Influence of Leadership Styles on Business Teachers’ Productivity in Federal Unity Schools in Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of leadership styles on business teachers' productivity in Federal Unity Schools, Southwest, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a survey type. The population comprised 213 business teachers of eighteen (18) Federal Unity Schools in the Southwest, Nigeria. Since the population size was manageable, the entire population was used as a sample. Leadership Styles Questionnaire (α = 0.78) and Business Teachers' Productivity Questionnaire (α =0.85) were the instruments adapted, validated by experts and used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to descriptively answer the research questions and Regression Analysis to test the null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. The result of the analysis showed that there is a moderate level of business teachers' productivity (2.68) in federal unity schools in the southwest, Nigeria. It was found that leadership styles in Federal Unity Schools in Southwest, Nigeria are effective with democratic leadership style being the most prevalent (x = 2.82), followed by autocratic style (x = 2.73) and the least, which is laissez–faire (x = 2.37). It was also found that there is a significant composite influence of leadership styles on business teachers' productivity (F= 187403.32; Adj R2 = 0.599, p < 0.05). Also, there is no significant relative influence of democratic style (r =0.313; β = 0.025, p > 0.05), autocratic style (r = 0.401; β = 0.031, p > 0.05), and laissez –faire style (r = 0.522; β = 0.040, p > 0.05) on business teachers' productivity. The study concluded that leadership styles of administrators of federal unity schools play a significant role in shaping business teachers' productivity, but no leadership style is superior to the other, depending on the situation at hand. It was therefore recommended that school administrators and policymakers should adopt situational and blended leadership styles and consider regular training to enhance business teachers' productivity in Federal Unity Schools, Southwest, Nigeria.