PRINCIPAL GENDER AND TEACHERS WORK BEHAVIORS IN POST PRIMARY SCHOOLS

PRINCIPAL’S GENDER AND TEACHERS’ WORK BEHAVIOURS IN POST-PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

This study investigated the influence principal’s gender has on teachers’ work behaviours in secondary schools in Anambra State. Five research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study employed a descriptive survey design, using a sample size of 1000 teachers (male and female) selected from schools in Anambra State through multi-stage sampling technique. A 50 item adapted questionnaire was used to elicit information on the teachers’ work behaviours as it relates to; acceptability of responsibilities, commitment to school functions, adherence to school rules and regulations, ensuring discipline in school, and attendance to instructional duties. Mean scores were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study indicated that 41 items out of the 50 identified items in the questionnaire were accepted by both
male and female teachers as their work behaviours. This goes a long way to saying that principal’s gender has no significant influence on teachers’ work behaviours which was also the conclusion of the study based on the three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. Although there were few disagreements on male and female teachers’ responses, such disagreements, were minimal, which include that; female teachers are unwilling to assist in carrying out their principal’s personal duties, find it difficult to tolerate individual differences of other colleagues, and can not avoid fighting and quarreling with staff and students; male teachers can not avoid having other businesses for profit making as well as failure to show concern for badly done work especially when under female principal’s administration. Among others, it was recommended that the government should organize teachers’ forum through the Post Primary Schools Service Commission and Nigerian Union of Teachers, where teachers could meet on a regular basis to discuss and learn the right work behaviours and the implications of violating such behaviours.
Conclusions and implications of the study were also made, as well as suggestions for further studies to identify the problems of education in Nigeria.