CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The main aim of educational administration is the arrangement of the

human and material resources and programmes available for education and

carefully using them systematically for the achievement of well defined

objectives. In order to achieve this aim, the school administrator must work

with various individuals in the school as well as the community. As

administrative decisions affect people, so programmes and policies are

influenced through communication which is a process of interaction.

Good communication skills are fundamental to all relationships and

prerequisite to educational success. The way principals communicate their

thoughts and feelings and how they manage their differences facilitate quality

relationships in the school. When principals fail to communicate, many things

will be affected such as reduced academic standard, diminished self esteem

and lowered organizational morale.

Ngu in Onah (2003), defined communication as the “process of sending

a message by one individual to another, with the desire to evoke a response”

or the “process by which people attempt to share meanings through symbolic

messages” (Stoner, Freeman and Gilbert, 2000). From these definitions, a

central picture painted is that communication is the transmission of a message

from a sender to receiver. It can be seen that communication is important to

administrators because it facilitates the administrative functions of planning,

organizing, leading and controlling by the transmission of a message from a

sender to receiver. The most effective way to improve people’s quality of

life, action and interaction is by improving their communication skills which

include listening skills. Analysis of communication time consistently supports

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the idea that most people spend more time listening than speaking, reading

and writing (Wolvin and Coakley 1992). Listening as a veritable and

unavoidable aspect of communication is defined as the “active process of

receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and non-

verbal messages. It involves the ability to retain information, as well as to

react empathetically and appreciatively to spoken and non-verbal messages”

(Pearson, Nelson, Tilsworth and Harter 2003). As a mental process, listening

as a skill will require the administrator to seek for accurate, correct

information as well as engage in the analysis and synthesis of information.

No matter what occupation people engage in, they need to deal with

these processes of listening skills because it is an indispensable tool in

achieving group cohesion, organizational harmony, conflict resolution and the

realization of organizational goals. That is to say, without listening skills, the

communication process itself becomes ineffective. As principals proceed

through their days, and as they move from person to person, they are

constantly called upon to listen. This is because the ability to listen effectively

is not only a major and central concern but also an essential characteristic of a

good administrator. Administrators require good listening skills to appreciate

ideas and beliefs of both subordinates and their superordinates, offer valuable

insights and improve thoughtful dialogue that strengthens one’s ability to

understand others’ strengths and weaknesses.

Principals should maintain a good channel of communication by

applying a variety of listening skills to suggestions, advice, feedback,

complaints, information, interviews and discussions. These, he should do with

all categories of staff. Such listening skills can enhance better relationships,

enrich performance and as well reduce stress. Principals who listen well are

highly respected, sought after and loved by their staff and students. Listening

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which is central to successful administration is one of the primary ways in

which principals discover teachers’ problems, needs and thoughts. If

communication is central to successful school administration it logically

follows that, there is need for every principal to equip himself/herself with

different listening skills so as to achieve a net effect of appreciative,

informative, empathic listening and reflective communication. This is

necessary if administrators want to understand ideas, retain information,

analyze and evaluate content and employ strategic interpersonal

communication to achieve these.

In school administration, the principals work with the vice principals,

head of departments, teachers, office staff, education coordinator, state school

board, students, community and visitors. As he interplays with them he is

expected to employ a variety of listening skills such as: listening with a

purpose and concentration (active listening), listening to accept and

appreciate the other person through what they say (appreciative listening) or

to seek a truer understanding of how others are feeling (empathic listening)

(Derrington and Groom, 2004).

Nwaka (2008) “Listening is the most important task, which confronts

modern principals”. Experience shows that principals fail to understand that it

is in this fundamental essence of communication skill that their role and

dignity are based. While the skill of listening is identified by many

researchers as one of the most important qualities a leader can possess, poor

listening is identified among principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra

State as evidenced by the researchers interaction within the environment.

Unfortunately, listening skills are very often ignored or just taken for granted.

As a result, many communication problems develop. “Communication is not

just speaking and writing. The forgotten part of it for most principals is

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listening. Studies have shown that a large percentage of administrators listen

less effectively than they believe, and many are poor listeners” (Axley,

1996:77). In another report by Atwater (1992), he notes that among people

who have been asked to rate themselves as listeners, more than 85% rate

themselves as average or worse. Fewer than 5% rate themselves as excellent.

Many organizations, in an effort to improve interpersonal

communications, have encouraged skill development in reading, writing and

speaking, but little has been done to improve listening skills.

One of the factors affecting listening culture may be gender. Several

researchers have pointed to this variable. Adler and Elmhorst (2002), opined

that men and women listen differently to at least some degree. Gender

differences do not just affect how people listen to one another, they also

influence whether they listen at all. Tannem (1990), asserted that “women are

not as likely to be listened to as men, regardless of how they speak or what

they say”. Similarly, McCutcheon, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994), stated that

there may be significant differences between the sexes in their attitude

towards listening to subordinates. Stressing on influence of gender on

listening skills behaviours, McKenna (1998), claimed that despite the success

of the women’s liberation movement and the increases in the number of

women in education administration, men and women speak and listen

differently.

Considering the effect of experience on principals’ listening skills,

Mgbodile (2003), stipulated that ‘behaviour of the leader is often influenced

by the aggregate of his background, his knowledge and his experience”.

Experienced principals are likely to have acquired adequate listening skills

than inexperienced principals and better disposed to being good listeners.

Therefore, the influence of experience will be one area of interest to explore.

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It is against this background that this study is designed to examine the

listening profiles of principals as a dependable parameter for seeking areas of

improvement in the use of good communication skills.

Statement of Problem

Communication is an administrative process that facilitates

performance of any established system. Lack of it has led to ineffectiveness in

the management of organization’s factor resources. Listening which is a

significant aspect of communication has been identified as having low rating

in the communication performance profile of principals (Salopek, 2002). This

is worrisome considering the fact that listening is a very vital aspect in

keeping people focused, providing important information and insights as well

as keeping staff connected. Because many serving principals are not

delivering along these line and lack in these, the problem therefore put in

question form is how can this trend be revised to enable principals maximize

the potentialities of listening skills and evaluate feedbacks in terms of their

accuracy, meaningfulness and utility?

In the light of the above, and considering the strategic positions of

principals in the secondary school administration, principals are by their

training expected to be good and critical listeners. They are supposed to listen

for evaluation, listen to understand ideas, listen to retain information, listen to

analyze and evaluate contents. Lack of the above usually lead to

misunderstanding, ineffective communication and constituting strong barriers

between principals and their teachers on one hand and principals and their

students on the other.

Nwaka (2008) asserted that “Listening is the most important task,

which confronts modern principals”. Experience shows that principals fail to

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understand that it is in this fundamental essence of communication skill that

their role and dignity are based. While the skill of listening is identified by

many researchers as one of the most important qualities a leader can possess,

poor listening is identified among principals in Awka Education Zone of

Anambra State as evidenced by the researchers interaction within the

environment. Unfortunately, listening skills are very often ignored or just

taken for granted. As a result, many communication problems develop.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the listening skills

practices of secondary school principals in Awka Education zone.

Specifically, this study intends to:

1. Identify the listening skills for effective communication of principals.

2. Find out how principals rate the identified skills in terms of their

importance for school administration.

3. Examine the extent principals exhibit the skills under study.

4. To determine if the application of these skills will be influenced by

gender of the principal.

5. To ascertain how experience influences the listening skills of school

principals.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will have some practical relevance to

government policy makers, school administrators, educational planners,

school board management and students. Principals will use the instrument as

a reference point in their self-assessment in listening competence. School

administrators need to be aware and appreciate the importance of listening

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skills in their jobs. The cordial relationship that is supposed to exist between

principals and teachers on one hand and between principals and students on

the other will be fostered. However, if it does not exist there will be

disruption of the school academic calendar. Then, the finding if incorporated

will be a handbook from which they will learn these relevant skills.

Educational planners will find it useful in the planning of the pre-service

curriculum as it concerns what, when and how to communicate between and

among school superordinate and subordinate. School board management will

use the findings to organize in-service training of the principals. During

recruitment and selection of qualified principals, the findings can be applied

during school inspection and supervision for purposes of guidance and

counseling of principals for improved performance on administrative and

interpersonal communication. Education researchers in administration will

also find the instrument as a useful tool for shaping the destiny of future

school research in the area of communication.

Scope of the Study

There are so many types of listening skills. Prominent among them are:

Active listening, appreciative listening, biased listening, casual listening,

comprehension listening, critical listening, deep listening, dialogic listening,

discriminative listening, sympathetic listening, emphatic listening, high-

integrity listening, Initial listening, Partial listening, Reflective listening,

relationship listening, social listening, secondary listening, aesthetic listening,

creative listening and others.

But the central focus of this study is on the following:

Active listening skill, Appreciative listening skill,, Empathic listening skill

Biased listening, Casual listening, Comprehension listening, Critical listening,

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Deep listening, Dialogic listening, Discriminative listening, Sympathetic

listening, High-integrity listening, Initial listening, Partial listening, Reflective

listening and Relationship listening,

The choice of these is predicated on the fact that these positively

dispose the means in attending to the requirement of what is being

communicated as expert like Derrington and Groom (2004) has observed.

The geographic scope is delimited to Awka Education Zone in Anambra State. Research Questions

1. What listening skills do principals require for effective school

administration?

2. How do principals rate these skills in terms of their importance?

3. To what extent do principals exhibit the identified listening skills?

4. How does gender influence the listening skills of school principals?

5. To what extent do experiences influence the listening skills of

school principals?

Hypothesis

The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance.

HO1: Gender is not a significant factor in the listening skills of principals as

measured by the mean rating on LSP.

HO2: There will be no significant difference in the listening skills of

principals due to experience as measured by the mean rating on LSP.

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CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The literature review for this study carried out under the following sub-headings. (a) Conceptual Framework

Concept of listening as communication skills

The need for listening skills

Kinds of listening skills

Barriers to listening skills

Techniques of listening skills

(b) Theoretical Framework

The scientific management theory of communication

Human relation theory

The system theory of communication

(c) Review of Empirical Studies

(d) Summary of Literature Review

Conceptual Framework

The Concept of Listening as Communication Skills

Every activity of our lives is communication of a sort, but it is through

speech that man asserts his distinctiveness from other forms of life.

According to Carnegie (2002), man alone, of all animals has the gift of verbal

communication, and it is through the quality of his speech that he best

expresses his own individuality. When he is unable to say clearly what he

means, through either nervousness, timidity, or foggy thought-processes, his

personality is blocked off, dimmed out, and misunderstood by his listeners.

He further asserted that business, social, and personal satisfaction depend

heavily upon a speakers ability to communicate clearly to his listener what he

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is, what he desires, and what he believes in. In an atmosphere of international

tensions, fears, and insecurities, people need the channels of communication

to be kept open. De Mello Anthony (2005), in his listening with all six senses

further agrees that “listening is integral to our lives. It provides us with

important information and insights. It keeps us focused, balanced and

connected. Listening is essential to how people relate to one another and

nature. He further argues that listening is the key to building trust, gaining

understanding and creating conditions for taking action. Listening is an art

and a technique an attitude and an activity. It is a difficult skill to master

because it requires much more than the use of one’s ears and merely “hearing

the words”. Locker and Kaczmarek (2004) stated that people need to listen to

others both to find out what they are supposed to do and to learn about the

organization’s values and culture.

Nunan (1997) aptly said that a listener can be compared with a tape

recorder because the listener takes in and stores messages sequentially, in the

same way a tape-recorder does. There are many different types of listening

that can be classified according to a number of variables, including purpose

for listening, the role of the listener, and the type of text being listened to.

These variables are mixed in many different configurations, each of which

will require a particular strategy on the part of the listener. Listening to a

news broadcast to get a general idea of the news of the day involves different

processes and strategies from listening to the same broadcast for specific

information, such as the results of an important sporting event. Listening to a

sequence of instructions for operating a new piece of computer software

requires different listening skills and strategies from listening to a poem or

short story.

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Fowler (2005) highlighted that listening and hearing are not the same.

Hearing is actually just one stage of listening, which occurs when your ears

pick up sound waves and transmit these waves to the brain. While listening is

a whole communication process. By understanding the process and utilizing

the right tools, one can improve his /her listening skills, ensuring one to do

more than just hear the words. Listening requires one to understand and

evaluate every spoken message, and to follow this with the appropriate action,

that is to say, a response that confirms the spoken message. It is very wrong

for a listener to work while listening to a message.

Miller (1999), he suggested that effective listening skills can be

improved by working hard to keep ones focus on the message and make a

determined effort to return to focus when his /her mind begins to wonder. To

help in maintaining focus, the listener should make mental summaries of the

speaker’s main ideas and try to predict the speaker’s next main idea. These

two hints will help to keep one actively involved in what the speaker is

saying. According to Nugent and Halvorson (2002), active listening is

designed to overcome poor listening practices by requiring parties to listen to

and then restate their opponent’s statements, emphasizing the feelings

expressed as well as the substance. The purpose is to confirm that the listener

accurately understands the message sent and acknowledges that message,

although the listener is not required to agree. While dialogic listening

emphasizes conversation as a shared activity and stresses an open ended,

playful attitude toward the conversation.

