ABSTRACT

The study examined influence of principals’ leadership style on teachers’ effectiveness in Umuahia education zone of Abia state. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The area ofthe study is Abia state. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. A sample size of 432 respondents comprising 420 teachers and 12 principals in public secondary schools in Umuahia education zone of Abia state were drawn through the use of simple random sampling technique from a target population of 3072. A 4-point rating scale questionnaire titled Principals Leadership Styles and Teachers’ Effectiveness Questionnaire (PLSTEQ) with face validity ascertained by three experts from; Measurement and Evaluation, Education Administration and Planning and Education Curriculum Studies in the college of Education in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike and a reliability coefficient of 0.94 was obtained through Pearson Product Moment Coefficient (PPMC). The 432 copies of questionnaires were administered with the help of two research assistants. Research questions were answered using mean ratings and standard deviations, while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The result of the findings revealed that democratic leadership style of principals influences teachers’ effectiveness positively in Umuahia education zone of Abia state, that visionary leadership style of principals influences teachers’ effectiveness significantly in Umuahia education zone of Abia state, that autocratic leadership style of principals do not influence teachers’ effectiveness in secondary schools in Umuahia education zone ofAbia state, that laisez-fair leadership style ofprincipals do not influence teachers’ effectiveness in Secondary Schools in Umuahia education zone of Abia state. Based on the findings, recommendations were made on the influence of principals’ leadership style on teachers’ effectiveness in Umuahia education zone of Abia state. Principals should learn to be visionary democratic leaders who work with imagination and insight and project into the future in the creation oftheir specific and achievable goals. This will enable them to guide their teachers effectively towards the achievement of those goals.Educational administrators should always be role models. They are to set examples through their actions for their followers to emulate. This will make the teachers under them to work cordially and hard too.