decision-making and participatory management for enhancing business education students’ performance in rivers state universities

Description

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how decision-making and participatory management enhance business education students’ academic performance in Rivers State Universities. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study was all the 276 Chancellors and 8,452 Lecturers in Rivers State Universities as well as 4,455 students’ parents. The sample of the study was 730 respondents, comprising 90 Chancellors, 360 Lecturers and 280 parents who were selected through the combination of stratified sampling, simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Instrument of data collection was 10 items questionnaire titled, “Lecturers and Parents Participation in universities Management Questionnaire. The instrument was a validated four-point likert styled, Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). It has a reliability index of 0.82, using Cronbach Alpha Statistical test. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation whereas the hypotheses were tested using z-test statistics at 0.05 alpha level. The findings of the study revealed that the involvement of Lecturers in school decision-making would give Lecturers broader opportunity to make inputs in policy issues that concern effective instructional delivery. The study further showed that the involvement of parents in school decision-making would give them ample platform to offer their advices on how to improve the quality of teaching and learning. Based on the findings, the study recommended that school management should give lecturers meaningful opportunities to make inputs, that such opportunities will empower them to take decisions on issues affecting their work performance and productivity for enhanced students’ achievement. Furthermore, university authorities should accord parents’ opportunities to offer their advices on how to enhance resource accountability to foster efficient school management and quality teaching and learning in the school.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page

Certification

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Proposal

Table of content

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study
• Aim and Objective of the study
• Statement of the research problem
• Research question
• Research Hypotheses

CHAPTER TWO

2.0      RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1      Research Design

2.2      Population, Sample and Sampling Procedure

2.3      Research Instrument

2.4      Validation of the Instrument

2.5      Reliability of the Instrument

2.6      Procedure for Data Collection

2.7      Procedure for Data Analysis

3.0      Data analysis and results

3.1      Summary of findings

3.2      Findings and discussions

3.3      Conclusion

3.4      Recommendations

1.0      INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

School management system is like any other organization where decisions are made towards solving immediate and remote problems all aimed at achieving set goals and objectives effectively and efficiently. These decisions could bother on curricular/instructional programmes, transportation/communication systems, staffing, students/staff welfare, students/staff discipline, school plant maintenance, accommodation/health facilities, admission policy, budgeting, purchasing, gaming, extra-curricular activities, and e.t.c. The outcome of such decisions should be good quality teaching and good quality learning in a pleasant and conducive atmosphere. Decision-making can be defined as a choice made from among alternative courses of action that are available, either towards the solution of a problem or the achievement of an objective. All school administrators must engage in decision-making as it is a key responsibility of school leaders, and the way and manner in which they carry out this responsibility has a considerable influence on many facets of the school.

It is true that before now, educationist and scholars use to give greater attention to teacher qualities and students’ achievement in estimating quality school, however recent studies have shown that teacher’s job performance and students’ learning outcomes are just variables that depend on many other factors, among which include; individual school management structure and style, availability of educational resources and the quality of programmes provided to students under conducive environment as well as the quality of support an individual school receives from stakeholders (Lawal & Yusuf, 2014). This understanding is supported by certain emerging philosophies that backs the infusion of collaborative and partnership ideologies in school management practices. Recent empirical studies had lent credence to the avowed benefits of involving stakeholders in organizational governance (Nwankwo, 2014), as the traditional totalitarian management approaches that rarely acknowledges workers’ ability to make useful contribution to work structuring was no longer producing intended results (Duze, 2011). This is probably the reason why many organizations are now moving away from authoritarian management style to participatory approach that embraces decentralization of authority, job enrichment and empowerment that not only afford decision-making privileges to institutional members, but also reassures stakeholders’ faith in the school’s ability to improve academic performance of students. Such participatory decision-making process is considered necessary for not only building trust among vested interests in the organization, but also important for rousing and entrenching firmly, the culture of teamwork among organizational actors and diverse ranks of managers and subordinates. Stakeholders’ involvement in school governance is driven by concerted commitment to democratization of decision-making process in a manner that gives students opportunities to air their collective views, empower communities and parents to make decisions on how to manage their schools, while at the same time providing necessary platform for encouraging external stakeholders, including employers of labour and non-governmental organizations, religious groups and labour organizations to make their respective inputs and feedbacks towards promoting effective school governance and academic performance of students. Such feedbacks and follow up suggestions help to shape curriculum modifications and reforms processes in education. Under this arrangement is conveyed the idea that every stakeholder matter, and their contributions valued by the school.

Participatory management is considered useful not just because it creates interactive forum for intersection of ideas and purposeful discussions that allow stakeholders, community leaders, parents, lecturers and individuals student to make varying suggestions that may turn out to be innovative ideas that can improve school overall productivity. The logic behind these suppositions is because participative decision making has numerous benefits. Lecturers for instance, are closer to students, and thus tend to understand them better, and perhaps have significant information that can inform good suggestions on better ways of doing their work effectively. However, if they are not involved in decision-making, some of them may be dissatisfied with the system because it does not offer platform for teachers to share perceived better ways of performing their work effectively. Obi (2013) argued that since teachers are the major implementers of educational policies and programmes, their active participation in policy formulation and programme networking to produce the desired result is important. Furthermore, Lawal and Yusuf (2011) added that participatory management in school helps teachers to present their work-related challenges to school council so that issues bothering on their welfare and work performance concerns are addressed. Despite the benefits of decentralized decision-making process, observations suggest that participatory management creates leadership challenges for teachers who by virtue of their involvement in decision-making are empowered with additional responsibilities tied with learning and growth opportunities. Duze (2011) remarked that teachers feel valued when principal delegate important duties to them or appoint them as ad hoc committee member.

In other hands, the huge inputs of parents in their children’s education are not in dispute; a parent could be father, mother, or a guardian of the student. The important role of parents in education of their wards has been recognized long time ago. Meanwhile, the idea of involving stakeholders in school management is not entire new to educational management practices, and thus may not be the panacea the school system is yearning for, however, the benefits drivable from participatory management in areas of school effectiveness, social stability and improvement in students’ achievements have remained undisputed in recent literature. This is not just because it helps to build trust among school community members for sustained motivation to accomplish shared objectives, but also because participatory school management boost the confidence of employees and gives them sway over their work life.

For instance, the School-based Management Committee (SBMC) system that comprised representatives of different groups and stakeholders was instituted mainly to strengthen school partnership in improving the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian schools. Though the government take-over of schools in mid 1970s cut short the benefits of participatory and decision-making offered, as the enabling law effectively curtailed active participation of the communities and other stakeholders in school planning and management, and thus marked the beginning of gradual collapse of education system in Nigeria (Peretomde, 2012). This is because the society benefited so much from school-community collaboration then, with the result that the school system enjoyed the supports (projects, donations, and other benefits) it gained from the community.

This view is further supported by Mulwa, Kimosop and Kasivu (2015), who observed that active involvement of parents, community representatives in school decision-making helps to tailor the curriculum and instructional planning to the need of the learners and occupational needs of the community, thereby ensuring that graduates of community schools acquired functional skill that ought to help them transit into the wider society where they are expected to apply the skills they acquired to earn a living. Given the plausible character of participatory management in relation to effective school governance and academic productivity of students, the call for devolution of school authority and extension of its autonomy to accommodate vested interest and encourage purposeful participatory decision making process that maximizes individuals’ productivity and students’ educational outcomes is thus imperative.

