Managerial Styles Of Public Secondary Schools And Private Secondary Schools
Abstract
This study was on Managerial styles of Public secondary schools and private secondary schools. The total population for the study is 200  staffs of selected secondary schools in Uyo. 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 adm, teachers and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.
Chapter one
Introduction
- Background of the study
Shortly after the Nigeria civil war (1966-1970), the government took over the control of schools from the missionaries. Starting from that period, the government assumed full responsibility of financing secondary education, providing infrastructural facilities, building and rehabilitating classrooms, providing teaching-learning aids, and recruiting of teaching staff in schools. At a time, when the federal government found it impossible to finance the running of both primary and secondary schools, the federal government welcomed the contribution of voluntary agencies, communities, and private individuals in the establishment and management of secondary schools alongside those provided by the federal and state government (Okonkwo, Achunine and Anukam, 1991)
Having been given the go ahead to establish schools by the federal government, private individuals and the communities now embarked on the establishments of both primary and secondary schools. Private individuals assumed full responsibilities of providing finance, infrastructural facilities, teaching-learning aids, recruiting, promotion and disciplining of teaching staff, good school administration and management which brings about good quality education.
Public education can be functionally defined as that education provided through the media of public schools (Okafor, 1984). In contemporary perception, public schools are those schools controlled neither by individuals nor by private agencies but by those who represent the state or nation as a whole. In other words, public schools are those schools supported and controlled by the government of the state or nation. On the other hand, when formal education is undertaken by an organization or agency besides the state, such education is characterized as private education. Hence, schools established by the church, individuals and philanthropic organisaitons belong to this category
The effective functioning of any social system, from family to the school and to the nation as a whole is assumed to be dependent on the quality of leadership or management. Also, the success of any organization be it formal or informal depends on the leadership or management styles adopted by the leaders. Thus, in order to successfully run an organization, a leader could among other things adopt a particular leadership style or blend some styles together that could help him to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization.
In the school setting, the private schools seem to be more autocratic while the public schools are more or less Laissez faire in their leadership styles. Also, the private school heads are better in performance in terms of human relation pattern, decision-making pattern, supervision, and communication pattern than public school head who are less concerned in these areas. The effect of these leadership styles are seen in the organizational climate of the institution. This fids its expression in the way pupils behave and their attitude to studies and other school activities. Also, on teacher’s effectiveness. Effective teachers could be rendered ineffective if the headmasters’ leadership style is in conflict with the role and performance of the teacher. So also, a teacher who is ineffective could be made effective if the leadership style of the principal is seen appropriate
Principals should employ team work as one of their key strategies in their quest of being effective managers in the schools. Team work also entails them being team members, and therefore, they should also be good team players. This can be achieved by setting-up committees in the school to investigate on the strategies and evaluate them so as to know whether the strategies are being implemented both in private and public secondary schools. It is important that, the school performance should be equally equated to the person managing it, who, in a school set-up, is the principal. Therefore, proper execution of management responsibilities accorded to principals is vital to the realization of good academic performance in public secondary schools. This strengthens the fact that, proper organization by the principal and effectively in their management is a key factor that brings about academic achievement. According to Bass (1990), there is a distinction between leaders and managers. He says that, leaders inspire others, provide emotional support and try to get employees rally around a common goal whereas managers typically perform functions associated with planning, investigation, organizing and control. They also create a vision and strategic plan for an organization. This means that, the principals’ management is of utmost importance, especially when it comes to the education of the students. The principals’ management styles are very important, as the management style they employ to use will influence a lot as to whether or not the school system is to perform effectively. This sets the focus to our study. According to Nasongo and Lydia (2009), something is wrong and this is as far as teachers’ competency and instructional matters are concerned, and only the principals who have good management styles who will resolve this problem.
Statement of the problem
Since the government took over the administration of schools, there have been reported cases of fallen standard of education in Nigeria. In the opinion of Okonkwo, Achunine and Anukam, (1991),this fallen standard manifests itself in the dwindling academic performance, indiscipline and moral laxity among students and pupils. Continuing, Okonkwo et al. (1991) opined that the causes of this fallen standard of education in Nigeria have been attributed to the poor management style of the heads of institutions, inadequate, funding of education by the government, inadequate manpower, inability to develop a functional school curriculum to meet the social needs and aspirations of the recipients, teachers ‘ineffectiveness among others.
Of all these, the poor leadership style of the heads has been the major cause of the declining standard education, something that warrants the investigation of this study. The problems are; what management styles are adopted by the principals of public and private schools? What are the differences existing in the management styles of public and private secondary schools? Finally, to what extent has these management styles affected the standards of education in Nigeria.
Objective of the study
The objectives of the study are to;
- Find out the decision making pattern of management in public and private secondary schools.
- Identify the human relation pattern of management in public and private secondary schools
- Find out the communication pattern of management in public and private secondary schools.
Research hypotheses
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
H0:Â There is no decision making pattern of management in public and private secondary schools.
H1: There is decision making pattern of management in public and private secondary schools.
H02: Â Â There is no communication pattern of management in public and private secondary schools
H2: Â Â There is communication pattern of management in public and private secondary schools
Significance of the study
This study is significant because its findings would indicate the particular leadership style of headmasters which promotes students’ and teachers’ performance best. This information is useful to the headmasters since it would enable them adopt the most effective leadership style for sensitizing teachers work efficiency. It is only through this act that high standard of education can be realized. this study will help the State Secondary Education Board in the appointment of headmasters that have certain leadership qualities to manage schools. Moreover, the study will help any future researcher and any person who is interested in the managerial styles of the school administrators to make further research on the suggestions made.
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Scope and limitation of the study
The scope of the study covers Managerial styles of Public secondary schools and private secondary schools. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Principals’ managerial 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
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.
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