PRINCIPALS’ APPLICATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR ENHANCING TEACHERS EFFECTIVENESS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

This study ascertained principals’ application of total quality management practices for enhancing teachers’ effectiveness in secondary schools in Anambra State. It was guided by two research questions and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised 6,653 respondents made up of 257 principals and 6,396 teachers in all the public secondary schools in Anambra State. Proportionate sampling technique was used to sample 999 respondents made up of 39 principals and 960 teachers. The researcher-developed instrument titled ‘‘Principals’ Application of Total Quality Management Questionnaire (PATQMQ)’’ was used for data collection. PATQMQ was face validated by three experts. Cronbach alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instrument and this yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.74 and 0.75 for principals and teachers versions respectively. The researcher together with five research assistants collected data for the study using the direct approach method and 97% return rate was recorded. Mean, standard deviation and t-test were used for data analysis. The findings of this study revealed among others that principals involve teachers in decision making practices encouraging teachers to make inputs on personnel matters in the school, consulting teachers during the preparation of the school budget, seeking opinions of teachers on issues relating to school community relations and consulting teachers in taking disciplinary actions against misbehaved students. It was also found out that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers on the monitoring practices applied by principals for enhancing teachers’ effectiveness in the secondary schools. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that secondary school principals should try to check staff attendance record on daily basis, vet teachers’ marking schemes and observe their mode of continuous assessment of students