LEADERSHIP THEORIES AND

PRACTICE: CHARTING A PATH FOR

IMPROVED NIGERIAN SCHOOLS.
by
Dr (Mrs.) Felicia I. Ofoegbu
Dr (Mrs.) Anthonia O. Clark
Dr (Mrs.) Roseline O. Osagie

Introduction
The Nigerian school of today is different and much
more complex than those of some decades ago.
There are many problems confronting principals.
these include

Student unrest
Violence
Insecurity of life and property
Large classroom population
Dearth of facilities
Scrooge of HIV/AIDS
Climate change
Corruption and nepotism
Fragile Economy

These problems and more in the

school system are increasingly being
identified as actual realities of the
Nigerian education system posing
challenges to school management.

 Even though there are leadership

development programmes in
Nigerian universities it is noted that
in Nigeria as in several African
countries there are no formal
requirements for men and women to
be appointed into leadership
positions.

Many school heads are appointed on

the basis of
god fatherism,
political affiliation,
ethnicism
and indices of culture and religion.

Key to survival of educational

leadership
Leadership development should have content
led programmes including
- Strategies for communication and decision
making.
- Legal aspects of school management
- Theories of educational management
- Instructional Supervision
- Personnel management
- Conflict management

Objective of study
It is obvious both from research and observation that
there is no one package for leadership, no one
theory or model to be learned and applied in unrefined
forms for all schools in all contexts. In fact according to
Riley and MacBeath (2003) there is no all purpose
recipe for educational leadership. However, it is
recognized that leadership styles occupy important
position in school management. While there are
different theories that can be used to identify and
classify leadership styles the researchers selected the
contemporary/emerging leadership theories such as
transformational, transactional, and strategic and
servant leadership paradigms to undergird this study.

Therefore the purpose of the study

was to find out if there was any
relationship between leadership
theories and practice and charting
the path for improved schools.

Research Questions

Hypothesis

Ho1 There is no significant

relationship between leadership
practice and state of schools.
Ho2 There is no significant
relationship between leadership
style and improved schools based
on experience.
Ho3 There is no significant
relationship between leadership
style and improved schools based
on gender.
Ho4 There is no significant
relationship between leadership
style and improved nature of
schools based on qualifications.

What are the leadership styles of

secondary school principals in Edo
State?
What is the state of schools in Edo
State?
Is there any relationship between
leadership styles and state of
schools?
Is there any relationship between
leadership styles and improved
schools based of experience?
Is there any relationship between
leadership and the nature of
schools based on gender?
Is there any relationship between
leadership styles and improved
schools based on qualification
?

Methodology
Research design: Survey
Population:
2371 teachers
Sample:
237 teachers (10% of
population)
Technique: stratified random sampling
Instrumentation
Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire
(MLQ)

Results

Table 1: Percentage Distribution of Leadership styles of Secondary School

Principals in Edo State.

Leadership styles
Transactional Leadership
Style
Servant Leadership
Style
Strategic Leadership
Style
Transformational Leadership
Style
Total

Frequency
76

Percentage
33.0

48

20.9

30

13.0

76
230

33.0
100

Research Question 2.
What is the state of schools in Edo
State

Table 2: percentage Distribution of State of Schools in Edo

State
State of Schools
Frequency
Percentage
Conducive for teaching
And learning
184
77.9
Not conducive for
Teaching and learning
53
22.1
Total

237

100

Statistical Analysis
Table 4: Correlation between leadership practice
and State of Schools.
NS
Table 5a: One-way ANOVA of Principals
leadership practice based on experience
S
Table 6: Z-test for leadership practice and
Improved schools based on Gender
NS
Table 7: One-way ANOVA of leadership
practice and Improved schools based on
qualification
NS

Summary of Findings
The leadership styles of principals in Secondary
Schools in Edo State are transactional (33%)
transformational (33%), servant (20.9%)and
strategic (13%).
The state of schools in Edo state is conducive for
teaching and learning.
There is no significant relationship between
leadership styles and state of schools.
There is no significant relationship between
leadership practice of principals and state of
schools in Edo state

 There is significant difference in leadership

practice of principals and improved schools based
on experience. The significant difference
occurred between principals with 5 10years and
those above 10years.
There is no significant difference in principals
leadership practice and improved schools based
on gender.
There is no significant difference in teachers
perception of principals leadership practice
based on the qualification.

Conclusion
There are several practices that may
chart a path for improved Nigerian
schools, and these are mainly the
transformational and transactional
leadership styles and practices.
Charting the path for continued
improvement of schools does not
depend on qualification.

Recommendations
The great complexity of the internal and
external school environment increase the
need for principals to receive effective
preparation for their demanding role.
Educational leadership positions should be
made on merit and based on certification.
Therefore leadership preparation is a moral
obligation for charting a path for improved
Nigerian schools.

Previous state of schools

Present state of schools

Schools today

THANK YOU