ABSTRACT
The study examined the influence of school climate on educational innovations in schools. Specifically, it sought to find out the educational innovations implemented in schools, and how open and closed school climates influence educational innovations. Three hundred seventy five teachers (375) in sixteen (16) secondary schools were used for the study. The result of the analysis showed that the school organizational climate influences educational innovations. The closed school climate has a negative influence while the open school climate has a positive influence on educational innovations. School administrators should be trained to be conscious of this so that their leadership style will produce conducive climate for innovations to thrive. It was suggested that further research efforts should investigate the influence of other variables on the adoption of educational innovations in individual schools .The conclusion emanating from the study is that educational innovations can be made more effective and productive when a conducive school climate is provided for it.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
School climate is a general term that refers to the feel, atmosphere, tone, ideology, or milieu of a school. Just as individuals have personalities, so too do schools; a school climate may be thought of as the personality of a school. (Hoy 2000). The climate of the school could be said to be closed or open and these climates also have some level of influence on the administration of schools which affect innovations. School climate is a relatively enduring character of a school that is experienced by its participants, that affects their actions, and that is based on the collective perceptions of behaviour in the school (Hoy, 2000).
School climate refers to the quality and character of the school life. School climate is based on patterns of students’, parents’ and school personnel’s’ experience of school life and reflects norms, values, goals, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices and organizational structures. (National School Climate Council. n.d). School climate is larger than any one person’s experience because when people work together, a group process emerges that is bigger than any one person’s actions ( National School Climate Council. n.d).
School climate is defined by Perkins (2006) as the learning environment created through the interaction of human relationship, physical settings and psychological atmosphere.
It is influenced by school leadership and internally oriented. This means that school leadership affects the school climate, and school climate is particular to a school, each school has her own climate. Examples of school climates found in schools as identified by Eneasator (1998) include the open school climate, autonomous school climate, controlled school climate, familiar school climate, paternal school climate and closed school climate. According to Eneasator (2008), the open school climate is an energetic lively school atmosphere, properly focused at realizing defined organizational goals, while providing satisfaction for members’ needs. The closed school climate is a school atmosphere where the principal is not dynamic and does not cultivate the co-operation of his subordinates. autonomous school climate is a school atmosphere where the administrator focuses more on the needs of the staff and students than achieving the school goals. Controlled school climate is a type of climate where the relationship between the principal, students and teachers is cordial and little is done to enforce rules and regulations. Familiar school climate is characterized by high consideration of the needs and interests of individuals in the school with little emphasis on production. Paternal school climate is the type of school climate in which the principal insists on initiating all leadership acts in the school himself and makes concerted efforts to discourage the emergence of leadership initiatives from his teachers. In his study, Okoli (1995) discovered that leadership styles of secondary school principals in Enugu state, where we have the Nsukka Education Zone, are not democratic but autocratic and an autocratic leadership style produces a closed climate.
School climate has a lot of influence on the achievement of set goals, or educational goals and effectiveness in the education sector. Also the social environment makes clear difference in the academic performance of schools (Bosah 1998). Also, research reports on motivation show that the climate in a work place has a significant impact on employee behaviour and organizational result. It simply means that the way things are done in schools affect the achievement of the schools’ goals which may include among others, effective teaching and learning, preparing individuals for useful living within the society and educational innovations will aid the achievement of these goals (NERDC, 2004).
Innovation is a new technique or idea. United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) (1981) referred to innovation as a general change that is deliberate and coloured more by the objectives than by its causes and must never be regarded as simple adjustment. Also UNESCO (1981) used innovation to refer to any persistent change in the patterns of behaviour of members of an identifiable social system. It is a novel departure from a customary practice that can be sustained for sometime and it is situational and relevant to a group in time and place. It is an idea, a practice or an object that is perceived by an individual or another unit as new. Therefore, innovation is an idea that is new to a situation, it is the introduction of new ideas which can take the form of process, programmes, products or the means or ends.
Educational innovation according to Nwafor (2007) is a deliberate, systematic, novel, specific and persistent change in the system of a particular society which is aimed at improving the system or creating a new one for a more effective and efficient means of attending to the educational needs of the social group in their social environment. Kirsi and Seppo (1996) see educational innovation as a creative, new educational innovational policy, a creative way to renew education, a creative solution, a creation of new educational culture, a new opening, a new idea to overcome some problems in education. Kirsi and Seppo also went on to define it as a starting power, an idea that makes things move. Educational innovations therefore are new, creative ideas, which are meant to bring effectiveness and change in the educational sector. Some of the innovations in the Nigeria school system include; Environmental education, Peace education, Family life education, Sex education; HIV and AIDS education, Constructivism and constructive instructional model, School broadcasting with radio, Guidance and counseling, as well as Introductory technology.
Environmental education refers to a school’s effort to teach about how the natural environment functions and how it can be maintained. Peace education is aimed at inculcating in learners the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for harmonious relationship. Family life education is effort to strengthen family life through education. Sex education is the education that will provide individuals with necessary health information and to avoid negative sexual health. HIV and AIDS education is education aimed at instilling knowledge, life skills and attitudes that can lower the risk of HIV and AIDS infection through educating the students. Constructivism and Constructive learning is a situation where learners are allowed to integrate new information and experiences into what they have previously come to understand. School broadcasting with radio is using radio to teach. Guidance and Counseling is an educational service in schools meant to assist students to achieve self knowledge development and realization of their potentials. Introductory technology is education meant to provide pre-vocational orientation for further training in technology. Innovations to be used for this study will be limited to HIV and AIDS Education, Peace Education and Information and Communication Technology.
Adoption of an educational innovation means to take up or accept an innovation and make use of it in the educational sector. It simply means having new creative ideas implemented. This is necessary because a healthy system should tend towards inventing new procedures, move towards new goals, produce new kinds of products, diversify itself and become more rather than less differentiated over a period of time (Ochitwa 1996).
According to Nwafor (2007), it is necessary to adopt innovations because the needs and problems of the society change from time to time. Education therefore should change to meet the changes of the society. The adoption of educational innovations offers the educational institutions the opportunity of making changes or improvement in the educational sector. This is because it is when innovations are widely adopted that the reform that have always been desired in the educational sector will be achieved.
Adoption of educational innovations is indispensable because as earlier stated, a healthy system should tend to innovate new products, diversify itself and become more than less differentiated over a period of time (Ochitwa, 1996). The system should therefore be able to bring about corrective changes in it faster than the change cycle in its surroundings. One of the ways through which this can be achieved is through conducive school climate. Readiness for change in the first place is in a good measure, the function of the school climate.
Influence of school climate on educational innovations is the effect or impression the school climate has on the implementation of educational innovations. A school with a healthy school climate would be ready to naturally adopt educational innovations. Before an innovation is introduced, it must have passed through the stages of planning, conducting of research, analyzing the result and taking of decision on whether to go on with it or not, before the implementation phase. Of all these stages, the implementation phase is more demanding. Also Lindahl (2006) believes that at the implementation phase of most school improvement processes, three major elements take center stage: (a) Change; variation in one’s routine, occupation, and surroundings (b) Motivation; stimulating the interest of the people. (c) Professional development; improving the skills and confidence of the manpower. He goes on to say that all these affect and are affected by the school climate. Educational innovation will not thrive in any resistant environment. Therefore, school climate is an integral part of the school improvement process which includes the implementation of educational innovations. It affects decision making throughout all the phases of the process. Schools whose climates are compatible with changes, and with the specific changes involved in the current school improvement are most likely to be successful in the improvement effort or efforts to implement educational innovations; innovation is facilitated. If the climate is dysfunctional or negative regarding change(s) it must be improved before innovation will be successful.
School climate is a promising school independent variable for measuring and positively influencing productivity and effectiveness in Nigerian schools. Attention should therefore be paid to those things that make the implementation of educational innovation difficult. This study therefore looks at how new ideas or innovations are influenced by the atmosphere, norms, ethos, culture, tones or internal characteristics of the school (school climate).
Statement of the Problem
The Nigerian educational system has experienced a lot of innovative measures which have been geared towards effectiveness, achievement of school goals which include preparing individuals for useful living within the society and overall reform of the educational sector.
