COMMUNICATION STYLES ADOPTED BY PRINCIPALS AND EFFECTS ON TEACHERS DUTY PERFORMANCE IN SECO NDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The effective management of secondary schools in Nigeria is one of the means through which educational goals can be attained. The importance of school administration cannot be overstated because available human and material resources are managed by school principals (Arop et al., 2019). Given the importance of effective school leadership at the secondary school level, it is even more important to think about the future of school management. This calls for a channel to be created that will guarantee continuity in school leadership as generations keep passing on.

According Fika, Ibi and Aji, (2015) educational leadership in contemporary time is witnessing dramatic changes, owing to various factors ranging from social to political, technological and economic. The educational policy makers and administrators are therefore faced with the challenge of ensuring effectiveness in the delivery of qualitative education towards the attainment of educational goals and objectives. Educational production like other forms of production demands human, material and financial resources. The effective leadership of other resources is contingent upon the proper leadership of human resources, which requires the establishment and maintenance of effective communication system. The point to stress here is the importance of communication in the leadership of human resources in school organization, which has not been fully utilized for effective human resource leadership.

In a school system, Yukl (2018) avrred that the achievement of educational goals and objectives may be impossible without committed teachers who are the main facilitators of teaching and learning. Taking practical steps at improving teachers’ commitment by both government and school owners is crucial because teachers who are highly committed are likely to stay longer on the job, perform better, get actively involved in the work and school programmes and go extra miles to ensure that the school achieves its set goals and objectives. Teachers’ job commitment may be affected by so many factors among which are; relationship between teachers and students, the quality of the work being done by teachers, working environment, policies and decision making process, motivation, and interaction between teachers and principals among others. The interaction between principals and teachers can be determined by the communication system in the school.

Evidently Wesse (2016) opined that communication system in any organization be it formal or informal organization is very vital to the survival, smooth running and success of the organization. The transfer of information from one person to another within an organization lies on communication process without which managerial, administrative and academic functions may not be possible. In fact, all administrative functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting as identified by Gulick (1937) cannot be effectively carried out without effective communication. Mckinney, Barker, Smith and Davis (2004) submitted that communication is essential to effective team performance, and communications for any organization is like blood flow in the human body. This corroborates the fact that no organization can exist without communication and survival of any organization is a function of communication in that organization.

According to Stephen Udoka (2022), communication is a critical factor in directing and mobilizing the workforce towards the accomplishment of the organizational goals or objectives. It is the vehicle through which the basic management and administrative functions are carried out. Managers and administrators direct through communication, they co-ordinate through communication, and they staff, plan and control through communication. It is a give and take method involving the sender and the receiver (Nakpodia, 2016). Communication in schools takes place between and among principals, teaching and non-teaching staff, students as well as other stakeholders. The goals of schools are shared by the principals, who are the main managers of secondary schools, with relevant individuals within the school system through communication. It could therefore be said that without good and effective communication, the achievement of educational goals in a school may be a mirage. In schools, communication happens at all times and in many ways. However, principals have certain communication styles or patterns when sharing their ideas and thought and these styles or patterns to a great extent could determine the effectiveness of communication within a school system. The styles that a principal decides to adopt in coordinating the affairs of a school could go a long way in either increasing or decreasing the morale of staff members especially the teachers.

1.2 Statement of the problem

There have recently been public outcries in Nigeria over the fall in teachers' job dedication in secondary schools. Studies have linked low levels of teacher work commitment to issues such as poor incentives, insufficient school resources, and low social recognition, among others. However, communication has been identified as one factor of teacher effectiveness as a valuable instrument in the operations of any firm. It is also crucial to remember that the manner in which information is translated to a receiver may play a key impact in determining its usefulness. In his study, Ayatse (2015) noticed that communication is required to define and convey the enterprise's goals. Because the talents and skills they possess will enable them to demonstrate work behaviors that are suitable and relevant to the job performance. According to resea rchers such as Aarya Nijat and Jennifer Murtazashvili (2015), most school administrators rose to positions of leadership not because of their professional expertise but because of their years of service, gender, relationships with higher authority, and other factors. In this sense, it is evident that such school administrators will use a "fly by the seat of their pants" approach to distributing information to their subordinates, as opposed to a professional communication style. In such cases, subordinates are constantly dissatisfied with the administrator's overall administrative style.

Some schools of thought believe that being forceful in communication with subordinates will help the organization work better. Other schools of thinking believe that aggressive, passive, manipulative, and other styles, if applied correctly, may be the magic that propels an organization to success. One begins to question whether there is a better communication style. To what degree may any communication style improve staff performance in secondary schools? All these are the thrust of this study on principal’s communication style and its impact on teachers job performance in secondary education.

1.3 Objective of the study

The objective of this study is focused on communication styles adopted by principals and effects on teachers duty performance in secondary schools in Onitsha Local Government Area in Anambra State. Other specific objectives includes:

1. To examine the nature of communication in secondary schools?

2. To investigate the mode of principals communication to teachers in secondary schools?

3. To ascertain the communication styles adopted by principals pose significant effects on teachers duty performance in secondary schools.

4. To assess the influence of principals‘ communication styles and administrative effectiveness in secondary schools.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What the nature of communication in secondary schools?

2. What are the mode of principals communication to teachers in secondary schools?

3. Does the communication styles adopted by principals pose significant effects on teachers duty performance in secondary schools?

4. What is the influence of principals‘ communication styles and administrative effectiveness in secondary schools?

1.5 Research hypotheses

Ho: Communication styles adopted by principals does not have significant effects on teachers duty performance in secondary schools.

Hi: Communication styles adopted by principals does have significant effects on teachers duty performance in secondary schools.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would go a long way to help future researchers and students alike. The study would be of benefit to the teachers in the aspect of staff development because of the crucial role they play in the educational industry. The study would also be of benefit to school managers and policy makers as it would help them to improve on communication style and job satisfaction among teachers. The study would be of benefit to all stakeholders in educational industry because understanding the relationship between communication at work and improved performance would enable cordial relationship with teachers to increase productivity.

It would also help the government to see the need for adequate financial provision, to provide necessary communication medium that would help to foster ease passage of information to motivate teachers in the industry. Knowing the importance of communication on teachers’ productivity would encourage teachers for in-service programme to improve their skills thereby be of great benefit to students’ learning and their professional growth. The recommendations of this study would also assist in no small way, the employers of labour like the Federal/State Ministry of Education and other agencies in their administration to achieve greater performance and efficiency. In addition, it is hope that it would serve as a useful addition to the existing literature, especially for other researchers who intend to investigate on similar topic. They would find the outcome of this study a reference point.

1.6 Scope of the Study

The scope of this study centers on relationship between principal’s communication style and teachers job performance in secondary schools. This study covered selected secondary Schools in Onitsha Local Government Area in Anambra State. This local government was chose suitable for this study because of the number of secondary schools situated around that would enhance collection of necessary data for the study.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only selected secondary schools in Onitsha Local Government Area in Anambra State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for secondary schools in other States within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint encountered during the research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

1.8 Definition Of Important Terms

The following were operationally defined:

Communication: this is the exchange of information, ideas and facts between two or more people.

Staff: these are all the employees in the schools system.

Organizational Structure: This is a process of logically grouping activities, delineating authority and responsibility and establishing work relationships will enable both the organization and members to realize their mutual objectives.

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