THE IMPACT OF SCHOOL ORGANISATIONAL SUPPORT ON TEACHERS’ EFFECTIVENESS IN EDUCATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Organizations, both governmental and private, are formed to achieve certain aims and purposes. And one of the most important aspects in achieving these goals and objectives is human resources. For example, in school organizations, without instructors (and other supporting personnel), the declared aims and purposes of education are effectively dead. Employees in today's culture demonstrate a strong desire to seek more than simply a career, and these employees search for the organizational support that the school organization will supply.

Organizational support has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is a significant phenomena in organizational behavior since it leads to favorable outcomes such as employee effectiveness at work (Baranik, Rolling & Eby, 2010). Organizational support, like the roots of a tree that support the entire tree, provides resources and personal needs to all employees in the organization. Many writers have attempted to define organizational support in various ways (Ferris, Brown, and Heller, 2009; Zagenczyk, Scott, Gibney, Murrell, and Thatcher, 2010; Baranik, Rolling, and Eby, 2010). The level to which the organization recognizes their efforts and cares about their well-being is referred to as organizational support (Arshadi, 2011). According to Bilgin and Demirer (2012), organizational support is about rewarding and satisfying employees' socio-emotional needs.

Organizational support, according to Olaleye (2014), is a component of the economic environment of industry and company. It is made up of authorities and organizations whose judgments and active support in the form of legislation, regulations, financial and non-financial assistance bring about significant changes in the operation of any firm. The organizations could be government-owned, statutory, semi-autonomous, or autonomous, and they are authorized by the government or government-supported organizations to engage in certain activities such as financing, marketing, project preparation, and employee training in order to promote industrial activities in the state.

Employees think that the institution supports them if resources are offered willingly rather than under pressure from trade unions and government rules on health and safety, according to Rhoades and Eisenberger (2012). Similarly, according to Chiang and Hsieh (2012), perceived organizational support is the idea that the company is concerned about the needs of the employees. It entails mentoring actions such as employee counselling, giving seminars for workers, developing employees academically, ensuring instructors have appropriate resources in the classroom, employee security, coaching employees, assuring employee friendship, and role modeling (Baranik, Roling & Eby, 2010).

However, Cloete (2011) found that, due to challenges with policy concerns such as equality, efficiency, democratic involvement, development, and massification of higher education in the face of dwindling resources, instructors and other staff often feel that their demands are not being met. This has lately resulted in multiple strikes by professors at various institutions of higher learning around the globe.

Given that higher education is now recognized as a major driver of the information-knowledge system (Cloete, 2011), educational organizations are being urged to support teachers and other employees by creating career opportunities through various professional development initiatives and making time available for such activities (Amin, 2013). Training, proper instructional facilities, autonomy, job security, job safety, recognition, remuneration, promotion, fairness, and work conditions are all components of perceived organizational support, according to Bilgin and Demirer (2012). Organizational support (organizational support) has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is a significant phenomena in organizational behavior because it leads to beneficial workplace outcomes. The growing relevance of organizational support for teachers cannot be overstated. Organizational support, in particular, has been utilized to improve teachers' performance.

Teachers' effectiveness is defined as their behaviors that are related to the school organization's aims and objectives. Similarly, Ali and Ahmed (2009) define teacher effectiveness as a teacher's demonstrated behavior or something done by the teacher to achieve school goals and objectives, and it is measured by operational performance outcomes and the quality of services provided by teachers in and out of the classroom. As a result, it is possible to conclude that teaching efficacy is a result of the efforts of school instructors.

School administrators may indirectly impact cohorts and teacher performance by providing an atmosphere in which teachers can work successfully, adopting a proper philosophy that helps instructors define their commitment to school organizational goals, and articulating strategy (Alkhaliel, 2013). Blanchard and Witts (2009) contend that when educational organizations fail to aggressively acknowledge and promote outstanding achievement, the passion for the work diminishes with each unnoticed victory.

Teachers' effectiveness feedback inspires employees to work hard. According to Agarwal (2008), when teachers are involved in decision-making and participate in the execution of transformations that touch them, they execute changes quicker and with greater performance than instructors who are merely told about the transformation. Similarly, Across (2005) claims that instructors do not function effectively when autonomy is not secured, especially when teachers have acquired necessary abilities for working autonomously..