De Boer (2005), is of the opinion that, “people spend approximately

9% of their time writing, 16% of their time reading, 30% of their time talking

and 45% of their time listening”. Listening is a fundamental part of the

communication process. Regardless of the type of job one does or the industry

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in which one works, it is important to understand the listening process, have

an awareness of barriers to listening effectively, and learn how to listen

actively. Attention is important in listening so that people can hear what is

being said to them, but often difficult due to distractions such as noise

intrusion or internal distractions such as thinking about something else rather

than what is being said.

People need to understand the context of the message, and understand

the significance of any verbal or non-verbal clues from the speaker. Having a

degree of background knowledge regarding the speaker or the subject is also

helpful. Akmajian, Demers, Farmer and Harnish (2001) asserted that a

“speaker has some message in mind that she wants to communicate to a

hearer. The speaker then produces some expression from the language that

encodes the message as its meaning. Upon hearing the beginning of the

expression, the hearer begins identifying the incoming sounds, syntax, and

meaning; then, using her knowledge of language, he composes these

meanings in the form of a successfully decoded message”. That is to say,

communication is successful if the listener receives the speaker’s message. It

works because messages have been conventionalized as the meaning of

expressions and by sharing knowledge of the meaning of an expression, the

listener can recognize a speaker’s message or communicative intention.

Okoro (2007) supported that communication does not merely mean

talking or writing to people. It means transmitting a message to evoke a

discriminating response. Listening is a part of communication as talking”.

Surprisingly, many people do not regard listening as an indispensable part of

communication. Okoro (2007) stated that, listening, whether in a social

conversation or around the table at a conference, is just a pause people feel

obliged to grant a speaker until they again have a chance to air, their opinions.

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He further highlighted that, this is not real listening in any sense of the word”.

According to him, to “actively listen to another requires will power,

concentration and great mental effort, only then do people really learn

something about the other person, his feelings, his ambitions, his hopes, his

aspirations, what his complaints are and his needs”. Consequently, as seen

from the above views, listening as a skill in effective communication enables

people to have full knowledge of whatever is being discussed. People do not

just learn about what is being discussed but also the language of discussion.

When a principal is equipped with listening skills, he or she is positioned for

further and expansive knowledge of ideas in a deeper perspective. According

to Okoro (2007), “it is a truism that the worst affliction on listening today is

what has been called Communication Addition Disorder (CAD). It is

condition that makes someone not to stop talking, despite the social rejection

that is associated with it. Principals should cultivate the listening habit to

enable them develop the critical ability required to process what they hear.

This is the heart of listening as a communication action.

According to Holmes (2004), most people think that they are good

listeners, but in fact, they are better talkers than listeners. To him, listening is

rated as the second most effective way to communicate and gain ones

objective. Effective listening is hard a work. It takes a real effort to make it

happen. It takes much more energy and concentration to listen than it does to

talk. The mind, the body, and the heart play major roles in listening. One need

to be disciplined to become a natural listener. Some people tend to listen with

their hearts, others tend to depend on the reasoning process. The heart

listeners will respond quicker to an emotional appeal, while the reasoning

listener will respond more rapidly to logical approaches. A good listener must

have or develop a clear-cut objective. Suffice it to say that listener listens to

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determine the other party’s objective, and then to develop a strategy to help

both parties reach their objectives. According to Payne (2001), if a tree falls

in the forest and there is no one present to hear it, does it make a sound? He

further explained that if somebody gives an information and one fails to

listen, that they have not actually expressed themselves. One of the most

important techniques of a successful professional is the skill of listening.

Payne (2001) quoting covey, uttered that one of the most important part of

covey’s seven habits of highly effective people is “Seek first to understand,

than to be understood”. This belief could be useful to school principals. Think

of a principal who is taking a complaint from the teacher or may be the

student. The teacher who approaches the communication with some negative

feelings is dissatisfied. The principal talking to the teacher is likely to be

defensive. These two attitudes could be difficult barriers to successful

communication. Good listening habits can over come the hindrances. The

teacher might begin by expressing dissatisfaction. The principal might be

tempted to interrupt with an apology or an explanation. In most cases,

however, hearing out the other person is the best thing to do. The principal

should realize that by allowing the teacher to explain the complaint fully, the

principal can often give him just what is needed.

Payne (2001) was of the opinion that listening is an active process and

also an intentional act. Far from being involuntary, listening requires

concentration, and effort. Without listening, the communication process itself

becomes ineffective. According to Agba and Okoro (1995), effective

communication is said to have taken place when “what is said is what is

meant and what is meant is what is understood and when what is understood

is what is done and what is done is the desired action. Maurus (2005) stated

that the receiver or decoder finds the meaning and the interpretation of the

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message. Decoding, therefore, involves perceiving the message as encoded by

the source by means of the mind and body senses. The receiver is the person

who hears the message. He decodes or retranslates the sources message,

putting it into a code that he can use. The receiver must pay attention in order

to make a decision on what he has heard or on what is being proposed.

Listening is perhaps the most over looked aspect of the communication. The

word communicate is synonymous to talking rather than listening. If one

speaks and no one listens, communication has not taken place. Speaking and

listening effectively are the two indispensable features of communication.

There can be no effective speech without someone to listen. According to

Sukh (2006), patient listening is the surest highway to happy relationships.

Yet, people are so eager or impatient to convey their thoughts, feeling or

viewpoints that they either completely ignore what the other person is saying

or pay little attention to it. Sometimes, people only hear the other person

without listening. Listening is to understand the message of the speaker.

Basically, hearing is through the ears whereas listening is through the heart.

The best way to exhibit listening is to hear the message full and then repeat to

the speaker what he has said, ending with the question.

To highlight more on the above assertions, if a principal happen to see

any of his or her teachers /students in a bad mood or emotionally upset, and

turns off other distractions, sit down close to him and say “Tell me all that is

bothering you”. And, when the principal have succeeded in listening to the

teacher or student patiently and fully, he will see worry vanishing from the

teacher’s or student’s face. He further asserted that the beauty of listening is

that even when the listener has not said a single word to the speaker, but just

listened to him, one is most likely to hear a compliment like, “you are such an

interesting person”. That is the magical power of listening. Without having

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uttered even a single word, one becomes a wonderful orator for the other

person, a great conversationalist, an interesting persons! The heart of effective

spoken communication is a receptive ear. Listening creates the surest and

deepest bond between two people. If principals can listen to their students or

teachers without uttering a word, the echo of their speechless words is bound

to resonate in their teachers and students’ heart day in and day out. Principals

who have patient ears can never be in a sick relationship. Good ears help

principals prevent trouble with teachers and students. If principals have a

great stamina for listening, the teachers will never cease to talk to them.

Ezeukwu (2000), stated that receivers listen or appreciate the message

through one, two or more of the sensory organs. Messages usually impinge on

receivers in the form of touch, smell, taste, or light and sound waves. They

must be in forms that stimulate any of the senses and cue the receiver.

Whatever the form of sensory stimulation, receivers must convert the energies

into meaningful experiences called decoding. Decoding is an internal activity

similar to the sources act of encoding. It is the internal processing of a

message and the assigning of meaning to the source’s behaviour; which

represents the sources internal state. Two things are involved here. They are

sensation and perception.

Any message coming to the mind through the sensory organs is called a

sensation. When that sensation is experienced and the message is in the mind,

the mind tries to make sense out of it. The action of the mind in giving

meaning to a sensation or communicative act is called perception. Decoding

is the action of the mind to give meaning to a sensation. It is pertinent

however to distinguish encoding from decoding.

Communication is an ongoing and reciprocal process, all the

participants, or “interpreters”, are working to create meaning by encoding and

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decoding messages. A message is first encoded, that is, transformed into an

understandable sign and symbol system. Speaking is encoding a message and

the message, once received is decoded: that is, the signs and symbols are

interpreted. Decoding occurs through listening. If a principal does not

comprehend the teacher’s words, he or she responds with “Huh?” or look

confused or yawn. This response, or feedback, is also a message. The receiver

(the principal) now becomes a source, sending his message to the source (the

teacher), who is now a receiver. Hence, communication is a reciprocal and

ongoing process with all involved parties more or less engaged in creating

shared meaning. According to Gamble and Gamble (2002), when one listens

to information, he interprets and assign meaning to the spoken words. He

thinks carefully about what another person has said and also evaluates the

reality of the spoken message. Just as speakers can get carried away with their

message’s urgency and importance, listeners can end up believing false or

dangerous ideas that have been made to appear reasonable. Consequently, it is

essential for a listener to stay alert so that he will be ready to challenge and

raise questions about what he is listening to. Most people are born with the

ability to hear. Hearing is a process that occurs automatically and requires no

conscious effort on your part. If the physiological elements within your ears

are functioning properly, your brain will process the impulses received, and

hearing takes place. What one does with the impulses after receiving them

belongs to the realm of listening. Listening is a deliberate process through

which one seeks to understand and retain aural stimuli. Listening depends on

a complex set of skills that must be acquired. Listening requires one’ to make

an active, conscious effort to comprehend and remember what one hears. Too

many sounds bombard people in their various environment. Thus, in listening,

one processes the external sounds to select those that are relevant to one’s

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activities and interests. Flowerdew and Miller /Madden (2006) averred that,

critical listening encourages teachers and learners to think about the socio

political nature of the texts to which they listen, certainly an important

consideration in an interconnected world.

Nunan (1997) stated that listening is fundamental to speaking. Two

views of listening involve processing view and the interpretation view. The

processing model assumes that listening is a process of decoding the sounds

that one hears in a linear, fashion, from the smallest meaningful units

(phonemes) to complete texts. The alternative interpretation view, suggests

that the listener actively reconstructs the original meaning of the speaker

using incoming sounds as clues. In this reconstruction process, the listener

uses prior knowledge of the context and situation within which the listening

takes place to make sense of what he or she hears. Just as written

communication needs both a writer and a reader, oral communication is also a

two-way process. For oral communication to be possible, there must be both a

listener and a speaker. Clark, Zimmer and Tinervia (2001), stated that

“whether one is at school, at social activities, or at work, what one hears,

says; and how one says it are equally important. When people listen, facial

expressions and gestures are important to give the speaker clues that they are

understanding or that they need more information to understand the message”.

According to Lucas (2001) most people are shockingly poor listeners. They

fake paying attention. They can look right at someone, appear interested in

what that person says, even nod their head or smile at the appropriate

moments without really listening. Listening involves paying close attention

to, and making sense of, what people hear. He further stated that “even when

they think they are listening carefully, they usually grasp only 50 percent of

what they hear. After two days, they can remember only half of that or 25

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percent of the original message. It’s little wonder that listening has been

called a lost art”. Pearson, Nelsen, Titsworth and Hurter (2003), highlighted

that listening is an active process involving the construction, retention, and

reaction to meanings people assign to information.

Peterson in Adler and Elmhorst (2002) explains:

Back to basics, actually the best basic of all, the ability to listen is a vital communication tool that is endangered, in my humble opinion, by all this technology. Too many times, whether it’s with e-mail, voice mail or internet, we are concentrating on the art of telling, not listening. Yet good listening, in my opinion, is 80 to 90 percent of being a good manager and an effective leader. Listening is one of the best ways to keep high touch in your organization. In your day-to-day meetings with customer’s, clients, or employees, if you listen with full eye contact and attention you can own the keys to the communication kingdom(P.111).

Similarly, Locker and Kaczmarek (2004) opined that good listeners pay

attention, focus on other speakers, in a generous way rather than on

themselves, avoid making assumptions, and listen for feelings as well as for

facts. Good listening requires energy. Listeners have to resist distractions and

tune out noise. Principals should focus on the teachers, students and

community in a generous way. Some principals listen, looking for flaws.

They may focus on factors other than the substance of the speech or they may

listen as if the discussion is a war, listening for points on which they can

attack the other speaker. Good listeners, realize that people who are not

polished speakers may nevertheless have something to say. Rather than

pouncing on the first error they hear and turning out the speaker, they wait

impatiently for their turn to speak; good listeners weigh all the evidence

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before they come to judgment. They realize that they can learn something

even from people they do not like. However, to buttress the point, they-

pointed, out that to avoid listening errors caused by self-absorption, listeners

should: Focus on the substance of what the speaker says, not his or her

appearance or delivery, spend time evaluating what the speaker says, not just

planning his rebuttal and consciously work to learn something from every

speaker.

Furthermore, Camp and Scatterwhite (1998) opined that listening is the

act of filtering out distractions to allow one to comprehend the meaning of

sounds. Some administrators spend more of their time talking than they spend

in listening. Surveys have shown that the majority of the administrators spend

roughly 70 percent of their working day engaged in communication; about

half of that time is spent listening. However, most people remember only

about 25 percent of what they hear. They hear but do not really listen.

Continuing, the authors noted thus:

listening is like breathing. One begins listening without ever studying how to listen or being aware of the way he is listening. Listening is different from the other communication skills in that you were not taught to listen. When people were learning to talk, someone corrected them when they made mistakes or mispronounced words. Learning to read and write involved even more formal instruction and practice. Most people assume that listening is automatic, but it is really an acquired skill. They stipulated that the first step in becoming a better listener is to make listening less routine. One needs to be aware of the kind of listening that is required in each situation and to learn how to make your listening more productive(P.65).

On the other hand, McCutcheon, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994) are of the

view that “what people get out of listening depends on what you put into it”.

