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Assessment of Administrative
Communication Skills Applied by Principals of Schools of Nursing
Abstract
Principals of schools of nursing are
confronted with situations that involve a lot of communication. The aim of the
study therefore was to assess the administrative communication skills of
principals of schools of nursing in the South East Zone of Nigeria. Five
research questions and 10 null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive survey was adopted for the
study and the 16 principals and 166 regular teachers in the 16 Schools of
Nursing in the zone were used for the study, hence, no sampling. The instrument
for data collection was questionnaire. The instrument was validated and found
reliable following the reliability test using Pearson Product Moment
Correlation Coefficient. The reliability co-efficient on the principals’
questionnaire recorded 0.82 showing high internal consistency and that of the
teachers recorded 0.94. The instrument was administered to the respondents
directly. The data generated from the research questions were analyzed using
mean, while the null hypotheses were tested using t-test. Major findings
include: the rating of the respondents
indicated that the principals apply listening communication skills to high
extent, except for item five which they apply to very high extent; the
respondents believed that the principals apply non-verbal communication skills
to high extent; they also indicated that the principals apply oral
communication skills to high extent; the respondents accepted that the
principals apply written communication skills to high extent; and, equally
indicated that the principals apply feedback communication skills to high
extent. The principals and teachers did not differ significantly in their
assessment of the principals’ application of the listening and non-verbal
communication skills while they differed significantly in their application of
oral, written and feedback communication skills. There is significant
difference in the extent principals’ in small and large schools apply
listening, non-verbal and written communication skills. Based on these findings
and implications of the study, recommendations and areas for further studies
were highlighted in this study.
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Principals of schools of nursing are
confronted with situations that involve a lot of communication. How effective
they become depends largely on their ability to apply the appropriate
communication skills in their daily interaction with people. Coordinating the
efforts of people towards the achievement of objectives and goals in any
establishment has administrative communication skills as its main trust.
Without communication there will be no good organization. According to Adewale
(2001), organization requires understanding if it should achieve its goal. The
office of the principal as the nerve centre of the establishment deals with communication extensively. The aim of communication
is much more than the mere transmission of ideas, it must result in the
transmission of meaning that leads to action/s. Communication is a complex
process as it involves all the senses, experiences, emotions and intelligence
of people (Beniger & Gusek, 1995). In fact, it is the totality of all the
things that one person does to create understanding in the mind of another
person.
The primary aim in school administration
is the improvement of teaching and learning process. Therefore, all the
activities and efforts of the school must be tailored towards employing
adequate communication techniques. In order that the school administrator
achieves this, he or she must inevitably interact with various groups and
individuals within the school, community and with people outside the school
utilizing desired communication competence and skills. It is likely that the
rampant cases of unrest recorded in many schools of nursing in the South East
Zone may be blamed on the principals who may not have addressed adequately, the
various cases ranging from increased pressure for candidates seeking for
admission, to failure of Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (N&MCN)
to index all students presented to them. According to Obi (2003), the
principals must communicate effectively with their subbordinates and students
as well as the School Board, and the appropriate State and National Agencies.
Chinweuba (2004) also asserts that the school administrator must work with the
Parents Teachers Association (P.T.A) and the Alumni so as to make remarkable
impact in the running of the school. The administrator’s programmes and
policies are often influenced by these people or group with whom he/she is in
constant interaction with just as his/her administrative decisions affect them.
They therefore need to be carried along.
For effective administration of
establishments, communication is central and a sine qua non. Hence, in the
absence of effective application of organizational communication, a vagary of
individualistic and personal goals may most likely mar the organizational
objectives. This will inevitably result to stagnation of activities of the
teaching-learning process and reduced school tone with resultant poor academic
performance of both the students and the school. Some schools in the South East
zone have been sanctioned by placing embargo on their students’ intake because
they failed to communicate effectively the accreditation requirements’ to their
respective proprietors’ and concerned bodies. Moris (1984) sees the principal
as one occupying a very important position in the school and who most of the
time, has his/her mind brimming over with ideas, questions, solutions,
directives and plans. For the principal to be able to communicate these ideas,
directives and solutions, she/he must be familiar with the basic communication
skills so as to interact meaningfully with everybody. Strother (1983) and
Walker (1990) maintain that communication skills of principals have been well
documented as key to their success as administrators. It is disheartening that some principals lack
the most essential skills that would make them effective communicators. Such
principals in the South East zone, hardly pay attention when someone is
speaking and are often impatient with people that have difficulty expressing
themselves. Hence, this category of principals draw conclusion before their interactants
could land. This attitude is simply unacceptable and is detestable to many
people. The principals need to be aware
of how they are perceived by others. It is very necessary that the principals
become aware of their verbal and non-verbal communication and realize that
their approach towards communication should be situational holding others in
contemplation each time.
Adequate application of communication
skills are imperative for decision-making. The administrator that worth his
salt should be able to define problems, generate and evaluate alternative
courses of action, implement decisions, control and evaluate results
formatively and summative using the right communication skills. The principal
is the Chief Executive of the nursing school and according to Ezeocha (1990)
the principal is defined as the man in the middle because she/he has to interact with all and sundry on
a daily basis- the staff, students, parents, benefactors, community and the
state, national and international officers of the system in question. The
principal also interacts with public and private organizations as well as law
enforcement agencies. In all these interactions, the principal has to establish
rapport with all to promote conducive
atmospher necessary for effective communication.
The principal is expected to maintain a
school climate conducive to students’ achievement and learning, school growth,
in addition to overseeing the enforcement of school rules and regulations, as
well as the meting out of disciplinary measures when indicated (Ukeje, Nwagbara
& Okorie,1992). Ani (1999) maintains
that students these days demand more careful handling while Akubue (1997) aptly
remarks that a good administrator should be able to communicate with the
students in any of their swinging moods. Each of the situations, he argues,
will necessitate the use of effective communication skills like selection of
adequate verbal or documented responses that can help defuse a tense
interaction or situation. The tone of voice set in each communication situation
goes a long way to establish the feeling for the entire institution and its
environment (Kelley, 1980). Some principals do not seem to realize that a
frustrated teacher who is having difficulty controlling his/her class will need
a different approach from an irate parent who storms the office demanding an
explanation why his/her son/daughter has been suspended or expelled.
The principal should always bear in mind
that the school is part and parcel of the community where it is located and so
should endeavour to engender an amicable rapport between the school and the
community. The ugly incidence that took place in one of the schools in Imo
state betrays the principal’s poor rapport with the locality. Communication
with the Board of Governors, Academic Advisory Board, P.T.A., Alumni and
community leaders should be open and cordial if an administrator wishes to make
a significant impact in the school as a whole. The activities of the indigens
of one of the schools in Anambra state during the accreditation exercise by
N&MCN is rather commendable. The community came to the assistance of the
school because they are often carried along in most of the happenings of the
school.
Therefore, the principal’s manner of
transmitting information is of paramount importance. It matters a lot not only what a principal
says but how he/she says it (Akubue, 1997).
In the school, information transmission has been hampered by prejudice
and bias emanating from the manner of transmission. If a school administrator
fails to control his/her emotions, language becomes a vehicle of aggression and
vindictiveness leading to a highly charged atmosphere, which affects adversely
the teaching and learning process.
Dimbleby and Burton, (1992) assert that the need to control ones’
networks in school cannot be over emphasized. The principal does not
necessarily have to follow the bureaucratic chain of command but can make use
of the more effective methods or channels of communication for a particular
situation. Ikediugwu (2001) observes that the delay resulting from towing the
long line of bureaucratic chain leads to backdating of documents, which
unfortunately is prevalent in the educational system, and nursing education
cannot be an exception. In like manner, deadline is a common reference and the
existence of so many of them to be met by administrators, teachers, and others
create time pressures and constraints that affect communication negatively
(Middlemist & Hitt, 1981).
The number of people to communicate with
at a time will most likely determine the extent or degree of use of the various
communication skills. For instance, Meier (1996), as if in favour of small
group says that small school size encourages teacher innovation and student
participation, resulting in greater commitment for both groups. However, some
principals do not believe that number of students has anything to do with
effectiveness in application of communication skills. The alarming rate with
which they overshoot the approved quota per session betrays their belief.
However, the increasing number of
students seeking enrolment into schools of nursing presently,
compels some erring principals in the South East zone to admit as many
as 500 to 700 students in a class despite the N&MCN’s (N&MCN, 2004)
stipulation of 50 students per session. Most of these students end up spending
six to seven years in the school because the Nursing Council indexes only 50 students
per school per session. The above situations obviously breed discontent and
could make it difficult for the principals to reach every section of the school
and interact on one to one basis with all.
The principals in such a situation find it difficult to pay attention when
subbordinates or visitors are speaking, respond in a more cautious ways to
issues and give feedbacks based on content and context of the subject under
discussion. This is compounded by the general observation that some principals
in the schools of nursing in the South East zone lack the competence to
organize their thoughts accurately and succinctly and to select appropriate
alternative courses of action, implement decisions, control and evaluate
results formatively and summatively.
There is also the problem of students’ poor acquisition
of the expected skills when the number of students is such that supervision and
control at clinical demonstration is difficult owing to inadequate space to
accommodate the alarming number. A reasonable school size would make that
application easier. This goes to agree with the opinion of Bedeian (1980) and
Betts (1981) that the larger the organization, the less the likelihood of
effective application of communication skills owing to large number of
teachers, students and others to be reached. The problem with the above
situation is that with utter disregard to the policy on students’ intake,
inexperienced principals may be so deluged with pressure being mounted on them
for admissions, mis-information and data that they can neither absorb, reason
nor respond to all objectively, and so they simply screen out majority of the
messages and consequently attend to them half-harzardly. Nevertheless, some of
the experienced schools of nursing administrators in the zone have developed
over the years good and stable communication skills, thereby being able to
confront difficult people and problem
situations in a more positive and constructive manner (Hendricks,
1989).
The administrator should be able to
define feelings of happiness, anger, displeasure, confidence and fear (Moorhead
& Griff, 2001). This is only possible where the principals are able to
apply communication skills appropriately and as situation demands. A Problem
ensues if the school head fails to know that she is communicating principally
for information sharing through which the institutional goals are defined and
members given sense of purpose and direction (Dostal, 2007).
Adequate
assessment of the principals’ application of communicative behaviours is
imperative in this study. Assessment according to Oxford Advanced Learners
Dictionary is an opinion or a judgement about something that has been thought
about very carefully. According to Dossey, Guzzette and Kenner (1992), assessment
is a logical, systematic and ordered collection of data used to evaluate a
given phenomenon. Watson (2005) asserts that assessment underpins the
traditional careful planning approach of any process. All good implementation
starts with assessment which is a continuous process of collection of data
about peoples’ responses and concerns. In assessing, the ACSP of nursing
schools in the South East zone, the researcher was very objective, noting
things the way they are and checking their relevance to the entire study aimed
at fulfilling the vital need of the study.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
In any organization, like educational
institution, where poor communication exists, a lot of problems are generated
for the administrator and the entire system as a whole (Betts, 1981 & Obi,
1997). The principal, to reach his/her
audience, is ideally expected to be competent and skillful in communication as
he/she relates with all levels of groups and individuals. Unfortunately, some principals exercise
authoritarian type of leadership more often, such principals tend to engage
only in downward process of communication; taking decisions alone, disregarding
subordinates’ viewpoints and scaring people away by their aloofness and
superior airs which militates against effective application of communication
skills. When effective communication is absent, the institutional goals and
objectives would be reduced to individualistic and personal goals governed by
undue sentiments and individual whims and caprices, characterized by poor
feedback mechanism which makes coordination of peoples’ efforts towards
achieving organizational goal and objectives, an uphill task.
The above inevitably results to
stagnation of activities of the teaching- learning process with reduced school
tone as the principals become too authoritarian. They utilize classical mode of
administration and so arrange schedules that mandate who is supposed to be
where and doing what. They ensure tight
control over financial supply and dictate the curricula, goals and means
(Barth, 1991). According to Okeke (2004), most principals fall short of the
desired competence and skills and so communication gap of one form or the other
is created. In a situation where neither the teachers nor the students are
carried along, there is bound to be disorder and chaos. The principals stay in
their offices flouting the super-ordinates directives, for instance, some
principals exceed the admission quota by having as many as 500-700 students per
session thereby neglecting organisational regulations. It becomes impossible
for such principals to interact with the students effectively. Such principals
are rather said to be scaring people
with their superior airs, dictating and
circulating programme of events and even the time table without involving those
earlier assigned with those responsibilities. The above action/s
would invariably result to negative attitudinal changes of many of the
staff which quickly spreads over to the students.
In such a scenario, some staff members
may decide to sabotage the efforts of the principal. Supervision and control of
staff and students would be in jeopardy and there would be gross
ineffectiveness, reduced school tone with resultant lawlessness and poor school
performance. This kind of situation easily creates gullible gap and gives room
to click formation by the staff members leading to unwholesome behaviour of one
form or the other as have been recorded in some schools of nursing within the
South East zone. This could have been the reason for the numerous cases of quarrels, petitions and counter petitions
between the tutors, students, parents, communities , and their
principals.
Hence, the problem of this study is, to
what extent do principals of nursing schools apply the various communication
skills in their schools? Therefore, the need to assess the application of the
administrative communication skills of principals of schools of nursing became
imperative so as to find out the real situation in the communication skills
applied by the principals by ascertaining their level of listening skills, if
they are able to resist dominating discussion with others, pay attention when
someone is speaking, centre attention on the content of speech, exercise
patience and give fair hearing to all parties. Again, whether they observe
non-verbal cues of others, give nonverbal messages/ signs that can be easily
understood. To determine if they are able to choose suitable environment when
addressing subordinates with well articulated ideas and feelings, concisely and
briefly, choosing words naturally followed with a summary. In addition, to
ascertain whether they apply adequate writing skills-by collecting needed
information, reviewing draft for style, purpose and audience before writing,
organize routine for working on incoming correspondence, prepare agenda and
circulate minutes of meeting to participants' with well outlined ideas. Lastly,
to observe their feedback skills, such as insisting on feedback on circulated
memos, working with deadlines, assuring others that their inputs are valued and
so encourage participants through questioning without responding untactfully to
emotion ladden situations but acknowledges and respond to feedbacks positively,
giving corrections to others constructively before drawing conclusion/s, write
reports to parents about their wards for necessary recommendations and for improved communication by the school
principals.
Assessment of Administrative Communication Skills Applied by Principals of Schools of Nursing
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