Statement of the Problem

Teachers are the primary drivers of any educational institution's profitability and success, as well as the achievement of educational goals and objectives. When instructors are hired, they will have a set of wants, desires, and prior experiences that will account for complete work expectations. The reactions and responses of educational institutions to these demands will develop either a negative or positive attitude among individuals toward their jobs.

Given the present status of education in Nigeria, this study intended to determine the organizational supports that impact teaching efficacy. This was done in an attempt to identify correlations between specified organizational supports and the efficacy of secondary school instructors.

The selection of these organizational supports is based on the fact that Nigerian secondary education is threatened by adverse economic conditions and an unhealthy intellectual environment, raising concerns about the organizations' fundamental ability to produce competent, skilled, and employable graduates. The goal of this research is to guarantee that secondary education in Nigeria is reorganized to face the problems of the twenty-first century and beyond, as well as to fulfill its purpose of creating skilled labor for national development.

The researcher investigates the impact of organizational support (in terms of career development, facilities, incentive packages, participation in decision making, and work design) on teachers' effectiveness in public secondary schools in Education District VI of Lagos state for the purpose of this study..

Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study was to examine organisational support and teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in Education District VI, Lagos state. Specifically, the study aimed:

1. To examine the influence of career development on teachers’ effectiveness.

2. To investigate the extent to which incentive packages influence teachers’ effectiveness.

3. To examine the influence work design on teachers’ effectiveness.

4. To determine the extent to which facilities influence teachers’ effectiveness.

5. To ascertain if participation in decision making influence teachers’ effectiveness.

Research Question                   

The following research questions are raised to guide the study:

1. What is the influence of career development on teachers’ effectiveness?

2. To what extent do incentive packages influence teachers’ effectiveness?

3. How does work design influences teachers’ effectiveness?

4. What is the extent of influence of facilities on teachers’ effectiveness?

5. What is the influence of participation in decision making on teachers’ effectiveness?

Significance of the Study

This study's findings add to the body of information about organizational support and teacher performance in public secondary schools. The findings also contributed to information that can be utilized in arranging seminars and workshops on the improvement of organizational support components, which will assist to enhance the medium of teaching for all courses and, in the long term, help to create an effective school system.

The study's findings will be more appreciated by policymakers, who will use them to build Human Resource Policies based on organizational support programs for human capital development in education and performance management. The study will be useful to policymakers since secondary education is expected to play an important role in achieving educational goals and objectives. The study's findings offered light on how secondary school might improve performance by empowering their people resources, implementing appropriate methods and enabling structures, fostering transformational leadership, and establishing an enabling work environment.

The study's findings have also expanded knowledge and created new doors in the realm of education. It will also contribute to the growing corpus of theoretical knowledge in Educational Administration. The findings will aid replication of comparable studies in diverse contexts, promoting comparative research. The study has also laid the groundwork for future research..

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The scope of the study focused mainly on organisational support and teachers’ effectiveness. It covers all the teachers of public secondary schools in Education District VI of Lagos state. The study focused on the following variables: career development, facilities, incentives packages, participation in decision making and work design.

Operational Definitions of Key Terms

The operational definitions of terms of the study are:

Career development: This is a training that takes place in the school for class teachers in order for the teachers to be acquinted with up to date teaching methods. Usually, a professional trainer serves as the course instructor using hands-on training often supported by formal classroom training.

Decision-making: It is taken in this work to mean behaviour that is exhibited in selecting the best course of action among several alternatives by the school manager by carrying along the school teachers.

Facilities: These are print and non-print items that are designed to impart information into students in the educational process. Instructional materials include items such as kits, textbooks, magazines, newspapers, pictures, recordings, slides, transparencies, videos, video discs, workbooks, and electronic media including but not limited to music, movies, radio, software, CD-ROMs, and online services.

Incentives packages: It is the benefit that arises or given to teachers from performing a task, rendering a service or discharging a responsibility.

Teacher’s effectiveness: This is a school work related activity expected of a teacher on how well the activity was carried out in a secondary school. This is a variety of different aspects of teaching such as; subject mastery, effective communication, lesson preparation and presentation.

Work Design: This is a new and innovative method of work arrangement. This method lets 2 or 3 people share a 40-hour working week (full-time) between them. For instance one of them works 8 a.m.-12 noon and the other works 1p.m. -5 p.m. or each person works on specific day's full time.

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