PRINCIPALS' ASSERTIVE COMMUNICATION STYLE AS CORRELATE OF TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE, ANAMBRA STATE

The main purpose of the study was to investigate principals’ assertive communication styles as correlate of teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. One research question guided the study and one hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 1,616 principals and teachers from the 65 public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State, Nigeria. This comprised of 65 principals and 1,551 teachers in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The sample size for this study was 375 respondents. The instruments for data collection were two structured questionnaires. The instrument was subject to face and content validation. Three experts from the Faculty of Education at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, reviewed the instruments. A pilot test was conducted with 20 principals from public secondary schools in Enugu State to further test the instruments. The application of Cronbach Alpha reliability method yielded co-efficient values of 0.86 and 0.88 for PCSQ and TEQ. Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics was used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. The finding of the study revealed that a high positive relationship exists between principals’ assertive communication styles and teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. Furthermore, finding of the study revealed principals’ assertive communication styles significantly correlate with teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. The researcher therefore concludes that principals’ assertive communication style has a positive significant relationship with teachers’ effectiveness in public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. The researcher recommended that the Post Primary Schools Service Commission (PPSSC) should organise regular workshops and training programmes focused on enhancing principals’ communication style, with emphasis on assertive communication style.