ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE VALUES AND JOB PERFORMANCE A STUDY OF TEACHERS IN SELECTED PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKWA IBOM STATE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
As individuals, we are in constant interaction with the organization, which in turn facilitates goal attainment through the co – operative efforts of members. There is need to understand and effectively manage the organizations which have a tremendous influence on molding our lives Needle (2004). Therefore, knowing what is happening in the organization is of great interest not only to the individual but especially to the manager, whose responsibility is to use organization and people to achieve valued goals and improve lives in the society.
Organizational culture encompasses values and behavior that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. According to Needle (2004), organizational culture represents the collective values, beliefs and principle of organizational members and it is a product of such factors as history, market, products, technology, and strategy; type of employee’s management style and national culture. Hence, culture here include the organization’s vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs and habits (Needle, 2004).
School institution, being one of the major organizations remain a preparatory ground to empower and certify the requirement for human development. The teachers are faced with the challenges of educating, socializing, empowering and certifying students, but with the help of good teaching culture which directs their conduct (Fafunwa, 2004; Farrant, 2004; Wasagu, 2009).
By implication, the task of a teacher, which include sustaining education system, do not rest on his or her professional competency alone, but on the entire features and culture of the school as a complex whole (Loukas, 2007). Anderson (2004) asserts that public schools which are owned by government are predominantly occupied by citizens of lower socioeconomic status in Nigerian society and are faced with the challenges of educational sub-standard, lack of adequate resources, leading to poor teaching, students poor academic performance, poor work culture and dropping out. Research has shown that school culture is one of the factors influencing success or failure of education in any environment.
It is on note that most public schools possessed a very weak and flexible work culture unlike private schools which are perceived to exhibit a more organized, fervent and alluring work culture (Adesina 2011; Anderson, Hamilton & Hattie 2004). Apparently, the Nigeria public secondary school is posing unending social challenge to teacher’s professional standard, which affects their abilities for human modification, cultural reproduction, social recreation, innovation and social placement to suit industrial development and the labour market (Nwagwu, 2008; Reddy & Sinhas, 2010; Fafunwa, 2004). On the other hand, Fafunwa, 2004 stated that private schools often promotes good teaching and learning strategies, sufficient instructional materials, richer classroom ecology, pleasant school culture, objective administration and good school physical structures and these character(s) is what is placing them on the advantageous position compared to public schools.
Additionally, Nigerian public secondary school climate is facing challenges of low operational quality and absence of required facilities to cater for teachers and students, which features; rampant examination malpractices, lack of parental commitment to school activities, high rate of bullying, dominant acts of indiscipline, gangsters, illegal substance abuse, lack of proper supervision of students activities, inbuilt culture of incompetency and a general hopelessness leading to students failure, truancy and dropout, which societies have blindly attributed faults to the classroom teacher (Raymond,2009; Wasagu, 2009; Abinboye, 2011).
Based on data presented by Federal Ministry of Education, FME, 2009, there have been a rising number of Private School in Nigeria and the rate through which parents withdraw their children from Public Schools over the past two decades becomes alarming. Abinboye (2011) underscored the fact that the rate of students dropouts from formal schooling system [public schools] for the past one decade unarguably amounts to about (10) Ten million and the notions for effectiveness of work culture and competence of teachers in Public Schools becomes questionable.
Contrary to the notions of Abimboye (2011), Towns and Stokes (2000) said that despite the high patronage tendencies of Private Schools in Nigeria, there are still some Public Schools with competent Teachers and perfect learning atmosphere which also place them far much above Private Schools; he argued further that quality of teachers, Good teaching Aids, serene environment among other obvious factors are not really the only indices that is placing Private Schools ahead of their Public counterparts but the strength of the institutions’ cultural values which can as well change from time to time and from institution to institution.
To further find out the disparities in the culture of work between public and private schools, this study becomes imperative as it seeks to undertake a comparative view of work culture existing in private and public secondary school. Hence, this research sets to investigate: Organizational Culture Values and Job performance: A study of Teachers in selected Public and Private Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State with peculiar reference to the following variables: Punctuality, Competence, Excellence and motivation.