As a listener, one tends to think that the responsibility for successful

communication lies with the person doing the talking. This attitude causes

21

him to become a passive listener. And he automatically fails to respond to the

speaker’s message. Active listeners, on the other hand, play an active role by

guiding the speaker towards common interests. Be that as it may, most

secondary school principals are poor listeners, an unfortunate situation that

can often lead to mistakes, misunderstandings, and even disaster. Yet

listening is a skill that principals can master if they are willing to adopt the

right attitude and practice a few simple techniques. If principals, succeed as

good listener’s, they not only help themselves in the quest for knowledge and

success, but they also, help the speaker, who is motivated by their attention

and stirred by their encouragement. Good listening is a valuable skill. Infact,

listening is regarded as the top management skill needed for success in an

organization such as school. Good listening also helps principals to keep

things in the right perspective. Basically, listening is the process of

understanding what was meant, not simply sensing what was said. By

contrast, hearing is simply an automatic reaction of the sense and nervous

system. For instance, a listener can hear a speaker talking especially when the

speaker speaks loud enough; but if he does not like or trust the speaker he

may not listen to what the speaker says. To crown it all, listening is a

voluntary act in which people use their higher mental process. Hearing is the

first stage of listening. Hearing occurs when the ears pick up sound waves

which are then transported to the brain. This stage is the sense of hearing. In

other words, one must be an active participant in this communication process.

In active listening, meaning and evaluation of a message must take place

before a listener can respond to a speaker. People’s thought speed is much

faster than their speech speed. But one has to be careful not to allow the

thought speed to race into day dreaming. This habit will defeat one’s attempt

to become an active listener.

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Deep Listening is a practice that involves noticing and directing

attention and interpreting what is heard. Deep Listening is exploring the

relationship among sounds. Listening takes cultivation and evolves through

one’s lifetime. Listening is actively directing one’s attention to what is heard

and directing the interaction and relationships of sounds and modes of

attention. People hear in order to listen, listen in order to interpret themselves

and the world and to experience meaning (Oliveros, 2005). The world is made

of vibrations as people are made of vibrations. Vibration connects us with all

beings and connects us to all things. People open themselves to vibration in

order to listen to the world as a field of possibilities and they listen with

narrowed attention for specific things in the world. They interpret what they

hear according to the way they are listening. Principals who are good listeners

try to understand thoroughly what the teacher, student or member of the

community is saying. In the end they may disagree sharply, but before they

disagree, they want to know exactly what it is. Active listening intentionally

focuses on who one is listening to, whether in a group or one-on-one, in order

to understand what the speaker is saying. As the listener, one should then be

able to repeat back in his own words what the speaker has said. This does not

mean that you have agreed with, but rather understand, what he is saying.

Listening is integral to people’s lives. It provides important information

and insights. It keeps people focused, balanced and connected. Listening is

essential to how people relate with one another, with nature, and with other

aspects of the world. Listening is perhaps the single most powerful and

effective tool that principals have at their disposal. Listening is the key to

building trust, gaining understanding, and creating the conditions for taking

action. Without it, little can be done to effect change or accomplish anything

of lasting value. Listening is an art and a technique, an attitude and an

23

activity. It is a difficult skill to master for it requires much more than the use

of one’s ears and merely hearing the words. Listening well requires the use of

one’s whole being. Like any other skill, it needs to be learned and practiced

over and over. Listening is ultimately a commitment to enter actively and

deeply into a relationship with another human being. Though not always easy,

it is through such relationships that the listener can also be renewed and

rewarded by the relationship itself and the gifts that the other brings to it.

(Nouwen, 2002).

To listen and think critically, one must analyze the communication

situation and the message. Analysis of the message includes evaluating the

accuracy or presence of factual information, and analyzing the types of

arguments and proofs presented by the speaker. (Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth

and Harter, 2003). Wolfgang (2001) and Charles (2002), and Vigneron (2006)

asserted that listening is really about slowing down and taking the time to

value other people and their ideas. As principals, it is important to stop

whatever they are doing and listen to the students, even if it warrants telling

them to wait for about a minute, finish up what they are doing and then give

them their full attention. Teachers and students learn by example, and if

principals take the time to listen to their concerns, give them their full

attention and listen to what they have to say, hopefully they will do the same

when they interact with other people.

Carnegie (2004) averred that effective listening is really where

effective communication begins. It is surprising how few people actually

listen attentively, but dynamic leaders are the ones who have understood the

value of listening. Carnegie asserted that no one can possibly know

everything, listening to others is the only best way to learn. That is to say,

listening to employees, to customers, and to your friends and family, even to

24

what harsh critics have to say. It does not mean becoming a captive of other

people’s views, but means hearing them out.

Many people think of listening as passive, talking as active, Carnegie

explained that even the clichés people use in their expressions worth to be

listened to. Simply hearing what someone says is a relatively passive activity,

but effective listening is a highly active sport. To him, listening involves

concentration, genuine engagement, questioning and prodding. It also

involves some types of response, quick, thoughtful, and concise. A good

listener bends toward the speaker physically, he leans on him mentally with

every word that he utters. He is with the speaker every moment, nodding and

smiling at the right times. He listens a little closer, it is a sound rule to follow

for social, business and educational success. A good listening environment is

where listening begins. Fear, anxiety and nervousness are hindrances to

effective listening. That is why principals always make sure that their

classrooms and the entire school environment are conducive, comfortable and

hospitable places. If the principals, teachers or students are tensed and

nervous in the school, they are not free to listen.

People everywhere love to be listened to and they almost respond to

others who listen to them. Listening is one of the best techniques people have

for showing respect to someone else. Furthermore, listening to someone else’s

opinions is often the best method of getting people around to your way of

thinking. School principals should know that the secret of influencing the

teachers, students or the community at large lies not so much in being a good

talker as in being a good listener. Most principals trying to win others to their

way of thinking do too much talking themselves. They should allow the

teachers and the students to express themselves and ask them questions. If the

principal disagrees with them, he may be tempted to interrupt. This situation

25

could be dangerous because they will not pay attention to him while they still

have a lot of ideas of theirs crying for expressions. Principals should listen

patiently and with an open mind and sincerity. They should also encourage

them to express their ideas fully and principals could learn from them.

Nobody is more persuasive than a good listener.

We were given two ears but only one mouth, because listening is twice

as hard as talking (Nadig: 1999). He further argued that expressing out wants,

feelings, thoughts and opinions clearly and effectively is only half of the

communication process needed for interpersonal effectiveness. The other half

is listening and understanding what others communicate to us. Principal who

practice active listening will know when misunderstanding occurs and the

communication can be clarified before any further misunderstanding.

Invariably, that is why Von-Happel (2005) and Vilaga (2005) are of the view

that, it is hard to do the wrong thing if you are talking to enough people and

listening to what the masses are telling you. According to O’Malley, Chamat

and Kupper (1998), listening comprehension is viewed theoretically as an

active process in which individuals focus on selected aspects of aural input,

construct meaning from passages, and relate what they hear to existing

knowledge. Nadig (1999), opined that listening is as important to a career as

learning to speak well. Communication is incomplete without both. He

suggested the two secrets to effective communication which principals can

also apply. They are: listening closely to people when they are speaking and

noticing their individual differences.

Good listening is a skill that requires practice and can be acquired over

time. It does not come naturally (Holt, 2002; Bear,2007; Reh 2007). In

Traylor (2003), it is opined that listening is harder than what most people

26

think because it is an acquired skill just like reading and writing. It is

probably one of the most valuable skills to learn.

The experience of deep listening engenders a powerful interaction, a

stronger relationship and mutual understanding. Nichols (2007), stated that

the most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be

understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them. Bell

(2007) and Rooney (2007) opined that a little recognized value of listening

and inquiring relates to the realization of human relationships. There is

benefit in learning what someone else’s concept of the reality of the situation

is, no matter how wrong it might be. An intelligent person is someone who

listens with understanding. Bradley (2007) and Crosby (2007) commented

that listening means an awareness, an openness to learning something new

about another person. Interrupting, even for clarification, can seem to be rude,

but listening with the intent to learn is an approach to a different type of

conversation. People listen in order to learn and retain information. If people

are speaking, they are not listening or learning anything to add to their sum of

knowledge. This is why the first step to effective listening is to stop talking

(Fracaro 2007; Debold,2007). Kaiser (2007), stated that “I make progress by

having people around me who are smarter than I am and listening to them.

And I assume that everyone is smarter about something than I am”. Koile

(2007), asserted “I feel like a terribly slow learner in acknowledging that only

in recent years have I come to learn that listening is a primary way by which I

can become a significant person in my own eyes and in the eyes of others.

And I must continually relearn it”.

People should never pretend to know what they do not know, they

should not feel ashamed to ask and learn from lower people, and they should

listen attentively to the views of low careers. If one talks less, one will

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automatically learn more, hear more, see more and make fewer blunders If in

all human practices of life people could learn to listen, if people could grasp

what the other persons are saying the major hostilities of life would disappear.

When one talks, he repeats what he already knows, when he listens, he often

learn something (Smitt 2007; MacCormack; Jared 2007).

Barker (2007) highlighted that effective listeners remember that the

assignment of meaning to a term is an internal process; meaning comes from

inside. And although people’s experiences, knowledge and attitudes differ,

they often misinterpret each other’s messages while under the illusion that a

common understanding has been achieved. Listening for and identifying the

tone in others and adapting appropriately, as well being conscious of the tone

of one’s messages will determine the person’s communication efficiency.

According to Coakley (2007) people’s first responsibility as effective

listeners is to understand themselves as communicators. Just as the sources of

the communication message should be trained in self-intrapersonal

communication. Every speaker has something to teach a listener and as soon

as the person accepts this fact, he opens himself to effective listening.

Doucette (2007) and Fracaro (2007) stipulated that people listen in order to

learn and retain information. If they are speaking, they are not listening or

learning anything to add to their sum of knowledge. Listening effectively to

others can be the most fundamental and powerful communication tool of all.

When someone is willing to stop talking or thinking and begins listening to

others, all of their interactions become easier, and communication problems

are all eliminated. And in a business environment, not listening effectively to

customers, employees, and peers can mean the difference between success

and failure. Chen (2007) is of the view that listening well is as powerful

means of communication and influence as to talk well. When making

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personal decisions, listen to what the head says, then listen to what the heart

says. If they differ, follow that heart! Whenever one listens to what his heart

says, he listens to that part of him that is most interested in his well-being.

Principals who listen effectively, especially to their heart’s intuition make less

mistakes in decision matters.

Drucker (2001) asserted that “the most important thing in

communication is to hear what is not being said” He is of the view that one of

the golden rules of the therapy profession is that everyone needs at lease one

person with whom they can openly and unashamedly discuss every little

detail, happenings, desires, fears of their life, whether it is from the past,

present, or future. There are other psychological needs to be accepted

unconditionally, appreciated, recognized, respected, desired, valued, approved

of, or complimented that affect the way people communicate. It is pertinent to

listen carefully, ask questions, to show that one is genuinely interested.

People appreciate, respect and value others who are great listeners.

On a more general note, Litvinoff (1992), and Beare (2007) are of the

opinion that a good listener is someone who lets another person talk and does

not interrupt with opinions and criticisms. A good listener only occasionally

gives advice and very rarely does so unasked. These people are easy to talk to

because the speaker does not feel as if he is being judged, laughed at,

despised or disliked. A good listener makes the speaker feel respected,

accepted and interesting. Some people have more of a natural talent for

listening than others, but everybody can be trained to develop the skills of a

good listener.

Moreover, this work is interested in the influence of gender in

listening skill. Adler and Elmhorst (2002) opined that men and women listen

differently to at least some degree. Women often pay more attention to

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relational messages like signals indicating how they feel about one another.

Relational messages includes affinity; which means the degree to which a

communicator likes the other person or a particular message that is being sent.

On the other hand, men often pay more attention to information on the

content level. Another gender related difference involves “listening noise”.

Men and women often use and interpret listening noises differently. Women

may use it to signal attention while men use it to signal agreement. Women

are more likely to catch the feeling behind a speaker’s words while men tend

to listen for the facts. Gender differences do not just affect how people listen

to one another, they also influence whether they listen at all. Tannen (1990),

asserted that “women are not as likely to be listened to as men, regardless of

how they speak or what they say”. In school meeting, it is not uncommon for

an idea by a women to be ignored or downplayed, while the idea presented by

a man receives more attention. Principals who are aware of this tendency can

train themselves to give equal attention to the messages of every

communicator regardless of sex. She argued that most women use “rapport

talk” as a way of establishing relationships. Women tend to listen to things

they have in common with others. While men use “report talk” to preserve

their independence and maintain status. Men learn to use talking as a way to

get and keep attention. Consequently, they have a harder time learning to be

good listeners.

Similarly, McCutchean, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994), stated that there

be significant differences between the sexes when it comes to stopping a

speaker in mid-sentence. When a man and a woman are talking, the man

makes about 96 percent of the interruptions. But when men talk to men and

women talk to women, the number of interruptions are about the same. Men

appear to have few other gender specific habits regarding speck. They usually

30

listen to what is being said for about the first ten or fifteen seconds and begin

to think about what they can add to the conversation. Men have been taught

since childhood to be problem solvers. As a result, they tend to enter a

conversation too quickly. They fail to listen for more information before

jumping to a conclusion. Stress on influence of gender on listening for more

information before jumping to a conclusion. Stressing on influence of gender

on listen on listening skills Mckenna (1998), maintained that despite the

success of women’s liberation movement and the increase in the number of

women in education administration, men and women speak and listen

differently. For communication between men and women administrators to be

effective, people must recognize the differences between male and female

listening styles. Men and women, whether speaking or listening, use

communication needs. For men such needs include to feel accepted, admired,

appreciated, approved of, and to feel trusted. On the other hand, women needs

involve to feel validated, understood, reassured and to feel cared about.

