TITLE PAGE PRINCIPALS’ UTILIZATION OF SUPERVISORY SKILLS FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTH EAST, NIGERIA BY CHIGBU, BAPTISTA CHINYERE PG/Ph.D/12/62350 THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA, IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D.) IN EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND PLANNING NOVEMBER, 2016 i APPROVAL PAGE THIS THESIS HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS, UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA BY ------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Ass. Prof. A. I. Oboegbulem (Internal Examiner) (Supervisor) --------------------------- ------------------------------ (External Examiner) Prof. C. J. A. Onwuka (Head of Department) ----------------------------------- Prof. S. C. Nwuzi Dean, Faculty of Education ii CERTIFICATION Chigbu, Baptista Chinyere, a postgraduate student in the Department of Educational Foundations, University of Nigeria, Nsukka with registration number PG/Ph.D/12/62350 has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the Award of Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Educational Administration and Planning. The work embodied in this thesis is original and has not been submitted in part or full for any other diploma or degree of this or any other university. …………..…………… ……..………....……………… Chigbu, B. C. Ass. Prof. A. I. Oboegbulem (Student) (Supervisor) iii DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my darling husband, Prof. P. E. Chigbu, and my lovely children for their moral and financial support throughout the period of this programme. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The researcher wishes to express her gratitude to Almighty God for His Divine mercy, protection and guidance which enabled her to complete the programme in spite of numerous challenges. The researcher’s gratitude and appreciation go to her project supervisor, Ass. Prof. A. I Obogbulem, who inspite of her personal commitments, took time to supervise the work and gave necessary guidance to improve its quality. The researcher is also grateful to Professors C. J. A. Onwuka; F. A. Okwo; C. A. Igbo; Uche Eze; Z. Njoku; N. O Ogbonnaya and Drs. Ify Ezenwaji; J. N. Igbo; F. M. Onu; E. A. Onu; Chinwe Enyi; Ify Onah; U. Ogwo; L. N. Onuigbo; E. K. Oyeoku, H. N. Ibe and other lecturers in the Department of Educational Foundations for their encouragement and direction throughout the course of study. The researcher also sincerely appreciates the proposal panelists made up of Ass. Prof J. C. Omeje, Dr. E. N. Aye; Rev. Fr. Dr. L. K. Ejionueme; for their constructive criticisms which have greatly helped to sharpen the focus of the study. The researcher is sincerely indebted to members of her family especially her husband Prof. P. E. Chigbu and her children Ify, Chiny, Ozy, Okwy and Choky for their moral support and prayers in the course of the study. The researcher will not fail to thank the authors whose materials were consulted in the process of this study. The researcher indeed appreciates all of you. God bless you all. v TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE i APPROVAL PAGE ii CERTIFICATION iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES ix ABSTRACT xii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background of the Study 1 Statement of the Problem 15 Purpose of the Study 16 Significance of the Study 17 Scope of the Study 18 Research Questions 19 Hypotheses 20 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 21 Conceptual Framework 23 Concept of Supervision 23 Concept of Skill 34 Concept of Utilization 36 Concept of Supervisory Skills 37 Concept of Quality Assurance 46 Concept of Principal 58 Concept of Public Secondary Schools 60 Theoretical Framework 64 vi Systems Theory 64 Behavioural Science Theory 65 Contingency Theory 66 Review of Related Empirical Studies 67 Studies Related to Principal’s Supervisory in Secondary Schools 67 Studies Related to Quality Assurance in Secondary Schools 74 Summary of the Literature Review 78 CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD 80 Design of the Study 80 Area of the Study 80 Population of the Study 81 Sample and Sampling Technique 81 Instrument for Data Collection 82 Validation of the Instrument 83 Reliability of the Instrument 83 Method of Data Collection 83 Method of Data Analysis 84 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS 85 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS, & SUMMARY 105 Discussion of Findings 105 Conclusions 118 Educational Implications of the Findings 118 Recommendations 119 Limitations of the Study 120 vii Suggestions for Further Studies 121 Summary of the Study 121 REFERENCES 124 APPENDICES A: Request for Validation of Research Instrument 136 B: Instrument for Data Collection 137 C: Computation of Sample Size for the States 142 D: Result of Reliability Test 143 E: Distribution of Sampled Teachers and Principals 146 F: Result of Data Analysis 147 G: List of Public Secondary Schools in Enugu and Imo States 165 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to as Principals Use Communication Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 85 2. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to which Principals Use Problem Solving Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 87 3. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to which Principals Use Leadership Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 88 4. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to which Principals Use Development Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 89 5. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to which Principals Use Resourcefulness Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 90 6. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Extent to which Principals Use Empathy Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 92 7. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Factors Impeding Principals’ Use of Supervisory Skills for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 93 8. Mean Ratings of Respondents on the Ways of Improving Principals’ Supervisory Skills for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 94 9. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Communication Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 95 10. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Problem Solving Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 96 ix 11. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Leadership Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 97 12. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Development Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 99 13. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Resourcefulness Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 100 14. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Extent to which Principals Use Empathy Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 101 15. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the Factors that Impede the Use of Supervisory Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 102 16. The t-test Analysis of Mean Ratings of Teachers and Principals on the ways of Improving Principals Supervisory Skills in Supervision of Teachers for Quality Assurance in Public Secondary Schools in South East, Nigeria 103 x ABSTRACT This study was conducted to investigate principals’ utilization of supervisory skills for quality assurance in public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria. Eight research questions were posed and answered while eight hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Eight research questions and eight null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was 63,527 which comprised 1,244 principals and 58,343 teachers in public secondary schools in South-Eastern State. The sample for the study was 1,980 made of teachers and 565 principals. A multi stage sampling technique was adopted to draw the sample for this study. The instrument for data collection was a researcher developed questionnaire titled “Principals’ Utilization of Supervisory Skills for Teachers Questionnaire (PUSSTQ). The questionnaire focused on specific areas of principals’ supervisory skills namely communication, problem solving, leadership, development, resourcefulness and empathy skills. The study also investigated the factors impeding principals’ use of supervisory skills and ways of improving principals’ supervisory skills for quality assurance in public secondary schools in South East, Nigeria. The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts. The experts were requested to check the relevance, adequacy, language, comprehensiveness and appropriateness of the items bearing in mind the purpose of the study. To determine the reliability of the instrument, a trial-test was conducted with 15 teachers and 5 principals in public secondary schools in Kogi State which is outside the area of the study. Cronbach Alpha Method was used to determine the internal consistency of the clusters of the instrument and they yielded 0.89, 0.74, 0.70, 0.83, 0.90, 0.96, 0.91 and 0.82 for the eight clusters respectively. The data for the study were collected with the help of four research assistants.