PRINCIPALS' STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP PRACTICES AS JOINT PREDICTORS OF TEACHERS' PRODUCTIVITY IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Teachers' productivity remains a central determinant of instructional quality in secondary schools, yet in Anambra State's public schools it has persisted as a source of concern despite comparable teacher qualifications across the public and private sectors. This study investigated principals' strategic leadership practices viz: visionary thinking, strategic planning, change management, resource optimisation, and stakeholder engagement, as joint predictors of teachers' productivity in public secondary schools in Anambra State, Nigeria. Anchored in Path-Goal Theory and Social Exchange Theory, the study adopted a predictive correlational design. A proportionate stratified random sample of 395 teachers was drawn from a population of 8,117 teachers across the state's six education zones. Data were collected using the Principals' Strategic Leadership Questionnaire (PSLQ) and the Teachers' Productivity Questionnaire (TPQ), both of which returned acceptable reliability coefficients. One research question and one null hypothesis, concerning the composite predictive power of the five dimensions taken together, guided the study; the hypothesis was tested at the .05 level of significance using multiple regression analysis. Results showed that the five dimensions jointly and significantly predicted teachers' productivity, accounting for 72.7% of the variance (R = .852, R² = .727, Adjusted R² = .723), a considerably larger share than any single dimension explained on its own, with variance inflation factors well below the threshold for concern. The null hypothesis was accordingly rejected. The findings suggest that strategic leadership operates as an integrated practice whose full predictive strength is realised only when its dimensions function together, rather than as a set of behaviours principals may adopt selectively. It is recommended that principal preparation and continuing professional development programmes be restructured to embed all five dimensions as a single, competency-based curriculum rather than treating them as independent or optional areas of training.