The Need for Listening Skills in School Administration

Listening is clearly an essential skill for effective communicators. The

importance of listening is even clearer when people consider how they use it

in their personal and professional lives. Listening help principals and teachers

to build and maintain relationships and can even help them to determine

whether the person we are talking to is being deceitful (Di Batista, 1997).

Listening skills are also recognized as essential skills for administrative

success (Gobby, 2000). Because of effective listening skills, organizations are

able to improve workplace relationships and become more productive

(Salopek, 1999). It is easy to see how effective listening and speaking skills

influence school administrations. Giving and taking messages, conducting

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and participating in meetings, making and listening to formal presentations,

giving and taking spoken directions. All these important school managements

involve oral communications.

Clark, Zimmer and Tinervia (2001) opined that new friends and enrich

and deepen their existing friendships. In secondary school today, many class

hours are devoted to lessons and discussions, so doubling principals listening

effectiveness would increase their learning productivity. Efficient listening

leads to in improved learning which is pertinent in leadership. To advance in

a leadership, they should be aware of what is going on in their department and

in the school. This awareness comes in part from intelligent listening

(Listening to others can embolden and enable them, not listening can damage

a person’s spirit and effectiveness, crush initiative and break down

performance. (Zweifel, 2003; Martin, 1998; and D’Abreo, 2004).

Efficient listening contributes to success in all areas of life, but

particularly in school administration. Good listening habits are so important

that many large schools provide listening training for many of their executives

and supervisory personnel. For any school organization to be effective,

management must be able to listen. Successful supervisors and school

administrators do not just give orders; they also do a lot of listening. They

listen to their teachers so that they can establish good teachers relationships.

They also listen to their subordinates because they know that subordinates

often contribute time saving and money-saving ideas. Failure to listen can

result in errors and misunderstandings that can be costly in time, money, and

goodwill.

According to McCutcheon, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994), the good

listener is popular everywhere. He will make more friends by listening than

by speaking. Listening skills is both an attitude principals can learn and a set

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of techniques they can master with practice. The merits of good listening

skills are tremendous, and they transcend just acquiring information. Good

listeners encourage speakers to do their best. Good listeners also enhance

their own ability to speak by improving their concentration. Best of all, they

learn to think better. Listening is a thinking skill which requires one to be

selective with his attention, to classify and categorize information, and to sort

out important concepts from facts, jokes, and stories. Good listening skill is

pertinent in a society that grants freedom of speech to all people, whatever

their views or causes. Listening will rarely get people in trouble.

Lucas (2001) rightly claimed that in our communication-oriented age,

listening is more important than ever. This is why, in most schools, effective

listeners hold higher positions and are promoted more often than people who

are ineffective listeners. When school administrators are asked to rank-order

the communication skills most crucial to their jobs, they usually rank listening

number one. The art of listening can be helpful in almost every part of one’s

life. It is also observed that some people spend more time listening than doing

any other communicative activity like reading, writing and speaking.

In the same vein, Locker, and Kaczmarek (2004) rightfully noted, that

principals need to listen even to people with whom they have major conflicts.

They further explained that, listening skills enable them to find out why their

opponent object to the programs or ideas they approve. Awareness of the

objections to their ideas is necessary if they are to overcome those objections.

Efficient listening is crucial when they are criticized, especially by

supervisors or inspectors. They need to know which areas are most important

and exactly what kind of improvement counts. Listening actively to people is

an indication that they are taking them seriously. If they really listen to the

people they disagree with, they show that they respect them. Similarly, Adler

33

and Elmhorst (2002) opined that active listening skills can play a major role

in career success. Better listeners occupied higher levels in their

organizations. In problem-solving groups, people who listen well are rated as

having the best leadership skills. Deep listening skill is the best factor in

distinguishing good administrators from poor ones. Good listeners are happier

on the job, and others are more satisfied working with them. But it does not

mean that school principals should dance to all the tunes and caprices of their

Subordinates. According to Pearson (2003), understanding listening is

important because effective listening behaviours are related to success in

personal relationships, workplace productivity, and even ability to think

clearly. They further assert that the reason why listening is so important is

that listening is directly connected to our ability to think about and remember

information. According to Staiano (2007), the ability to speak effectively is a

necessary component to successful communication. The ability to listen is

equally important. The importance of listening in communication is often well

illustrated when administrators analyze their listening skills with those closest

to them. Principals should pay attention to the every day conversations they

have with teachers, students and communities with whom they think they

communicate well.

The importance of listening in communication is something worthwhile

to consider. Good listeners are often some of the best speakers because they

have taken the time to find out what people are truly interested in. If

principals understand what are important to teachers, students and

communities, then, they understand how to reach them. This aforementioned

strategies are very effective in the school. If principals are really listening to

what the subordinates want, it will be that much easier to fulfill their needs.

The teachers, students, will be impressed that the super-ordinate listened to

34

what they were communicating. Listening skills are pre-requisite for the

accomplishment of school programmes, objectives and the attainment of

educational goals. Covey (2004), stipulated that as the principal learns to

listen deeply to teachers, students and workers, he discovers tremendous

difference in perception. He will also begin to appreciate the impact that these

difference in perception can have as people try to work together in

interdependent situations. Their perceptions can be vastly different. And yet

they both have lived with their paradigms for years, thinking that they are

facts, and questioning the character or the mental competence of anyone who

cannot see the facts. Now, with all their differences, they were trying to work

together in the school and accomplish results.

Becoming a good listener is important to maintaining and nurturing

relationships as well as getting ahead on the job. Good listening skills help

one to learn and understand as well as project a warm and caring attitude. Ivy

sea online (2006) and Carnegie (2002) averred that listening skills engenders

a powerful interaction, a stronger relationship and mutual understanding that

helps decrease friction and conflict. It gives people the opportunity to build a

storehouse of information that can be used to their advantage. That is to say,

if one gives attention to people, it is right and proper for them to give their

attention back to the person. The person utilizes the information to complete

his goals without interruption.

Nadig (1999) highlighted that people act and respond on the basis of

their understanding. But there is a misunderstanding that neither of them is

aware of with listening skills, if a misunderstanding has occurred, it will be

known immediately and the communication can be clarified before any

further misunderstanding occurs. He further listed other benefits such as:

35

It often easier for a person to listen to and consider the other’s position

when that person knows the other is listening and considering his or her

position.

It helps people to spot the flaws in their reasoning when they hear it

played back without criticism.

It also helps identify areas of agreement and the areas of disagreement

are put in perspective and are diminished rather than magnified.

Reflecting back what listeners hear each other say helps give each a

chance to become aware of the different levels that are going on below

the surface. This helps to bring things into the open where they can be

more readily resolved.

If listeners accurately understand the other person’s view, they can be

more effective in helping the person see the flaws in his position.

If people listen, they can accurately understand the other’s view, and

they can also be more effective in discovering the flaws in their own

position.

Principals should talk to teachers frequently to learn their communication

style and observing them regularly will help him become familiar with their

individual mannerisms, and their body language. Being alert and respectful to

cultural differences is especially pertinent. Principals who listen attentively

set a positive example for their teachers and provide a foundation for a stable

relationship. According to Manktelow (2005), good communication skills are

essential for any successful career. By improving one’s listening skills, one

can radically improve his relationships with the people around him.

Conflictive relationships can become productive, difficulties can be smoothed

36

over and otherwise escalating problems can be eradicated. By understanding

messages fully, one can save time, energy and resources.

Kinds of Listening

According to Nadig 1999, the three Basic listening modes are as follows

1. Competitive or combative listening happens when people are more

interested in promoting their point of view than in understanding or

exploring someone else’s view. They either listen for openings to take

the floor, or for flaws or weak points they can attack. As they pretend

to pay attention they are impatiently waiting for an opening, or

internally formulating the rebuttal and planning devastating response

that will destroy the speakers argument and make them the victor.

2. In passive or attentive listening people are genuinely interested in

hearing and understanding the other person’s point of view. They are

attentive and passively listen. They assume that they heard and

understand correctly, but stay passive and do not verify it.

3. Active or Reflective listening is the single most useful and important

listening skill. In active listening, people are also genuinely interested

in understanding what the other person is thinking, feeling, wanting or

what the message means, and they are active in checking out their

understanding before they respond with their new message. They

restate or paraphrase their understanding of the message and reflect it

back to the sender for verification. This verification or feedback

process is what distinguishes active listening and makes it effective

levels of communication.

Camp and Satterwhite (1998) view about types of listening is that there

are two kinds of listening: passive and active. The variation between these

37

two types of listening is the degree of the listener’s participation. Passive

listeners concentrate at a low degree and assimilate just only the speaker’s

speech simply just to keep the conversation going. They do not have indepth

understanding of what the speaker is saying. Often, passive listeners permit

the speaker’s inflection or tone of voice signal and react by nodding, smiling,

or saying “I see”. Such reactions can suggest that the speaker has the

listeners’ attention even though that may not be the case (Camp and

Satterwhite, 1998). They further explained that passive listening is

appropriate when one is listening for satisfaction. In this situation, it does not

matter whether one retains what he or she hears or not. For instance, when

one is reading a magazine and listening to musical tones or rather to a

television show, the person is listening passively because he or she does not

need to hear and assimilate every note of the music or every word that is said.

At times, one uses the music or talk as background and listen attentively only

when he or she hears something that attracts his or her interest.

On the other perspective, they described active listening as the most

appropriate listening strategy at the workplace and in the school. According to

them, active listening involves higher level of concentration because the

person involved is listening for information. Principals need to listen carefully

to supervisor’s directions about the procedure to follow in performing

particular tasks. School conversations are filled with names, dates, places,

prices, requests, suggestions etc. All these features of school conversations

are very important and involve active listening skill. School principals as

active listeners concentrate at a high level on what is being said, and they

participate mentally. The principal should hear the students and teachers

requests and preferences. To be successful in an organization such as school,

the principal should know how to listen actively.

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Active listening is the main way of finding out what is happening in the

school environment. Active listening provides the principal with vital

information and signals. If principals are prepared to listen, they are more

likely to receive the information they need from teachers, students, members

of the community, friends, parents, co-workers, instructors, and supervisors.

Listening actively is one of the primary means of gathering the information

that is necessary in your life and your work.

According to Pearson, Nelson, Titsworth and Harter (2003), listening is

classified into four main types. They are as follows: active listening, empathic

listening, critical listening, and listening for enjoyment.

Active Listening

Active listening involves listening with a purpose. Active listening

involves these steps:

(a) Listening carefully by using all available senses.

(b) Paraphrasing what is heard both mentally and verbally.

(c) Checking your understanding to ensure accuracy.

(d) Providing the necessary feedback. Feedback comprises of the listener’s

verbal and non-verbal communications to the speaker and the speaker’s

information. The response the receiver sends to the sender is called

feedback. Feedback may be direct and immediate or indirect and

delayed. It can be positive, where the speaker’s message is confirmed,

or negative, where the speaker’s message is disconfirmed. When the

principal gets feedback that he understands and agrees with, he makes

the change. If the reverse is the case, it is advisable to ask for

clarification. It is easy to feel defensive when someone criticizes the

39

speaker’s speech. If the feedback is negative, put it aside and listen to it

without feeling defensive.

Even if one thinks that the listener has misunderstood what he was

trying to say, the fact that the listener complained means that the

communication could be improved. For instance, as a school principal, if the

teacher says “This is not true” and he knows that the statement is true, several

kinds of revision might make the truth clear to the listener such as. rephrasing

the statement, giving more information or examples.

Empathic Listening

Empathic listening is a form of active listening where you attempt to

understand the other person. You engage in empathic listening by using both

mindfulness, which is being “fully engaged in the moment”. Empathy is the

ability of one to perceive another person’s world view as if it is his own.

Critical listening

Critical listening involves challenging the speaker’s message by

evaluating its accuracy, meaningfulness, and utility. Critical listening and

critical thinking really go together in the sense that people cannot listen

critically if they do not think critically. Strategies in critical listening are

pertinent because principals are constantly bombarded with official calls and

other persuasive messages.

Listening for enjoyment

Listening for enjoyment as the name implies, connotes listening for

pleasure, satisfaction, merriment, relaxation and others. Individuals listen for

enjoyment. Whether they are listening to their favourite musical artist, their

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favourite television show, or their group of friends talking about an upcoming

concert, they continue listening because they enjoy it. Besides helping them to

relax, studies have shown that listening to enjoyable music can even reduce

pain for hospital patients. A dose of music may ease the pain (Pearson,

Nelson, Titsworth and Harter, 2003). According to Payne (2001), while we all

want to be good listeners, it is probably not realistic to be listening intently all

the time. Listening involves concentration and effort, so people reserve their

most demanding listening skills for special occasions. People can appreciate

this when they consider the levels of listening.

1. Listening for enjoyment

This is the easiest of the five levels of listening. People listen for

enjoyment when they listen to music, radio, television or for their own

entertainment. It requires momentary concentration. In a social settings

listening for enjoyment is listening to a light conversation. Listening for

enjoyment is a step above hearing. Hearing is a physical process. Though

listening requires mental involvement. Listening for enjoyment requires very

little active involvement in the process.

2. Listening for information

When people listen to a class discussion or an informative speech, they

are actually listening for information. This level of listening requires more

concentration than listening for enjoyment. Here one is expected to retain,

remember and recall information.

3. Critical listening

Critical listening involves listening for an information, analyzing and

evaluating the information. A critical listener takes information and retains it.

He questions the information and tests it against other information. A critical

listener is able to offer more thoughtful and perceptive feedback. Listening

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critically means listening with the intent of evaluating or judging what one

hears. It requires a high level of involvement and concentration.

School principals who apply critical listening skills are good

communicators. By listening closely to what teachers say, examining it, and

judging it, they can give them sound advice on what they are saying.

4. Precision listening

Precision refers to accuracy, being exact or the ability to distinguish

clearly. This skill in listening transcends listening critically. Precision

listening is listening with attention to details that give you clues to the

speaker’s emotion or state of mind. Precision listeners hear the facts, and the

subtle changes in a speaker’s voice that reveal what the speaker feels. They

are in tune with what is said, that is to say the substance of the speech and as

well the style which something is said.

If a school principal is going to judge or evaluate a teacher, he might

pay attention to how the teacher says something as well as to what he is

saying. Suffice it to say that a precision listener will hear more than words. A

precision listener will hear the subtleties of the message.

5. Empathic listening

This is the highest level of listening. It involves concentration,

retention, and judgment. It connotes the ability to put oneself in someone

else’s place and understand his or her feelings. An empathic listener is

motivated to listen for an understanding of how the speaker feels and why

someone feels a certain way.

Below are some features of an empathic listener:

An empathic listener often will not offer a personal opinion.

An empathic listener will serve as a sounding board, even when

someone is venting emotions that are difficult to talk about.

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An empathic listener suspends judgment, offering opinions when

asked.

An empathic listener understands that a person has chosen to talk and

respects the role of a listener.

An empathic listener respects the feelings of others, without necessarily

agreeing with those feelings.

Gamble and Gamble (2002: 195) highlighted on various kinds of

ineffective listeners. He classified the various categories as thus:

Fraudulent Listeners

Fraudulent listeners are pseudolisteners; they are also nodders. People

practice fraudulent listening and engage in nodding pretence that they are

listening. They look at the speaker; nod their heads appropriately in

agreement or disagreement, and make utterances such as “mm” or “uh-huh”

that imply they are paying attention. In reality, the words are falling on deaf

ears. Fraudulent listeners are seen as counterfeit listeners who fake listening

process. The result is that they listen without deriving meaning from the

message. Their reasons for ineffective listening may be that they are

occupied; that the conversation is less interesting or that they are thinking and

concentrating on their personal thoughts.

Monopolistic Listeners

Monopolistic listeners are concerned about their view. They want the

other person to listen to them but have little or no time to listen to another

person. They are characterized by egocentric attributes, and as a result,

intrigued and obsessed with their thoughts and ideas.

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Completers

Completers are regarded as gap fillers; they create the impression that

the whole messages are well apprehended while as in the real perspective,

they never quite get the whole story when they listen. To augment for what

they have missed or misinterpreted, they manufacture information to fill in

the gaps.

Selective listeners

Selective listeners are compared with bees pursuing honey in a flower;

they concentrate on only those portions of a speaker’s remarks that they are

interested in. Everything else the speaker says is considered inconsequential

and thus is rejected. The irony is that selective listeners, in their search for

just the honey, often miss the flower.

Avoiders

Avoiders figuratively wear earmuffs; they close their ears to messages

they would rather not deal with. Sometimes they pretend not to understand

what one tells them or rather act as if they did not hear at all. Sometimes they

simply forget what the speaker has said.

Defensive listeners

When one listens defensively, he assumes others are going to criticize

or belittle him. He is always filled up with the assumptions that the other

person does not like, trust, or respect him. As a result, he is apt to pounce

when another person asks a simple question, or he is likely to perceive a

threat in the comments of another, where there is no existence of such threats.

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In a more concise term, defensive listeners tend to perceive the remarks of

other persons as personal affronts or attacks.

Attackers

Attackers lie in wait, hoping to find ways they can use to diminish the

speakers effectiveness. Rather than working to understand the meaning and

conducting a discussion that is open and fair, they compete with the speaker

to advance their personal goal or rather to out do the speaker when compared.

Holmes (2004), described four basic ways people listen as follows:

Passive listening is listening with an ear tuned to the television set or

something else and the other ear tuned to the conversation going on. Many

people fall into this bad habit as they try to do too much in this busy complex

world. The extreme in passive listening is when someone deliberately closes

his or her mind and refuses to acknowledge any message. This is problematic

to someone trying to actualize an objective. It is also referred as road block

listening. It can be extremely difficult to discern what messages get through to

passive listeners and in what form.

Active listening requires silent involvement. The whole body is active,

supplying direct eye contact, a warm smile, and body action that emits energy

and expresses support. Complete concentration and a clear, open and are

required. Positive active listeners are welcome anywhere while negative

passive listeners are shunned. It is more stimulating to join an active listening

conversation. It is a hard work, but the effort wins friends.

Judgmental listening is listening with a person’s filter in action. These

filters in the form of prejudgments act as barriers. The listener’s decision

making process stands inaccessible. The mind may be made up or partially

open to reason. It requires less thought and at the same time gives the other

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party a sense of being in control of the conversation. A judgmental listener is

always balancing current facts on the table with the experiences in his or her

memory bank.

Non-judgmental listening is the ability to listen carefully, analyze the

presenter’s message, and put it into the best possible light before comparing

the value objectively with the listener’s position. It is a real art. The

objectivity required in non judgmental listening builds trust between the

speaker and the listener. The listener senses the objective intent and responds

accordingly rather than being concerned with how to get through prejudices.

Covey (2006) opined that empathy involves understanding another’s

heart, mind and spirit; including their motives, backgrounds, and feelings.

The more empathy one has for others, the more he comes to appreciate and

reverence who they are. To gain empathy for another, people should listen to

them with their eyes and hearts, as well as their ears. But most people do not

listen with the intent to understand; rather they listen with the intent to reply.

They are busy filtering the messages in their own dimension rather than trying

to understand another’s frame of reference. Continuing, the same Covey

(2004) noted that empathy is different from sympathy. It involves being able

to understand, register and reflect the words that are said. Sympathy on the

other hand is a form of agreement or rather a form of judgment. It connotes

listening with ears, eyes and hearts. One listens for feeling, meaning,

behaviour and uses his right and left brain to sense, intuit and feel. Empathetic

listening is powerful because it gives one accurate data to work with. Instead

of assuming thoughts, feelings, motives and interpretation, one deals with the

reality inside another person’s head and heart. One focuses on receiving the

deep communication of another human soul. Though it is quite unfortunate

that few people have had any training in listening at all. The real key to the

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principal’s relationships with teachers, students and workers is his example,

his actual conduct his example lows naturally out of his character, or the kind

of person he truly is not what others say he is or what he may want them to

think he is. The principal’s character is constantly radiating and

communicating. From it, in the long run, the teachers, students or workers

come to instinctively trust or distrust him. Comparatively, unless the teachers

open up with the principal, and he understands the teachers; the unique

situation and feelings, he will not know how to advise or counsel them. If

principals want to be really effective in the habit of later personal

communication, he cannot do it with technique alone. He has to build the

skills of empathetic listening on a base of character that inspires openness and

trust.

Covey 2004 listed four developmental empathic listening and they are

as follows:

(a) Mimicking content, - this involves listening to the words that come out

of someone’s mouth and one repeats them.

(b) Rephrasing the content – this connotes putting meaning in one’s words,

thinking about the message heard. It includes reasoning and logical side

of the brain.

(c) The third stage brings one’s right brain into operation. He reflects

feelings.

(d) The fourth stage includes both the second and the third. That is to say,

rephrasing the content and reflecting the feeling.

Suffice it to say that, at the fourth stage, empathic listening skills is

really incredible. As the speaker grows in the confidence of the listener’s

sincere desire to really listen and understand, the barrier between what is

going on inside him and what is actually being communicated disappears. It

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creates a rapport between the speaker and the listener. He is not thinking and

feeling one thing and communicating another. He begins to trust the listener

with his innermost tender feelings and thoughts.

A principal who involves in empathic listening can read what is

happening down deep fast, and can show such acceptance, such

understanding, that teachers or students feel safe to open up layer after layer

until they get to that soft inner core where the problem really lies. Teachers,

students and workers want to be understood. And whatever investment of

time it takes to do that will bring much greater returns of time as one works

from an accurate understanding of the problems and issues and from the high

benefits that results when a person feels deeply understood.

Derrington and Groom (2004) identified some different types of

listening and explanatory notes as follows:-

Discriminating Listening

Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the

difference between different sounds is identified. If one cannot hear

differences, then he cannot make sense of the meaning that is expressed by

such differences. People learn to discriminate between sounds within their

language early, and later are unable to discriminate between the phonemes of

other languages. This is one reason why a person from one country finds it

difficult to speak another language perfectly, as they are unable to distinguish

the subtle sounds that are required in that language. Likewise, a person who

cannot hear the subtleties of emotional variation in another person’s voice

will be less likely to discern the emotions the other person is experiencing.

Listening is a visual as well as auditory act, as people communicate much

through body language, they also need to be able to discriminate between

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muscle and skeletal movements that signify different meanings. That is to say,

where the listener is able to identify and distinguish inferences or emotions

through the speaker’s change in voice tone, their use of pause, etc. Some

people are extremely sensitive in this way, while other are less able to pick up

these subtle cues. Good examples of discriminating listening are where the

listener may recognize and pinpoint laugh from a crowded theatre or their

own child’s cry in a noisy playground.

Comprehension Listening

Comprehension listening is also known as content listening,

informative listening and full listening. To comprehend the meaning requires

first having a lexicon of words at the fingertips and also all rules of grammar

and syntax by which one can understand what the other person is really

saying. The visual components of communication and an understanding of

body language help people to understand what the other person is really

saying. In communication, some words are more important and some less,

and comprehension often benefits from extraction of key facts and items from

a long rapid speech. In summary, comprehension listening involves

concentration on the message being given. This may be the content of a

lesson, directions, instructions, etc.

Biased listening

Biased listening happens when the person hears only what he wants to

hear, typically misinterpreting what the other person says based on the

stereotypes and other biases that he has.

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Evaluative listening

Evaluative listening is also called critical, judgemental or interpretive

listening. In evaluative listening, listeners make judgements about what the

other person is saying. They seek to assess the truth of what is being said.

They also judge what they say against their values, assessing them as good or

bad, worthy or unworthy. Evaluative listening is particularly pertinent when

the speaker is trying to persuade the listener, perhaps to change his behaviour

or belief. Within this, the listener also discriminates between subtleties of

language and comprehends the inner meaning of what is said. Listener weighs

up the pros and cons of an argument, determining whether it makes sense

logically. This is the type of listening that principals should adopt when faced

with an offer that requires a decision from them.

Appreciative listening

In appreciative listening, listeners seek certain information which they

will appreciate, for example, that which helps meet their needs and goals.

Listeners use appreciative when they are listening to good music, poetry or

maybe even the stirring words of a great leader, charismatic speakers or

entertainers.

Sympathetic listening

In sympathetic listening people care about the other person and show

this concern in the way they pay close attention and express their sorrow for

the person’s ills and happiness at the person’s joy.

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Empathetic listening

Empathetic listeners tend to listen rather than talk. Their non-verbal

behaviours indicate that they are attending to what is being said. The

emphasis is on understanding the speaker’s feelings and being supportive and

patient. When people listen empathetically, they go beyond sympathy to seek

a real understanding on how others are feeling. This requires excellent

discrimination and close attention to the nuances of emotional signals. When

listeners are being truly empathetic, they actually feel what the speaker is

feeling. In order to get speakers expose these deep parts of themselves to

listeners, listeners need to demonstrate their empathy towards speakers,

asking sensitively and in a way that encourages self-disclosure.

Therapeutic Listening

In therapeutic listening, the listener has a purpose of not only

empathizing with the speaker but also to use his deep connection in order to

help the speaker understand, change or develop in some ways. These happen

where principals seek to diagnose problems from listening and also help

teachers and students to solve their problems. In this type of listening,

principals seek to help teachers learn and develop.

Dialogic Listening

Dialogic listening is also called relational listening. The word

‘dialogue’ stems from the Greek words ‘dia’ meaning through’ and ‘Logos’

meaning ‘words’. That is to say, dialogic listening means learning through

conversation and an engaged interchange of ideas and information in which

listeners actively seek to learn more about the speaker and how he thinks.

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Relationship Listening

Sometimes, the most important factor in listening is in order to

develop or sustain a relationship. This is why lovers for instance, talk for

hours and attend closely to what each other has to say when the same words

from someone else would seem to be rather boring. Relationship listening is

also important in school administration because it encourages love and trust.

There are various ways to listen. Each depends on the situation at that

moment. A journalist straining to decipher an information is not listening the

way others listen when they want to chat. People listen attentively to

information they feel is important to them. For instance adolescents listen

carefully when the coach announces the starting line up or the music teacher

names soloists for the big performance, but reverse is the case when their

parents want to send them on an errand.

