Ethical and Moral Leadership Strategies in Managing Public Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State.

Abstract

This study examined ethical and moral leadership strategies in managing public secondary schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State. Three objectives, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 98 public secondary school principals in Port Harcourt Metropolis, with 62 principals in Obio-Akpor L.G.A and 36 principals in Port Harcourt City L.G.A. The sample size was 98 principals as census sampling technique was used the study. Self-designed instrument titled: "Ethical and Moral Leadership Strategies in Managing Public Secondary School” (EMLSMPSS) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by two experts: one in Measurement and Evaluation and one in Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Rivers State University. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha for a measure of internal consistency, which yielded reliability coefficients of 0.85 for Integrity subscale, 0.83 for Fairness subscale and 0.84 for Accountability subscale. Mean and Standard Deviation were used to answer research questions while independent sample t-test was used for test of the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed no significant difference in the mean response of male and female principals on the extent to which integrity, fairness and accountability enhance school management Port Harcourt Metropolis. The study recommended amongst others that educational authorities should organize regular ethics training for principals to strengthen integrity in school management. Principals should ensure proper monitoring of school resources and teachers’ duties to enhance accountability.