principal's leadership behaviour as a determinant of effectiveness

Europan Journal of Educational Studies 2(1), 2010 


© 2010 Ozean Publication 

PRINCIPAL’S LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR AS A DETERMINANT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA. 

Dr. EKUNDAYO Haastrup Timilehin 

Department of Educational Foundations & Management 

Faculty of Education 

University of Ado-Ekiti 

Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. 

e-mail address for correspondence: haastrupt2006@yahoo.com 

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Abstract : This study examined the relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and effectiveness of 

secondary schools in Nigeria. The descriptive research design of the survey type was adopted. The population 

consisted of all the teachers and principals in the public secondary schools in South West Nigeria. The sample 

was however made up of 1200 teachers and 60 principals from 60 secondary schools across 3 states in the 

region. Multistage, simple and proportionate stratified random sampling techniques were used to select the 

states, schools and the teachers used for the study. Two sets of instruments were used to collect the data for the 

study. The data were analysed using frequency counts, percentage scores and Pearson product moment 

correlation. The hypothesis formulated was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that the 

behaviour of principals in the area covered was satisfactorily encouraging. The study also showed that the 

schools were effective in the affective and the psychomotor domains but not all that effective in the cognitive 

domain. The study further showed significant relationship between principals’ leadership behaviour and 

secondary school effectiveness. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the principals of schools should 

not relent in sustaining the tempo of their leadership behaviour. It was also recommended that all the 

stakeholders in the secondary school education as well as the government should try to uphold the level of 

performance of students in the affective and the psychomotor domains while efforts should be geared towards 

improving upon the students’ performance in the cognitive domain. 

__________________________________________________________________________________________ 

INTRODUCTION 

The role of secondary school in the development of other sectors of the educational system cannot be 

overemphasized. It provides primary school leavers opportunity for qualitative education, and it is the supply 

based from which higher institutions draw students for admission into their various programmes. The Federal 

Government of Nigeria (2004) in the National Policy on education highlighted the broad aims of secondary 

education as preparing students for useful living within the society and preparing them for higher education. 

The precarious state of Nigerian secondary schools calls for concern. It has been observed in the recent past that 

secondary schools have derailed in the provision of qualitative education expected of them. A lot of problems 

seem to bedevil the system thereby making it ineffective. Schools need to be effective in order to meet the 

yearnings and aspirations of the society. 

The extent to which the school system is able to accomplish its stated objectives determines its level of 

effectiveness. Effectiveness in this context transcends beyond students passing an examination. It encompasses 

students’ attainment in other domains of learning namely the affective and the psychomotor domains. Bandele 

(2002) posited that the combination of the three domains of learning makes the recipient of the education lived a 

fulfilled life and contribute meaningfully to the society he lives. 

It has however been observed that the schools are not doing well in these domains of learning and this seem to 

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make the society lose confidence in the system. For instance, the students’ academic performance which 

members of the society used mainly to measure the effectiveness of schools has witnessed unprecedented set 

back. Ajayi (2002), WAEC (2007), Adeyemi (2008) have shown in their studies the extent of poor performance 

of students in public examination. The most recent was seen in the Punch Newspaper (September 27, 2008) 

where it was reported that 83% of the candidates that sat for May/June 2008 West African Senior School 

Certificate Examination (WASSCE) failed. This is disheartening. 

Besides, it has again been observed that students of secondary schools lack morals. High rate of indiscipline 

which manifests in form of absence from school, lateness to school, stealing, insubordination to school 

authority, smoking, cheating in examinations and among others are daily happenings in the schools. This raises 

a fundamental question as to the extent to which the schools are producing disciplined or morally upright school 

leavers into the larger society. Oladele (2003) argued that the cause of the moral decadence among the youth is 

traceable to the non-teaching of ethics in the secondary schools. 

Personal experience has also shown that very few secondary school leavers can communicate effectively or 

exhibit evidence of good and solid education background. It appears the students lack requisite technical skills 

to be able to function effectively in the society. All these scenario are pointers to the fact that the secondary 

school system is in a state of despair. 

