The study tested Fiedler's contingency model of leadership effectiveness in primary schools in Cyprus by examining the relationship between principal-teacher interaction and school effectiveness as indicated by student achievement and teacher satisfaction. Sex, leadership style, and situational control were the independent variables and student achievement and teacher satisfaction were the dependent variables. The contingency model postulates that if the leader's style and situational control are adequately matched, then organizational effectiveness is attained. In particular, the model postulates that high-LPC (relationship-oriented) leaders perform better in situations of moderate control, while low-LPC (taskoriented) leaders perform better in situations of high or low control. On the basis of the theory, the following hypotheses of the study were predicted: 1. The nature of the performance of teachers is generally contingent upon the appropriate matching of the principal'b leadership style and the situational control.2. Student~' achievement is generally contingent upon the appropriate matching of the principal's leadership style and the degree to which the situation provides the principal the necessary influence over his or her work group members. 3. High-LPC principals perform better than low-LPC principals in moderate situations. 4. Low-LPC principals perform better than high-LPC principal~ in highly favorable situations. 5. Low-LPC principals perform better than high-LPC principals in relatively unfavorable situations. 6. The directions of the correlational signs between principals' leadership style (LPC scores) and group effectiveness (students' achievement scores) in the situational octants agree with Fiedler's. A II!ultiple interactive instrument, consisting of the Principal Questionnaire and the Teacher Questionnaire, was utilized to assess respectively (1) the principals' style and their perceptions of their leadermember relations, the task structure, and their position power, and (2) tllC teachers' sati sfaction wi th their job by determining their perceptions of work, pay, promotions, supervision, and coworkers. ~chool outcomes were measured by (1) a ~pecial achievement test in Mathematics taken in Cyprus during the school year 1984-1985 and (2) the teachers's level of cohesion and satisfaction. The sample of the study consistec of thirty-five primary school principals in the Limassol District, Cyprus, ninety-two teachers of the third and fourth grades in these schools, and 910 third and fourth grade students taught by the se teachers. The study was conducted in three phases: in the first phase, leadership style and data relative to leadermember relations, task structure, and position power was obtained from participating principals; in the second phase, data relative to satisfaction of teachers with the job was obtained frn1l1 participating teachers; and in the third phase, data relative to achievement in Mathematics was obtained from students of third and fourth grades. The data collected was analysed by four statistical designs: (1) the two-way analysis of variance, (2) the stepwise multiple regression, (3) the t test, and (4) the simple correlation. The findin~s of tne study were as follows: 1. Teachers tend to perform better under high-LPC principals who have a moderate situational control rather than high situational control, or under low-LPC principals who have a high ~ituational control rather than moderate situat ional control. 2. Students tend to achieve better results under high-LPC principals who possess moderate situational control rather than high situational control, or under low-LPC principals who possess high situational control rather than moderate situational control. 3. High-LPC principal s perform better in school situations with moderate control. 4. Low-LPC principal s perform be st in school si tuations with high control. 5. The directions of the correlational signs between principals' leadership style and group performance in the situational octants agree with Fiedler's. Thus, there is a curvilinear relationship between the dependent and independent variables of the study. The findings provide support for Fiedler's contingency model of leadership effectiveness. However, the study failed to test all the cells of the model due to lack of pertinent data. In particular, the four poor leCA<ief/ YlemLJe.r- Te~o_tion cells were not investigated. These need to be tested in future research if conclusive results are to be obtained. Specific recommendations are made by which the presen~ practice of school management in Cypriot primary schools could be improved by the application of Fiedler's theory. Trlese recommendations include (1) reexamination of the policies on selection, placement, and transfers so that an appropriate matching of the principal's leadership style and the school situation will be facilitated; and (2) planning for and implementing appropriate pre-service and in- service programs, through which the principal swill be trained to engineer the school situation so as to fit their leadership style.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:332531 |
| Date | January 1986 |
| Creators | Papanicolaou, Lekfios |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds