Principals’ Leadership Styles and Secondary School Job Performance in Education
CHAPTER ONE
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.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Theoretical Framework
Theoretical framework guides researchers in the selection of appropriate variables. Without such guidance, researchers cannot be confident that the set of variables they have chosen is complete or relevant, and as such the result of the statistical analysis may be flawed (Baker, 1994). The effect of principals‟ leadership styles on teachers‟ job performance can be explained by Path-Goal Theory. Path-Goal Theory, originally developed by Evans (1970) and later modified by House (1971), was designed to identify a leader‟s most practiced style as a motivation to get subordinates to accomplish goals. It is a contingency theory rooted in the expectancy theory of motivation developed by Victor Vroom, Daniel, Villa, Howell, and Dorfman, (2003).The main assumption of Path-Goal Theory is based on that effective leaders influence employee satisfaction and job performance. It also assumes that effective leaders strengthen the effort of performance expectancy by providing information, support, and resources to help workers complete their tasks. Path-Goal Theory considers four leadership styles and several contingency factors leading to various indicators of leader effectiveness (Evans, 2002). The Path-Goal Theory suggests that leaders motivate and satisfy employees in a particular situation by adapting the following leadership styles. Directive Style where the leader clarifies performance goals, means of reaching the goals, specifies standards against which the goals are measured and uses rewards to motivate the employees . Supportive Style where the leader provides psychological support to the staff, the leader is friendly and approachable treats staff with respect, shows concern for the well being of staff members and goes out of his way to make work pleasant. Participative Style of leadership is where the leader encourages and facilitates staff involvement in decision making beyond their normal work activities. The leader consults with staff, seeks their suggestion before making any decision (Daniel et al., 2003). The Path-Goal Theory is relevant to this study because it recognizes the impact of a leader on the achievement of goals by the organization. According to the theory, leaders need to be cognizant of the necessary steps to clarify goals, paths, and enhance satisfaction through extrinsic motivation. The purpose of this study was to relate principal‟s leadership styles with teachers‟ job performance. The Contingency Leadership theory argues that there is no single way of leading and that every leadership style should be based on certain situations, which signifies that there are certain people who perform at the maximum level in certain places; but at minimal performance when taken out of their element (Morgan, 2007).
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Principals’ leadership styles and secondary school job performance in education.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on Principals’ leadership styles and secondary school job performance in education. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Lagos state randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Principals’ leadership styles and secondary school job performance in education. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Principals’ leadership styles and secondary school job performance in education
Summary
This study was on Principals’ leadership styles and secondary school job performance in education. Five objectives were raised which included: Find out the most commonly used leadership style among principals in secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State, examine if there is any significant relationship between principals leadership style and job performance, investigate how principals involve teachers in decision making and the effect it has on their performance in Education District IV of Lagos State, investigate how principals communicate with their teaching staff and the effect it has on teachers’ performance in secondary schools and determine the leadership style used by principals that enhances teachers’ performance. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Abuja. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior officers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The researcher concludes that supportive leadership behavior is the most widely practiced leadership behavior. This was evident in the ability of the principal’s ability to not simply assign tasks and then receive the results. Instead, they work through the tasks with teachers to improve performance. The researcher also concludes that supportive leadership style affects teachers‟ performance; in schools where the principal practices supportive leadership style, there is improved teacher performance.
Recommendation
The government and local leaders should sensitize parents in cooperating with the school principal in improving academic performance. This is by paying school fees on time and attending parents‟ meetings. Students should be involved more when principals and the school board make rules and regulations affecting them (students). If the students are involved in making rules, they’ll own them and are unlikely to break them. The government should increase funds to schools to enable them acquire sufficient teaching and learning materials. The disbursement of such funds should also be done in a timely manner.
References
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