INVOLVEMENT OF VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL EDUCATION TEACHERS IN DECISION MAKING AND ITS IMPLICATION ON EDUCATION FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC REFORMS IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Teachers are primarily regarded as conveyors and transmitters of knowledge. These teachers, who are involved in the daily interactions with the students, are usually not involved in the decision making policy processes by educational managers including principals and Technical Vocational instructors in the schools. This study therefore investigated the extent to which teachers / instructors are involved in decision making in schools in Oyo State Nigeria and the influence of involvement of VTE teachers for the attainment of educational goals. Iseyin Local Government Area was used for the investigation since all the thirty-three local government areas are supervised by the Oyo State Ministry of Education. The population was five hundred and forty nine teachers and a sample size of one hundred and thirty was drawn using random sampling technique from twenty-two public secondary schools. However, one hundred and twenty-eight responses were found useable. A research instrument called Teachers Involvement in Decision Making Questionnaire (TIDMQ) with a fourteen items validated with reliability coefficient of 83 was used. Three research questions were asked and answered using frequency counts, percentages and mean scores. One null hypothesis was developed, tested and analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation in decision making in the areas of curriculum design, school calendar, infrastructure and facilities. Recommendations were made that principals / instructions should see themselves as leaders and not bosses, be accessible and ensure effective communication between them and the students.