Several factors have been attributed to the perceived ineffectiveness of the secondary schools among which are 

teacher factor, parental factor, economic factor, societal factor and principals’ leadership behaviour but this 

study was limited to the principals’ leadership behaviour as a potent factor for school ineffectiveness. It has 

been observed that many secondary school principals do not involve their subordinates in their daily routine 

administrative duties and as a result do a lot of things themselves. 

Personal experience have shown that many principals of secondary schools do not provide good leadership of 

the school system. Some do not motivate their teachers very well, some do not even relate very well with the 

teachers let alone students. It appears some member of teaching staff do not feel comfortable with the ways their 

principals behave in schools. This seems to be the reasons why most teachers put up non-challant attitude 

towards their job and consequently leads to ineffectiveness of the schools. 

The behaviour of leaders has been identified as one of the major factors influencing the productivity of 

subordinates in any organization in which the school system is not an exemption (Babayemi, 2006). Ibukun 

(1997) remarked that without leadership, an organization can best be described as a scene of confusion and 

chaos. According to the author, when leadership in an organization is effective, there is progress, but when the 

leadership is defective, the organization declines and decays. 

Purkey and Smith (1983), Cruz (1995) submitted that in order to build strong teacher commitment towards the 

realization of school goals, principals must provide strong, directive leadership in setting and developing school 

goals, creating a unity of purpose, facilitating communication and managing instruction Weber (1971) and 

Scheerens and Creemers (1989) submitted that strong leadership embodied in the principal was instrumental in 

setting the tone of the school. 

It can be inferred from the foregoing that principal’s leadership behaviour has a very positive relationship with 

school effectiveness. It was again this backdrop that the present study found out the relationship between 

principal’s leadership behaviour and effectiveness of secondary schools in Nigeria. 

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 

The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and the 

effectiveness of secondary schools in Nigeria. The study investigated the extent of principal’s leadership 

behaviour in the secondary schools and the extent of effectiveness of the schools in the three domains of 

learning. Based on the findings, recommendations were made on how to improve the effectiveness of the 

secondary schools. 

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METHODOLOGY 

This study was a descriptive research of the survey type. The population of the study consisted of all the 

teachers and principals of public secondary schools in South-West, Nigeria. The sample was made up of 1200 

teachers and 60 principals selected from 60 secondary schools. 

Multistage, simple and stratified random sampling techniques were used to select the sample. The first stage 

involved the use of a simple random sampling to select three out of the six states in the South-West. The states 

randomly selected were Ekiti, Ondo and Osun States. The second stage involved the use of proportionate 

stratified random sampling technique to determine the number of schools per state and the third stage was also a 

simple random sampling technique used to select 20 teachers per school. In addition, all the principals of the 

selected schools were included in the sample. 

Two sets of instruments were used for the study. The first instrument was a questionnaire titled “Secondary 

School Effectiveness Questionnaire (SSEQ)” and the second instrument was a profoma designed to collect 

students’ result in the senior school certificate examination for 3 years (2005-2007) from the schools. SSEQ had 

three sections, Section A sought the background information of the respondents, Section B contained 14 items 

designed to elicit information on principals’ leadership behaviour and Section C had 17 items designed to 

collect information on school effectiveness. The SSEQ and the proforma were administered on the teachers and 

principals respectively. 

The instrument was validated by research experts in the areas of educational planning and tests and 

measurements both within and outside the University of Ado-Ekiti. The test-retest method of reliability was 

adopted for SSEQ while Pearson product moment correlation was used to determine the reliability co-efficient 

which stood at 0.87. 

The data for the study were analysed using frequency counts, percentage scores and pearson product moment 

correlation. The hypothesis formulated was tested at 0.05 alpha-level. 

RESULTS 

The results of the study were presented as follows 

Extent of principals’ leadership behaviour in secondary schools: In order to determine the extent of principals 

leadership behaviour, frequency counts and percentage scores were used to analyse the responses on items 1-14 

of Section B of SSEQ. The result was presented in table 1. 

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S/N 

My principal: 

Table 1: Principals’ leadership behaviour 

Items 

Agree % Disagree % 

1. Provides good leadership of the school system. 1135 95.2 58 4.8 

2. Sees to members of staff welfare 1101 92.3 92 7.7 

3. Relates very well with his teachers. 1145 96.0 48 4.0 

4. Relates very well with his students 1124 94.2 69 5.8 

5. Involves teachers in decision-making 1053 88.3 140 11.7 

6. Feels every members of staff is relevant in the school 

system 

1114 93.4 79 6.6 

7. Praises hardworking teacher. 1114 93.4 79 6.6 

8. Encourage teachers to use their initiatives on their 

job. 

1123 94.1 70 5.9 

9. Makes the teachers have a sense of belonging 1106 92.7 87 7.3 

10. Is accessible to teachers 1125 94.3 68 5.7 

11. Makes available teaching materials 939 78.7 254 21.3 

12. Gives approval when teachers want to go for inservice 

training 

1041 87.3 152 12.7 

13. Sometimes delegates duties to teachers 1096 91.9 97 8.1 

14. Allows teachers to freely express their opinions in the 

meeting. 

1073 89.9 120 10.1 

Mean 91.6 8.4 

Results in table 1 shows that 96% of the respondents agreed that the principal relates very well with the 

teachers. While 95.2% of the respondents agreed that the principals provide good leadership of the school 

system, 94.3% of them agreed that the principal is always accessible to teachers. At the same time, 94.2% of the 

respondents agreed that the principal relates very well with his students. 

Of the respondents, 94.1% agreed that the principal encourages the staff the use their initiatives in their jobs, 

93.4% agreed that the principal feels every member of staff is relevant in the school system, while 93.4% also 

agreed that the principal praises hardworking teacher. The table also shows that 92.7% of the respondents 

agreed that the principal makes the teachers have a sense of belonging in the system, while 92.3% of them 

agreed that the principal sees to teachers’ welfare. Again, 91.9% of the respondents agreed that principals 

sometime delegates duties to teachers. 

By and large, it is shown in the table that 89.9% of the respondents agreed that the principal allows his members 

of staff to freely express their opinions in the meeting. 88.3% of them agreed that principals involve teachers in 

decision making. While 87.3% of the respondents agreed that principal; gives approval when teachers want to 

go for in-service training, 78.7% of them agreed that the principal makes available teaching materials. 

On the average, 91.6% of the respondents agreed that the behaviour of the principals towards the teachers as 

well as the job is very encouraging. 

Extent of secondary school effectiveness: In analyzing the extent of secondary school effectiveness in the three 

domains of learning (cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains), Section C of SSEQ and the SSCE results 

for the three years (2005-2007) were used to analyse the responses on items 1-17 of section C of SSEQ in 

addition to the SSCE results. To determine whether or not the schools were effective, the mean responses were 

scored and tabulated and as for the cognitive domain, the average score for the three years were scored and 

tabulated. The result as revealed in table 2. 

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Table 2: Extent of effectiveness of secondary schools in Nigeria. 

Variables Effective (%) Not Effective (%) Total 

Cognitive 22.1 77.9 100 

Affective 74.3 25.7 100 

Psychomotor 60.3 39.7 100 

Mean 52.2 47.8 100 

Table 2 shows the extent of effectiveness of secondary schools in the area covered. The result as revealed in 

table 2 showed that the schools were effective in the affective domain (74.3%) and the psychomotor domain 

(60.3%) but not effective in the cognitive domain (22.1%). 

Relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and secondary school effectiveness 

This relationship was examined using the items 1-14 of Section B of SSEQ and items 1-17 of the same SSEQ in 

addition to the SSCE results. The result was presented in table 3. 

Table 3: Test of relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and secondary school effectiveness. 

Variables N r-cal r-tab 

Principal’s leadership behaviour 60 

School effectiveness 60 0.351 0.250 

P < 0.05 

Table 3 shows the relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and school effectiveness. The result 

obtained from the analysis shows that the value of r-cal (0.351) is greater than r-table value (0.250) of 0.05 level 

of significance. This implies that there is significant relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and 

school effectiveness. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected. 

