LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND PRINCIPALS' ADMINISTRATIVE EFFECTIVENESS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN EKET SENATORIAL DISTRICT OF AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined principals’ emotional intelligence as well as integrity and their administrative effectiveness in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom South (Eket), Senatorial District of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two corresponding null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 63 school principals and all the 1702 teachers of the public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom South (Eket) Senatorial District. The sample for this study was 340 teachers from the seven LECs selected through the proportional sampling technique which forms 20% of the total number of teachers in each of the LECs. Two research instruments tagged “Principals’ Leadership Traits Questionnaire” (PLTQ) and Principals’ Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire (PAEQ)” were used for data
collection. The questionnaires were administered and the data generated in this study were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis (PPMC). All the research questions and hypotheses were tested at a .05 level of significance. The results of the study showed that leadership traits of emotional intelligence and integrity of school principals significantly relate to their administrative effectiveness in Akwa Ibom South Senatorial District (Eket Senatorial District) of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of this work, it was recommended among others that principals should not be appointed only based on their academic qualifications but also based on their leadership traits. Principals should also do everything humanly possible to win the trust of teachers, students as well as parents.