According to Adler and Elmhorst (2002), listening styles differ because

not everyone listens the same way. They identified four common ways people

listen to other’s messages. They are enumerated below as follows:

People-oriented listeners

People – oriented listeners are most concerned with creating and

maintaining positive relationships. They are sensitive to the moods of other

people. They show interest to speaker’s countenance and as well respond to

their feelings. They see reasons in other people’s idea. This group of listeners

are non judgmental about the speaker’s speech. They concentrate their interest

in understanding and supporting people than in evaluating them. The

limitation of this style is that people – oriented listeners may stand the chance

of not being able to evaluate the quality of information others are giving in an

attempt to share common interests or rather be supportive.

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Action – oriented listeners

Action – oriented listeners as the name implies, are interested in

understanding the facts and ideas that are being communicated. They abhor

any form of rigmarole in the speakers’ description. They appreciate clear,

precise, coherent information and often translate others’ remarks into well-

organized mental outlines. This group of listeners devise no-nonsense

approach. Taking care of business is their main objective. They motivate

people to focus on the available task and spur them to be concised and

organized. It is obvious that speakers who lack clarity and coherency find it

difficult to associate with this group of listeners. Their short coming is that

they appear to reduce emotional issues, and that may constitute an integral

part of business and other transactions.

Content – oriented listeners

Content –oriented listeners are evaluation oriented. They are so much

involved in detail analyses and as well as discuss issues from different

dimensions. This group of listeners appreciates listening to authorities in a

particular field. They prefer to listen to experts and other reliable sources of

information. They often enjoy ideas for their own sake and are willing to

spend time exploring them in thorough exchanges of ideas. Suffice it to say

that, they could be of immense benefit when the objective is to evaluate the

quality and quantity of ideas. When the issues at hand become complex, their

role is to approach the issues from a wide range of perspectives. The demerit

of this detail-oriented approach is that it may provoke others who do not

welcome their analytical orientation. More so, their analysis can consume

much time which others may be unable to offer. Their assessment and

evaluation can be perceived as critical and hostile.

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Time – oriented listeners

Time – oriented listeners are too conscious of time. They are interested

in efficiency in all ramifications. To them, time is a scarce and valuable

commodity which needs not to be wasted. In an organization that moves in an

alarming fast speed, time-oriented listeners can help keep things functioning

effectively. The limitation of time-oriented listeners is that their exhibition of

impatience can hamper relationships or rather hindering the kind of

thoughtful deliberation that some jobs require. Adler and Elmhorst (2002)

summarizes the situation with the below assertions.

The key to success as a listener is to recognize that you can control the way you listen and to use the approaches that best suit the situation at hand. When your relationship with the speaker needs attention, adopt a people oriented approach. When clarity is the issue, be an action-oriented listener. If analysis is called for, pat on your content-oriented person. And when the clock is what matters most, become a model of time-orientation(p.116).

On the other hand, McCutcheon, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994)

postulated five ways to listen. According to them the most basic listening

style is appreciative listening. They classified them as follows: appreciative

listening, discriminative listening, comprehensive listening, Therapeutic

listening and critical listening.

Appreciative listening

Appreciative listening style involves the satisfaction and pleasure

people derive while they listen at music, a bird’s song or the murmur of a

brook: All these are considered appreciative listening.

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Discriminative listening

Discriminative listening involves when individuals want to single out a

particular sound from a noisy environment. Discriminative listening takes

place, for instance, when one listens for a sister’s voice among a group of

people.

Comprehensive listening

Comprehensive listening style means the ability to understand. For

instance, this listening strategy takes place when people listen to instructions

or directions.

Therapeutic listening

Therapeutic listening style is the type of listening skill used by

psychiatrists and good friends. The therapeutic listener in discussion with a

trouble friend accepts what is said, being very eager to understand and makes

no judgments. They create opportunities for easy free flow conversations.

People are spurred to discuss freely without fear of embarrassment.

Critical listening

As the label suggests, critical listeners are most concerned with

accuracy. They are the most active of all listeners because they are conscious

to decipher meaning from what someone is saying. Critical listeners assess

what they hear and determine whether the information delivered is logical,

sequential, worthwhile and valuable. The implication of the aforementioned

assertion is that the schools principals need to be critical listeners in school,

where listening and thinking are almost synonymous. This will help them in

evaluating the logic and merit of what teachers or students say.

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Competitive listening

Competitive listening is seen most often in negotiation situations, or

when politicians are debating with each other. The person being spoken to is

more interested in getting their own point of view across when the other

person stops speaking, rather than acknowledging what they have just heard.

Alternatively, they are distracted by thinking about their own argument or

point of view rather than listening properly.

However, he described passive or attentive listening as a danger always

seen in lecture style presentation sessions. Here, an audience pays attention to

the slides and listens carefully to the speaker, but there is no real opportunity

to interact. This means that the speaker may not know how well their message

is being understood.

More so, he highlighted that active listening is the most efficacious way

to listen for and understand the real message in what people are saying. It

involves taking the next step from just listening attentively, by looking to

show obvious interest in what the speaker is saying, and by trying to interact

with them. In the light of the above assertions school principals need to apply

active listening, and provide opportunities for teachers, students and the entire

communities to use active listening techniques as well.

John and Bechler (1998) also found that leaders exhibit superior

listening skills because of heightened interest in the organization. They have a

greater desire to see the organization succeed and as a result develop superior

listening skills. They noted that administrator identified effective listening

skills as a sine qua non for successful administration. Empathic listening is

particularly valuable when interacting with people. Axley (1996) reported that

empathy is the ability to understand someone or something from other

persons perspective. It is the sincere and sustained effort to get outside

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people’s imaginations and into another person’s head and heart, to appreciate

how and why another person interprets things and to fully understand

something the way that person understands.

Nouwen and De Mello (2005), emphasized that “Reflective listening”

is a type of listening that seeks understanding, not necessarily agreement. It

seeks to understand both the meaning of what is being said aloud and what is

not. Reflective listening is an attentive, respectful, non-judgmental approach

to providing care. The teachers experiencing difficulties express gratitude

when principals are willing to take the time and effort to understand, rather

than giving advice. Reflective listening is a way of offering true hospitality

and acceptance. Reflective listening is not a problem-solving approach as

such. However it is the means for getting there. When someone feels heard

and understood. It then becomes easier to take the steps needed to address

problems. Nouwen and De Mello (2005) citing Rogers stated “people only

listen when they feel listened to”. While the use of reflective listening is

beneficial in all relationships, it can be particularly helpful in breaking down

barriers and minimizing resistance with individuals experiencing anger and

frustration. It does not try to control, but to empower. Reflective listening

must be carefully used. It is not just a parroting technique; it must derive from

genuine caring. Otherwise, it becomes a fraudulent exercise. Just as a

carpenter uses different tools to tackle a job, listeners can take advantage of

several skills for listening and responding to messages at work. Adler and

Elmhorst (2002) designed three approaches to listening. They are listed as

follows: passive listening, questioning and paraphrasing.

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Passive listening

Sometimes the most accepted approach to listening is to allow the other

person to talk. This approach is all about mixture of silence and prompts that

invite the speaker to continue. Responses such as “Uh-huh”, “Really?” “Tell

me more”, and so on are good examples of this approach. Non-verbal

communication strengthens verbal messages. Non-verbal cues that indicate a

genuine interest are an important part of passive listening. Non-verbal cues

involve attributes or actions of humans, other than the use of words

themselves, which have socially shared meaning, are intentionally sent or

interpreted as intentional, are consciously sent or consciously received, and

have the potential for feedback from the receiver. Smile face, eye contact,

attentive posture, and appropriate facial expressions show that you are tuned

into the other person.

Passive listening is often the best approach when the spotlight is on the

speaker, especially in formal presentations and in those attended by a large

audience. For instance, one probably can recall vividly emotion provoked

when a speaker’s designed speech were interrupted constantly by a questioner

who was unaware of the desire of every other audience member to keep quiet

and listen to the speaker.

Questioning

Genuine questions are sincere desire for information. They play a

tremendous role in gathering of facts and details, define meanings, and spur a

speaker to make emphasis. Sincere questions create opportunity for further

elaboration, yet, not all questions reflect a real desire to understand a speaker.

According to Adler and Elmhorst (2002), counterfeit questions are actually a

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disguise effort to send a message, not to receive one. Counterfeit questions

are probed in various ways:

Questions that make statements or offer advice, For example is it not

pretty expensive? Or did you think that it might be cheaper to hire a

consultant?

Questions that trap or attack the speaker for example, Are you sure

there are no mistakes in this report? (Especially when the speaker

knows there are).

Questions that carry hidden agenda. For example Are you caught up

with your work? (If the answer is yes, the next response is, “Good.

Then you could give me a hand with this job).

Questions that seek correct answers e.g. You do not have any problems

with that, do you?

No question is naturally counterfeit. The instances given above could

be a true request for information. More so, indirect questions can be a face-

saving way to elude embarrassing confrontations. These mean that in a school

setting if the school principal’s motive of probing questions to either the

teacher or the student, does not seem genuine, or if it does not seem to be in

the teacher’s or student’s best interest, counterfeit questions can pollute

communication climate just as quickly as any direct attack.

Paraphrasing

Adler and Elmhorst (2002) stated that paraphrasing takes place when

the receiver restates a speaker’s ideas in his own language to make sure that

he has understood them accurately and to show the other person that fact.

Paraphrasing makes decoding a message explicit. Paraphrasing is sometimes

preceded by phrases like “Let me make sure that I understand what you are

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saying” or “in other words, you are saying”. When one is paraphrasing, it is

important not to, repeat the speaker’s statements word for word. Assimilation

of the message arises as a result of, one putting the speaker’s ideas into his

own words and still maintains accuracy. There are three types of

paraphrasing. In as much as each of them reflects the speaker’s information,

each focuses on a different part of that statement. Kinds of paraphrasing are

paraphrasing content, paraphrasing intent and paraphrasing feeling.

Paraphrasing Content

Paraphrasing content plays back the receiver’s understanding of the

explicit message. Often, people think they understand another person only to

notice later that they were wrong. People who practice paraphrasing are

highly surprised to find out the number of times a speaker will correct or add

information to a message that had seemed perfectly clear.

Paraphrasing Intent

Paraphrasing intent can help individuals learn why people have spoken

up. It can help them understand what people mean when they make

statements that can be interpreted in more than one way. Imagine that, at a

staff meeting, the principal announces, “Next week, we shall start using this

register to show when we are out of the office and where we have gone”. It’s

easy for teachers to imagine two quite different reasons for setting up this

procedure.

(a) to help keep teachers and workers informed about where each person

is and when he or she will return

(b) be keep track of teachers because the principal suspects that some are

slacking off on school time.

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Paraphrasing Feeling

Occasionally, the speaker’s feelings are the most important aspect of a

message. Some people do not express or even recognize their emotions. In

the school environment, a teacher, might make some emotional statements

such as the following:

(1) That is the third time he canceled an appointment on me, who does he

think he is?

(2) Whenever a deadline comes, I get excuses instead of results, this cannot

go on much longer.

(3) One minute she says we have to spend money to make money, and the

next minute she talks about cutting cost, I cannot figure out what she

really wants.

To analyze the above statements, there are at least two or three possible

emotions. They are as follows:

(1) Number one statement expresses anger, hurt and self-doubt.

(2) Number two statement indicates anger, frustration and worry

(3) Number three statement shows anger and confusion

Paraphrasing the apparent emotion can give the principal a chance to

agree with or contradict interpretation. Statements like, ‘Yes I guess it did

hurt my feeling”, or I am mere worried than mad”, can help the principal to

clarify how he is feeling and to deal with, the emotions.

Barriers to Listening Skills

In the words of Shakespeare, which speech have been embraced by

millions of people all over the globe, regretted inattentive listening: “it is the

disease of not listening, the malady of not marking, that I am troubled

withal”. Listening seems difficult because people spend little time working

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on it. Consciously, they seem to apply more attention to what reaches our

eyes than to what reaches their ears. What slights, slurs, or implications

through words or gestures would cause principals to stop listening and start

distracting them from listening to another person? What are the barriers that

set principals off and keep them from listening?

Adler and Elmhorst (2002) listed six barriers to listening skills. They

are enumerated as follows:

1. Physiological barriers

2. environmental barriers

3. attitudinal barriers

4. faculty assumptions

5. socio-cultural differences

6. lack of training

Physiological Barriers

i. Hearing problems: Inactive listening is as a result of deficiencies in

hearing. An undetected hearing loss may cause teachers to be enraged

about the principal ignoring them or cause the principal to get annoyed

when his instructions are violated. Human beings may have auditory

processing difficulties, such as auditory discrimination sequencing, or

memory, which create the appearance of not listening or paying

attention to what is said but are actually the result of physiological

involvement, not deliberate disregard.

ii. Rapid thought: Listeners can process message at a rate of about 500

words per minute, while some speakers talk at around 125 words per

minute. This variation gives us a great deal of mental spare time. While

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it is possible for principals to use this time to explore the speakers

ideas, they often let their minds wonder to other matters.