DISCUSSION 

The study showed that the principal’s leadership behaviour in secondary schools is to a very large extent 

encouraging. The leadership behaviour of principals in the school sampled depicts a transformational leader who 

gets employees excited about organizational goals and causes them to be truly committed to the goals of the 

organization. This is in consonance with Scheerens and Creemers (1989), Ibukun (1997) and Babayemi (2006). 

The findings also showed that the secondary schools in the Southwest Nigeria were to a large extent effective in 

the affective and the psychomotor domains. The reverse is however the case in the cognitive domain. School 

being effective in the affective and psychomotor domains depicts a better future for the society and the students 

alike. This submission is in contrary to Oladele (2006) who submitted that the secondary schools are no longer 

effective. 

The result further showed that the students are not doing well in the cognitive domain (which is the academic 

performance). Poor performance of students in SSCE will definitely reduce the extent to which students will 

have access to University education. This might not be well with a developing nation like Nigeria which 

believes in human capital development for economic growth. This submission however confirms Ajayi (2002), 

WAEC (2007) and Adeyemi (2008). 

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The study also revealed that there was significant relationship between principal’s leadership behaviour and 

secondary school effectiveness. The reason for this might be due to the fact that principals are the men at the 

helms of the affairs of the schools and would always want the schools to achieve the goals for which they are 

established. Where the principals provide a good leadership of the school, sees to members of staff welfare, 

relates very well with both the teachers and the students, this will facilitate conducive environment for teaching 

and learning. This finding is in support of Purkey and Smith (1983) and Cruz (1985). 

CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS 

Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the leadership behaviour of the principals in secondary 

schools in southwest Nigeria is very encouraging which depicts the transformational leader. It was also 

concluded that the schools were effective in the affective and the psychomotor domains but not effective in the 

cognitive domain. 

It was recommended that school principals should not relent in their efforts in sustaining the leadership 

behaviour in the school system. It was also recommended that the government and all the stakeholders in the 

secondary education system should also try to uphold the tempo of the performance of the students in the 

affective and the psychomotor domains while frantic efforts should be made at improving upon the level of 

cognitive achievement of the students. High level of performance in the three domains of learning is what the 

schools must strive to achieve. 

REFERENCES 

Adeyemi, T. O. (2008). Predicting students’ performance in senior secondary certificate examination from 

performance in junior secondary certificate examinations in Ondo State, Nigeria. Humanity and Social 

Science Journal 3(1) 26-36. 

Ajayi, I. A. (2002). Resource factors as correlates of secondary school effectiveness in Ekiti State. Nigeria 

Journal of Counselling and Applied Psychology 1(1) 109-115. 

Babayemi, A. (2006). Principalship. In J. B. Babalola, A. O. Ayeni, S. O. Adedeji, A. A. Suleiman and M. O. 

Arike Wuyo (Eds) Educational Management: Thoughts and Practice. Ibadan: Codat publications 242- 

261. 

Bandele, S. O. (2002). Administration of continuous assessment in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Journal of 

Educational Foundations and Management 1(1) 289-296. 

Cruz, P. A. (1995). The leadership actions of principals in schools that have experienced academic success with 

Hispanic students. Dissertation Abstracts International. 

Federal Government of Nigeria (2004). National Policy on education. Lagos: National Education Research 

Development Council. 

Ibukun, W. O. (1997). Educational Management: Theory and Practice. Lagos: Greenline publishers. 

Oladele, A. B. (2003). The justification for the inclusion of philosophy in Nigerian secondary school 

curriculum. Journal of Educational Foundation and Management 3(1) 1-14. 

Purkey, S. C. & Smith, M. S. (1983). Effective schools: A review, Elementary School Journal 83(4) 427-452. 

Scheerens, J. & Creemers, B. P.M. (1989). Conceptualizing school effectiveness. International Journal of 

Educational Research 13(7) 691-706. 

Weber, G. (1971). Intercity children can be taught to read: Four successful schools. Washington D. C: Council 

for Basic Education. 

West African Examination Council (2007). Chief Examiner’s report. 

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