TEACHERS PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING PROCESS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This research explores teacher’s participation in decision making processes within secondary schools in Imo State, emphasizing the significance of their involvement in shaping school policies and practices, as well as whether the teachers' involvement in decision making process is related to their personal characteristics. One research question and four hypotheses were raised to guide the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The study population comprised of all teachers in Imo State secondary schools. The stratified random sampling technique was used to select 200 teachers from five different local government area of the state. The local governments were selected randomly. Four schools were selected from each of the five local governments while ten teachers were also randomly selected from each of the schools. A researcher-made questionnaire titled Teachers Decision Making Questionnaire (TDMQ) was used to collect data for the study. Face validation of the questionnaires were certified by 3 experts from the Department of Educational Foundation, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. While two of the experts specialized in measurement and evaluation, the other expert is specialized in Management and Policy. Data collected were analysed using SPSS version 26. The frequencies, percentage scores, T-test, ANOVA, and Schaefer post hoc test were used for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that secondary school teachers in Imo State are significantly involved in decision making processes. Some recommendations were given among which is the inclusion of continuous seminars, and workshops for school principals on management of human resources in schools for effective and quality management of the schools.