Environmental barriers

i. Physical Distractions: These involve all distractions that can hinder

listening. Example of such distractions are: noisy machinery,

conversation nearby, a stuff room e.t.c.

ii. Problems in the communication channel: Listening can be difficult

when the communicators lack face-to-face contact. In this case, they do

not see each other, and unlike face-to-face communication, the eye or

body messages will be lost. It is harder to receive information

accurately over the telephone. Face-to-face approach takes a little more

time, but the results are much more accurate.

iii. Message overload: One can keep only a few things going at a time.

Listening can be hampered by constant ringing of the telephone,

scheduled appointments etc.

Attitudinal barriers

i. Preoccupation: Business and personal concerns can make it difficult to

keep people’s mind on the issue at hand. Even when their current

conversation is pertinent, other unactualised business can disrupt their

attention. Some preoccupation is inescapable, but maintaining their

focus on the speaker will have tremendous merits for the listener.

ii. Egocentrism: Egocentric attitude of some individuals is one of the

hindrance to listening skills. These group of people believe that their

ideas are more important or valuable than others ideas. Self centered

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listeners prevent themselves from getting useful new ideas and they

also alienate themselves with whom they need to work.

iii. Fear of Appearing ignorant: It is always important to seek for

clarification when the listener does not understand what the speaker is

saying. Some people think that asking for further explanations is sign

of ignorance. They pretend to understand the speaker. The consequence

of this attitude cannot be over-emphasized or underestimated. It is

beneficial to desire for further clarification.

Faulty assumptions

i. Assuming That Effective Communication is the Sender’s

Responsibility: Without the receiver, the process of communication is

incomplete. It is the recipient who communicates. The speaker utters,

and unless there is someone who hears, there is only noise. In other

words, even the most thoughtful, well-expressed idea is wasted if the

receiver is inattentive. The clearest instruction will not prevent errors if

the teacher receiving them is thinking of another thing, and the best

organizational role will never be achieved if the principal is not paying

attention to information .

ii. Assuming that Listening Is Passive: Some communicators mistakenly

assume that listening is basically a passive activity in which the

recipient absorbs the speaker’s ideas. Good listening can be exhausting.

Sometimes the listener speaks, probes questions, paraphrases the

sender’s thought, ascertain the facts. Even when the listener is silent,

silence should not be mistaken for passivity.

iii. Assuming that Talking has More Advantages than Listening: The

assumption is that speakers are leaders while listeners are followers.

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The speaker is the one who captures everyone’s interest. People

correlate listening with weakness, passivity, and lack of authority.

Socio-cultural Differences

i. Cultural difference: One can differentiate people from different tribes

by their various accents. A different dialect can be a source of

psychological noise when it interferes with people’s abilities to

understand and appreciate the words of someone whose pronunciation

differs from theirs.

ii. Gender difference: men and women may perceive different parts of

information because they listen for various purposes. Women pay more

attention to the feelings behind a speaker’s speech while men tend to

listen for the facts. It is common for an information presented by a

woman to be ignored, while the same message presented by a man

receives more attention. Tannen (1994), states that women are not as

likely to be listened to as men, regardless of how they speak or what

they say. Principals who are aware of this tendency can train

themselves to give equal attention to the information of every

communicator regardless of sex.

Lack of training

Lucocoa and Novak in Adler and Elmhorst (2002) recognized the

relevance for organized programs to train personnel to become better

listeners:

I only wish I could find an institute, that teaches people how to listen. After all a good manager needs to listen at least as much as he needs to talk. Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions. You have to

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be able to listen well if you are going to motivate the people who work for you. Right there, that is the difference between a mediocre company and a great company. The most fulfilling thing for me as a manager is to watch someone the system has labeled as just average or mediocre really come into his own, all because someone has listened to his problems and helped him solve them(P.114).

The federal government spends thousands of naira on in-service training, yet

they fail to include training on principals on act of listening skills.

Similarly, Pearson, (2005), pointed out both natural and self-taught

barriers to effective listening. These barriers can be summarized as: noise,

perception of others and yourself.

Noise

i. Physical distractions: all the stimuli in the environment that keep one

from concentrating on the message. For instance, loud music at a party.

ii. Mental distractions: the wandering of the mind when it suppose to be

concentrating on something. For example thinking about film show in a

conference.

iii. Factual distractions: focusing earnestly on the details that the main idea

is missed.

iv. Semantic distractions: over responding to an emotion-laden concept or

word.

Perception of others

i. Status: devoting attention based on the social stratification, rank or

perceived value of another. For instance, not listening to a poor man in

a meeting or not listening to a freshman in a group activity.

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ii. Stereotype: treating people as if they are the same as other in a given

category. For instance, not listening to older people because you feel

that all of them have similar opinions.

iii. Sights and sounds: These involve allowing the outward appearance of

an individual to affect your listening skills or not paying attention to

somebody with a screechy voice.

Yourself

i. Egocentrism: This means systematic selfishness, state of mind in

which one is always thinking of oneself. Practice of talking too often or

too much about oneself. For example, seeing yourself as the central

concern in every conversation or redirecting conversations to his

problems.

ii. Defensiveness: This is an act of showing threatened and trying to

defend what one has said or done. For instance, if one assumes that

other people’s comments are veiled criticisms of his speech, he tries to

defend her assertions beyond all reasonable doubt.

iii. Experiential superiority: Life experiences of some people are ignored

or downplayed by groups that claim experiential superior. To them,

they believe that they have acquired enough experiences in life that

cannot be compared with other people’s experiences. For example, not

listening attentively to those with less experience.

iv. Personal Bias: This means allowing your own opinion, interfere with

your ability to interpret message accurately. For example, Assuming

that people are generally deceitful or truthful.

According to Payne (2001) “listening “listening barrier is any physical,

mental or cultural condition that reduces the likelihood a message can be

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received and understood”. He classified these barriers into three groups. They

are physical, mental and cultural barriers.

a. Physical barriers

The most common physical barriers to listening are the physical

barriers to hearing itself. A total or partial hearing loss will make listening

more difficult but certainly not impossible. Other physical barrier is common

circumstance, such as a poor audio system.

b. Mental Barriers

The most common mental barrier is lack of concentration it is not

surprising to note that people’s minds sometimes wander when they are

listening. Another mental barrier to listening is our attitude. An attitude is a

state of mind about something or someone, the beliefs or feelings people have

about themselves, other people, ideas, and events. If an audience possesses a

hostile attitude, listening will probably be a problem. Listening in school

environment is a good example. If a principal has a negative attitude about a

teacher or a student as the case may be, he might find listening difficult. If the

speaker wants listening for information, he needs to change the attitude of the

audience if the speaker is to actualize his objectives. Another attitudinal

barrier is the tendency to try to “rehearse” or plan what one wants to say

rather than listen to others. This poor attitude can be overcome by

concentrating on listening. One of the most common attitudinal barriers is

selective listening. Selective listening takes place when people give deaf ear

to anything they do not want to hear and pay attention only to information

that coincides with their beliefs.

c. Cultural barriers.

One major barrier to listening is accents. Sometimes, an accent can

make listening difficult. For example listening to non native speakers can

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require higher level of concentration. In Nigeria, many people come from

cultural backgrounds that can inhibit listening. As a result there are cultural

distinctions that good communicators should be aware of. Many people find

accents charming and intriguing but it can make listening difficult. One

strategy for managing this potential barrier is to listen for over –all content

rather than trying to understand each specific word the speaker uses. In most

situations there are many obstacles which can stop principals from listening

effectively, as an administrator it is important to appreciate what these

obstacles are and how to overcome each of them. Broadly speaking, there are

four types of barriers highlighted below. De Boer (2005) explained these

barriers as follows:

1. Psychological Barriers – This include prejudice, apathy or fear on the

part of the listener. For example, someone working in marketing or

production may not be as interested in a presentation on annual

financial results as an accountant or sales director, given that it may not

directly impact on their daily activities. Similarly, a principal may not

be interested in a message that does not directly effect his school

activities.

2. Physical Barriers – This involves disability fatigue or poor health on

the part of the listener. For example, trying to listen to a teacher or a

student for long periods while the principal is suffering from an ailment

or from a heavy cold is a fairly difficult thing to do.

3. Environmental Barriers Unsuitable climate such as an overheated,

climate distracting noises, stuffy meeting room and uncomfortable or

poorly positioned sitting are good examples of environmental barriers.

4. Expectation Barrier – This includes anticipating or boring presentation,

expecting to receive bad news, or being spoken to in confusing jargon.

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In a work or educational situation, a principal can certainly address

tangible barriers such as environmental factors or physical obstacles. Dealing

with internal barriers can be more difficult, but a lot of this can be achieved

through preparation before any meetings or group sessions.

Techniques of Listening skills

In terms of outlining the techniques which can be used for listening

skills. It is useful to think back to the three basic stages of the listening

process-hearing, attention and understanding. According to De Boer (2005),

hearing and attention involve keeping quiet, trying to eliminate as many

distractions as possible, both external and internal, trying to control one’s

non-verbal signals to the person speaking. This could mean paying attention

to one’s physical stance, body movements, eye contact with the speaker, and

encouraging motions such as nodding or smiling.

Understanding on the other hand, involves comprehending the purpose

of the speaker, and also being aware of one’s expectations from the

conversation. It also includes taking notes, focusing on or writing down the

key words and phrases, rather than trying to write down everything that is

being said in an act of dictation. Understanding also connotes using the notes

written down as a reminder of points that need clarification. It also means one

listening without interrupting the thought of the speaker.

More ever, another interesting listening technique is reflecting what the

speaker says. This technique is used extensively by people involved in

consultative selling, but it is also a very useful tool for anyone involved in

business, education, training or voluntary work. Communication can be

broken down into three levels;

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Facts, thoughts (or beliefs) and feelings (or emotions). Works are reflected on

all three levels.

1 Repeating the facts that one thinks she or he has been given by the

speaker. This is sometimes referred to as ‘parroting’. If it is right, one

knows that he is getting the basic elements of what the speaker is

saying. If there are mistakes the receiver goes back on to the same

page.

2 Sharing the thoughts or beliefs that the receiver has heard.

3 Trying to convey the underlying feelings or emotions which one

believes are involved. For instance, the speaker may be very upset and

wants the receiver to display empathy or sympathy with their situation.

It is this reflection of thoughts and feelings which distinguishes

reflecting from just parroting back to the speaker, which might get a bit

tedious and annoying for all concerned.

Again, this is a very useful tool when coaching or mentoring. It can

also be used during feedback sessions in a more formal situation such as a

performance review meeting in the school. Milner (2005) described many

ways one can become an active listener paying heed to this list of “keys to

Effective Listening”.

They are as follows:

1 Stop working.

2 Stop watching television.

3 Stop reading.

4 Look at the person.

5 Keep a good distance between you and the speaker.

6 Do not turn away.

7 Sit up straight.

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8 Nod your head and make statements such as “uh-uh”, “I understand”,

and “I see what you mean” to show the speaker that the message is well

understood.

9 If the message is not properly communicated, let the sender know that.

10 Do not fake, listen!

11 Repeat back phrases to clarify what the person is saying.

12 Act as if one is interested and ask questions to show that you are

interested in what the person is saying.

13 Do not interrupt the speaker.

Holmes (2004) listed the following techniques to improve listening skills:

1 Keep your objective clearly in mind, but be flexible, if indicated.

2 Listen 90 percent of the time.

3 People only learn when they listen, not when they talk.

4 Learn the art of asking pertinent questions.

5 Practice non-judgmental listening.

6 Learn to listen out the hidden problems.

7 Carefully observe the other party’s body language and react

accordingly

8 Listen till you understand the other person’s position and keep listening

until you find the right response.

9 Listen to both words and intent to avoid misunderstandings.

10 Real patience may be required. Learn to use time as a partner.

11 Be sure you are an active listener and that the body language is

supportive.

12 Conclude with confirmation of any agreements reached.

13 Be positive and have fun.

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Carnegie (2002) listed three vital skills that must be developed in order

to become an accomplished listener:

1. Visualize what is being said. Remember that your client is expressing

information that will assist your goals later on in the conversation.

2. Listen to body language – there are effective tools to remember about

body language. Refrain from leaning back and crossing your arms in

front of your chest. This will give the perception of being bored or

having a closed mind. It is important without staring. Professional

listeners occasionally catch the speakers eye and then break the contact

with a polite nodding of head. This shows that one is paying attention.

3. The mind game of listening: This game will allow you to practice your

listening skills and will naturally hone your ability to effectively

accumulate information. The game is to keep the conversation as

exciting as possible, meanwhile accumulating as much information as

possible without revealing anything about yourself. As people listen

and process what is being said they should ask themselves how this

information can help them achieve their goals. This game will teach

them to avoid thinking about their opinions while the speaker is talking.

The greatest honour that can be given is your undivided attention.

Similarly, Treuer (2006), x-rayed various listening skills and

techniques. Principals can improve their listening skills by following some of

the strategies below:

a. Maintain eye contact with the speaker of course, eye contact keeps one

focused on the conversation at hand and keeps the person involved in

the interaction. Remember that some people are more comfortable with

eye contact than others and that this varies with culture and geography.

Across the United Kingdom, people in the north of England and

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Scotland make more eye contact than Southerners, and in some African

cultures it is considered rude to maintain eye contact for a long time.

