PRINCIPALS’ JOB COMPETENCIES AND ORGANISATIONAL NORMS AS PREDICTORS OF TEACHERS’ JOB COMMITMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study examined principals’ job competencies and organisational norms as predictors of teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study was a correlational research design. The population of the study is 6,919 teachers in the 266 public secondary schools from the six Education Zones in Anambra State. The sample of 691 teachers (that is, 10% of teachers’ population) was used for the study. Proportionate stratified and simple random sampling techniques were used for the study. Three instruments were used for data collection: Principals’ Competencies Questionnaire (PCQ), Organisational Norms Questionnaire (ONQ) and Teachers’ Job Commitment Questionnaire (TJCQ). The instruments were subjected to face and construct validation by three experts. The average coefficient values of 0.80 for PCQ, 0.80 for ONG and 0.85 for TJCQ are considered highly reliable and suitable for the study. Simple linear regression analysis was used for the study. The findings of the study revealed that disciplinary competency (r=0.559, p=0.000), and involvement of teachers’ in decision-making (r=0.653, p=0.000) positively and significantly predicted teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State. This implies that improvement in principals’ job competencies and organisational norms leads to proportional improvement in teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The study concluded that adequate application of principals’ job competencies and good practices of organisational norms positively and significantly predicted teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State. Based on the findings, the study recommended that principals in public secondary schools in Anambra State should exhibit high level of disciplinary competency since job commitment of teachers is significantly linked with principals’ disciplinary competency which should create positive impact that will help to enhance and sustain teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The study contributed to knowledge by establishing the fact that the combination of the components of principals’ job competencies based on discipline and the indices of organisational norms, involvement of teachers’ in decision-making has a strong positive and significant prediction on teachers’ job commitment in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria.