AN INVESTIGATION OF SCHOOL CLIMATE IN PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Creating and sustaining positive school climate has become a vital factor in modern school management. This is because positive school climate has been found to be an essential ingredient of school effectiveness. This study was driven by the assumption that private schools in Delta state are better managed than the public secondary schools. This assumption could be attributed to many factors, one being the management proficiency in creating positive school climate in these schools. The study was therefore set to examine the difference in school climate of the private and public secondary schools in Delta state, Nigeria. Two hypotheses were tested. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study with the population comprising all the teachers in private and public secondary schools in Delta state. The multi-stage sampling procedure involving the cluster, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were adopted and 1,200 teachers were sampled from 679 secondary schools (328 private and 351 public). Data were collected through an instrument titled School Climate Description Questionnaire adapted from John and Taylor (2005). Analysis of the data collected involved the use of the “Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Test of hypotheses involved the use of t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that teachers’ social interactions significantly differ in private and public schools. It also showed a significant difference in principals’ personal involvement and interaction with teachers in private and public secondary schools. Consequently, it was recommended that School principals should develop an open climate characterised by a high degree of trust as well as low disengagement, and that Principals should enhance their personal commitment and interaction expressed through regular effective meetings with staff to discuss progress and problems of students.