may
help the school principals to revisit and be enriched with new knowledge,
theories, methodologies and practical behaviors leaders need in secondary
schools and other institutions of learning in general for their motivating
approach to make the teachers more effective.
Third, it may
give the clear picture of principals’ leadership style on teachers’ level of
performance for decision-makers, such as practicing educational administrator/principal, educational administrators in training,
local state board and ministry of education officials.
Fourth the school
principal who is in mount exposure to different pressures both internal and
external has to constantly review his own leadership style as effective guide
in performing his/ her task.
Fifth,
this study may be useful to the principals to be equipped with knowledge on how
they can boost job satisfaction of
teachers which may contribute to good academic performance as well as organizational success
and the findings may also serve as a guide to educational practice in
determining areas of dissatisfaction
among teachers which need to be addressed to retain teachers.
Lastly it may
serve as the reference and may call for further in-depth of researchers on the
topic, particularly principals’ leadership style and teachers’ performance in
secondary schools in Lagos State.
Limitations of the Study
Even though the
research has attained its objectives, there were some unpreventable
limitations. First, due to the limit of time, finance and material resources;
this research was not incorporating all models to see teachers’ performance.
The investigation is run by focusing on the three leadership styles and
teachers performance. Styles, which are prepared based on House (2008) path goal
theory of leadership. In addition because of financial
and time constraints, it would have been possible to
extend the study to cover both primary and secondary schools but for the
limiting factor of time and finance this research was conducted on secondary school
teachers in Education District IV of Lagos State. The study would have involved
more participants from both school levels all over Lagos state and not Yaba
alone. Therefore, the findings will be generalized to include all primary and secondary school teachers.
Operational Definition of Important Terms
Leadership styles: This is the patterns of
behaviours, which a leader adopts to influence the behaviours of his/her
followers.
Principals’ leadership
Styles: Refers to the pattern or way of doing things by the principal
in pursuit of his or her duties. In this study, leadership styles are looked at
in terms of the way principals involve teachers in decision-making; the way
they communicate and the way they delegate duties to teachers. The way the
principals behave in line of decision-making, communication and delegation is
hypothesized to determine teachers’ performance in secondary schools in Education
District IV of Lagos State.
Teachers’ performance: Refers to
identification with, and involvement in the teaching occupation. In this study,
the teachers’ performance considered as the act of scheming, lesson planning,
and assessment of students through giving tests, exercises and participation in
co-curricular activities of the schools.
Autocratic style: Is a style that
leaders communicate irregularly to teaching staff with limited involvement in
decision-making and less delegation.
Democratic style: Is a style that
leaders regularly communicate with teaching staff and to participate them in
decision-making for more delegation of duties.
Laissez–Faire style: Is a style that
leaders advocates minimal supervision and moderate involvement in the instructional
process.
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