Participatory management is school will require robust interpersonal skills on the part of major actors such as principals. This is necessary for fostering productive interactions among stakeholders who ought to connect and generates fresh ideas to deal with old and emerging educational challenges. Participatory management affords stakeholders (such as staff, students, parents, community representatives of the community and employers of labour, non-governmental bodies and other interest groups) the opportunity to participate in curriculum planning, financial and project management and others matters bordering on school effectiveness. Under participatory management, individual stakeholders can make input during council meetings and policy formulations, while resolutions reached in the process are implemented to produce the desired effect. Mullins (2018) asserted that power-play under participatory management rest with its democratic tenets and interactions that produced decisions during council meetings. Participatory management in universities interrogates the propositions of traditional management practices as it not only encourages openness and inspires trust between the Chancellor, Lcturers, parents and other stakeholders thereby creating environment conducive for searching for new ideas and solutions to challenges. Ebunu (2018) remarked that participatory management does not only help to decentralize school authority and enables Lecturers to uncover new challenges and embrace opportunities to foster their productivity, as it also helps to entrench school and Lecturers’ autonomy

– an important factor considered in literature as having bearing on academic achievement of students (Uwakwe et al, 2018).

The Chancellor is at the centre and coordinator of school-based participatory management process; he or she is expected to foster collegial and productive relationship among students and Lecturers, collaborate with parents and community leaders and partner with external stakeholders who are expected to work as a team in interrogating identified challenges in education process in order to reach solutions and implement decisions to achieve set goals. Given the points highlighted above, this study is emboldened to explore the prospect of democratizing and decentralizing decision- making process in public schools given that the current centralized management system seems to be defective given that it alienates stakeholders from making inputs on issues that concern their schools. It was against this background that this study examined how involvement of Lecturers and parents in school management to enhance students’ achievement in universities in Rivers State.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is the intension of all government to use schools as a tool for uniting the diverse ethnic groups for accelerated economic and social development, there are indications that the centralized management approach being used by the government to achieve its intensions is not producing the desired result in terms of producing skill oriented and morally sound graduates who can contribute meaningfully to societal development. The enormity of the deficiencies of centralised management style seems to be increasing along with the resulting deterioration in social values and labour market imperfections, of which pundits have blamed largely on wrong or poor decision making and non-participative character of current school management approach. No doubt these misgivings have placed fresh demands on school managers to rethink their managerial approach with a view to adopting decision making and participatory management style in which teachers and parents are involved in school planning and administration. These decision making and participatory management could on methods, programmes or information that will enhance the performance of the students of the school. The outcome of such decisions should be good quality teaching and good quality learning in a pleasant and conducive atmosphere. Admittedly, the acute shortages of educational resources in Universities and associated poor academic achievement of students in many communities is particularly worrisome and resonate the calls for involvement of internal and external stakeholders in planning and management of universities. The superiority of participatory management over centralized bureaucracy has been established in recent literature, and thus justifies the incorporation of its tenets in the management of Universities to contain the spiralling managerial difficulties. This study therefore investigated decision making and participative management with a view to finding out whether the involvement of Lecturers and parents in the management of business education students that will enhance their academic performance in Rivers State Universities.

1.3      Aim and Objectives of this Study

The aim of this study is to examine how decision making and participatory management enhance business education students’ academic performance in Rivers State Universities. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to;

1. Determine how teachers’ decision making and participatory in school management enhances business education students’ academic performance in Rivers State Universities.
2. Find out how parents’ decision-making and participation in school management enhances academic performance of business education students in Rivers State Universities.

1.4      Research Questions

The following research question guided the study

1. In what ways does staffs’ (Lecturers’) decision making and participation in school management enhances business education students’ academic performance in Rivers State Universities?
2. In what ways does parents’ decision making and participation in school management enhances academic performance of business education students in Rivers State Universities?

1.5   Hypotheses

The following hypotheses guided the study.

1. There is no significant difference between the mean perception of Chancellors and Lecturers on the ways Lecturers’ participation in school management enhances students’ academic performance in Rivers
2. There is no significant difference between the mean perception of Chancellors and Lecturers on the ways parents’ participation and decision-making in school management enhances universities students’ academic performance in Rivers State