PRINCIPALS’AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP PRACTICES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study investigated principals’ authentic leadership practices for administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools in Anambra State. Two specific purposes, two research questions, and two hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 274 principals in public secondary schools in Anambra State; hence census sampling technique was employed for the study. Researcher-structured rating scale titled “Principals’ Authentic Leadership Practices for Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (PALPAEQ)”. The instrument was developed by the researcher from literature and in consultation with experts and was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts; two experts in the Department of Educational Management and Policy and one in Measurement and Evaluation Unit in the Department of Educational Foundations, all in the Faculty of Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. Reliability of the instrument was ascertained through Cronbach Alpha statistics; and an overall internal consistency co-efficient of 0.83 was obtained. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics. The findings revealed among others that principals in public secondary schools in Anambra state moderately engage in self-awareness practices for administrative effectiveness and the experience is a significant moderator of principals’ self-awareness practices for administrative effectiveness. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that principals in secondary schools in Anambra state should be encouraged and incentivized through conferences, seminars and monetary rewards to keep up with their authentic leadership engagements.