Fit the amount of eye contact to what one thinks his conversation

partner is comfortable with. Avoid staring matches than can appear

confrontational.

b. Focus on content, the train of thought of the person talking, avoid

thinking about responses or other non related things until after the

person has finished speaking.

c. Avoid emotional involvement when people are too emotionally

involved in listening, they tend to hear what they want to hear, not what

is actually being said. Try to remain objective and open minded.

d. Avoid distraction: Do not let your mind wander. If the environment is

too hot or too cold, try to remedy that situation if possible. The solution

may require dressing more appropriately to the environmental

temperature. Remove distractions such as phone ringing, something

you have to do that minute.

e. Treat listening as a challenging mental task. Listening to an academic

lecture is not a passive act. It requires a lot of concentration. People

should remember that they are there to listen and remind themselves of

this, especially if they have a tendency to talk a lot.

f. Stay active by asking mental questions. Active listening keeps one on

his toes. Here are some questions one can ask himself as he listens.

What key point is the speaker making? How does this fit with my

previous knowledge?

g. Use the gap between the rate of speech and the rate of thought. A

principal can think faster than the teacher who is the speaker. He can

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actually begin to anticipate what the teacher is going to say as a way to

keep his mind from straying.

h. Paraphrase is using one’s own words in verbalizing one’s

understanding of the message. Transmitting back the expressions

verbatim is annoying and does not ensure accurate understanding of the

message. Use phrases like “so, in your case” or “you think that” to

indicate that one is paraphrasing.

i. If there are gaps in the conversation, do not rush to fill them. The other

person may just be collecting his thought or trying to find a way to put

across what he wants to say.

j. Be empathic and non judgmental. One can accept and respect the

speaker’s feelings and beliefs without invalidating or giving up one’s

position, or without agreeing with the accuracy and validity of the

speaker’s view.

k. If the listener is involved in a difficult or confrontational conversation,

it can be useful to gently attempt to openly identify the areas, of

difficulty and seek the other person’s help in trying to get rid of the

impasse. He might say for instance, “I think that we have some

difficulty here because you are angry about what happened at

yesterday’s meeting can we talk about how that made you feel first?

Do not respond to just the meaning of the words, look for the feelings

or intent beyond the words. The dictionary or surface meaning of the

words or code used by the sender is not the message.

Inhibit the impulse to immediately answer questions. The code may be

in the form of a question. Sometimes people ask questions when they

really want to express themselves and are not open to hearing an

answer.

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Know when to quit using active listening. Once the receiver accurately

understands the sender’s message, it may be appropriate to respond

with the receiver’s message. Do not use active listening to hide and

avoid revealing one’s position.

If people do not understand, they should either tell the speaker that they

do not understand and ask him to say it another way, or use best guess.

If they are incorrect, the speaker will realize it and will likely attempt to

correct the misunderstanding.

Body language is a sine-qua-non to effective listening. Face and lean

toward the speaker and nod the head. Be careful about crossing arms

and appearing closed or critical. According to Koteinikor (2001), most

people simply listen to the words that are being said to message. The

remaining 90% is hidden in the body language. The body language can

help one look beyond what people say to the real meaning of the

message. To remember better what is being communicated, try to

engage all the senses while listening as human brain stores pictures,

feelings smells, and tastes more effectively than words.

Be aware of biases and perceptions control your biases, encourage the

speaker and provide feedback..

Theoretical Framework

Cutlip and Centre (1982), McQuail (1987), Enyi in Mgbodile (2003),

discussed three main schools of organizational behaviour. These are the

Scientific Management, Human Relations and the System School. Knowledge

of these three theories is essential in having an overview into how

organizations function and the role of communication in organization.

Scientific and Classical Management Theories

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A prominent proponent of scientific management theory is Frederick

W. Taylor (1856 – 1917). He has always been regarded as the “Father of

Scientific Management” because of his pioneer works in this area. These were

the earliest administrative theories. The theories emphasized productivity at

the expenses of the human worker. A worker was seen only as a worker who

had no independent decisions about his work. The manager had the overall

power and control over him. The manager was in charge of all organizational

activities. The worker’s welfare and interest are completely subdued. His

main concern was the achievement of efficiency of workers by maximizing

their outputs through the application of principles of scientific management.

To him, the best way to manage organizations is for administrator to know

what to expect from the workers and ensure the workers achieve those things

in the best cheapest way. This school of thought emphasized written formal

channels of communication. These include impersonal work and related

messages initiated by the hierarchy and thrust down the chain of command.

Classical giants in the field of public administration (Taylor, Fayol and

Weber) emphasized the place of communication in administration. Inherent in

their principles of division of labour or specialization documentation or

record keeping, decentralization and the scalar chain is the indispensable role

or place of communication. Taylor proposed six management principles

which were summarized in Ukeje Akabogu and Ndu (1992) as follows:

Time-study Principle

This principle stressed that any work to be done must be accurately

measured by time. This indicated that any work must be completed within a

stated period of time.

Piece-Rate Principle

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Within the context of this principle, the amount of money to be earned

by a worker must be commensurate with the work done by the worker. That is

to say, that result determined the payment.

Separation of Planning from Performance Principle

The main emphasis of this principle is that planning should be the sole

responsibility of the administrators regardless of the workers. Here, planning

should be based on time study and other factors of production which are

scientifically determined and that working tools and facilities should be

standardized in other to facilitate planning.

Scientific method of work principle

The management’s effort was to identify the most perfect way to

increase performance in an organization and train workers to be experts in

that field.

Functional management principle

This principle highlighted the special designing of industrial

organizations to be free from strict military principles and in the process,

enrich coordination. The theories neglected the decentralization of

administration by concentrating powers on the administrators to participate in

issues concerning the organizations where they work. The theories failed to

recognize the importance of workers motivation and conducive working

environments as prerequisite for increased productivity.

However, educational administrators and teachers must realize that the

implementation of some of Taylor’s principles may not be profitable in school

setting where some of them are practicable. The operation of the formal

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communication system follows the classical hierarchical structure of an

organization. Such a structure follows the lines of authority, which also

determine the upward and downward directions of all formal

communications. Formal communication in its downward form transmits

policies, instructions and such information that is necessary for the

determination of what must be done from the top-level managers through the

middle level down to the lowest level of the organization. Similarly, formal

communication flows upward through the same lines of authority in the form

of feedback from the lowest through the middle levels to the final decision-

making levels. This pattern is considered necessary to enable managers to

coordinate effectively the work under their respective authorities. However, a

major demerit of the strict adherence to the line of authority as the direction

for formal communication is that it is time consuming when viewed against

the backdrop of speedy decision-making or action requirement characteristics

of modern organization.

The scientific management school emphasized written formal channels

of communication. These include impersonal work-related messages initiated

by the hierarchy and thrust down the chain of command. Communication here

is not considered as a really vital need for the organization but for the sole

purpose of relaying orders and information about work tasks and to achieve

obedience and coordination in carrying out such work.

The Human Relations Theory

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People who pioneered studies in human relations theories included

Mary Packer Folieft (1933-1968); Elton Mayo (1945) and others. Infact,

Folieft is always regarded as the first great proponent of human relations

theory. The main proposition in these theories is the indispensable roles of

human worker in the actualization of organizational objectives. To them,

workers will be motivated to work and as well achieve greater results if their

personal welfare was put into consideration. Nwankwo (1982) stated that the

theories related to human relations brought into administration such concepts

as democratic leadership, policy making by consultation, delegation of

authority decentralisation of administration and others. The focus of human

relation theorists is on workers and interpersonal communication that exists

among them. It is axiomatic that the basic problem of any organization such

as industry or educational system is the building and maintenance of good

relationship among the various groups of people within the organization.

These theorists encouraged formal, informal, lateral and interpersonal

communication. The informal system provides necessary communication

outside the established form lines of authority. This is important to maintain

organizational linkages and to fill in the gaps and omissions of the formal

system.

However, in most secondary schools for instance, a lot of informal

communication is done. This leads to rumours and gossips through different

departments. At times, formal authority, for example the principal, releases

official information through the informal channel in order to test its

acceptability and depending on the reactions to it, the authority withdraws or

reinforces the action without much difficulties.

The implications of human relations theory for school administration

are that administrators should realize that an important issue in school

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administration is building a dynamic interpersonal relationships. This can be

achieved through delegating functions to teachers, developing interests in

teacher’s welfare, maintaining open-door policy with the staff and students.

For instances, teachers are given the post of house mistress, game master, and

other positions. Students on the other hand, are appointed to various school

functionaries such as senior prefect, furniture prefect, social prefect and

others. Although the Human Relations theory made tremendous contributions

in democratic administration, it has also been criticized as being too

emotional to the workers and sometimes detrimental to the actualization of

organizational goals. Some of this shortcomings led to the development of

other theories.

The Behavioural Science Theories

These theories are the combination of the scientific management and

human relations theories. The behavioural science movement started from the

social science in the early 1940s with the assumption that the best approach to

facilitate work and productivity in an organization is through an

understanding of the worker, his job content and the work environment. Later

in the 1950s; the behavioural science theorists developed what they called the

Tri-Dimensional concept of administration, incorporating three main

elements: the man, the job and the social setting. The proponent of

behavioural science theories are Chester Barnard (1938), Max Weber (1910)

and others. Barnard differentiated between two major concepts-effectiveness

and efficiency. Effectiveness refers to the extent to which the set

organizational goals are achieved with given resources. That is to say

organization which is able to accomplish its set goals without waste of

available resources, is said to be effective. On the other hand, efficiency,

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refers to how well a worker performs in the achievement of the stated goals.

Thus, a teacher who is neglected by the principal through poor

communication behaviours is likely to be inefficient in his work. Barnard’s

concern therefore, was on how to integrate effectiveness and efficiency, as a

standard for good organizational management.

To make this theories practical in the school, it means that school

principals must ensure that there is equal attention to human welfare element

as well as the realization of set educational objectives, as a basis for effective

educational management. This means that neither the teachers nor the

achievement of educational objectives should be sacrificed for another.

The Systems Theory of Communication

The system theory, as propounded by David Easton, is also of

tremendous relevance as the applicability of communication and the

communication process is aptly demonstrated. The provisions of ‘input’,

conversion/processing’, ‘output’ and the ‘feedback mechanism’ essentially

help people’s understanding of communication, the process and problems

inherent in the communication process and how it can be addressed.

Nwankwo (1982) defined a system as a unit series of inter-related and inter-

dependent parts, such that the interplay in any part affects the whole. Within

every system are other smaller systems called sub-systems. The system theory

is relevant to educational administration because the entire educational set-up

is a system, and the concept of interaction and interdependence of parts with

the others is applicable. Systems are either open or closed. An open system

relates and interacts with other systems. The equifinality is one of the

properties of a system which emphasize that every system and its various sub-

systems communicate to achieve the common purpose of the major system.

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These three theories differ in their conception of communication. While

the Scientific Management School placed greater emphasis on Vertical

downward flows, the Human Relations schools stressed the crucial role of

horizontal flows, the behavioural schools advocated the integration of the two

theories and systems theorists argued that all flows are important. System

theorists gave particular attention to communication with the environment and

communication flows to link the sub-systems within the organization.

With reference to the aforementioned theories, the researcher chose to

concentrate more on the system theory to this study. The reason is because

effective communication coordinates every action in the various units of an

organization and this is paramount to effective organization. The quality of

life is determined by the quality of relationships. And communication is the

key to relationships at all levels. Lack of communication has caused untold

havocs in human history. As communication flows to every nook and cranny

of the organization, information is disseminated for decision-making,

delegation of duties, motivation, assessment and evaluation. Awka Education

Zone needs to embark on the system school theory in other to attain the stated

aims, goals and objectives of the organization.

Review of Empirical Studies

Rynders (1999) conducted a research project using descriptive

methodology to investigate the relationship between effective listening and

leadership. The purpose of the research project was to determine if a

relationship exists between leadership and listening. The researcher raised six

research questions which was investigated with exhaustive literature review

and surveys. The population of the study comprised officers, leaders and

employees of National Fire Academy (NFA) Utah and Sandy Fire

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Department Utah. The first survey was administered to determine the

perceived effectiveness of empathic listening of the officers responding. The

second survey was given to the leaders of Sandy Fire Department (SFD) Utah

to determine how they perceive their listening effectiveness, and how they

think, subordinate perceive it. A third survey was given to the employees of

Sandy Fire Department (SFD) Utah. The questions for the third survey were

formulated from the second survey. The survey data showed that the

perceptions by both groups were reasonably consistent with the literature.

Naturally, there were some differences that were notable. The leaders

believed they listen more than talk by 66% while employees feet there was no

noticeable difference. Similarly, leaders reported a willingness to dig into

issues 100% of the time, while employees noted that leaders will not usually

go below the surface of problems 62% of the time. Distractions while

listening was documented 67% and 38% of employees reported leaders to be

affected by external stimuli.

In addition, Huei-Chun (2000) explored the relationship between

listening styles and listening proficiency for Taiwanese university students.

The respondents in the study included 300 students at a university in Taiwan.

One instrument adopted in the study was a listening test which indicated the

respondents listening proficiency. Another instrument was a questionnaire

from the listening styles profile which identified four distinct listening styles,

i.e people-oriented, action-oriented, content-oriented and time-oriented. The

respondents first took the listening test, and then completed the listening

styles profile. Finally, an interview was held with ten of the respondents to

probe their perceptions of listening styles significant links between each

listening style and listening proficiency and examined listener gender

variables were using correlational tests and analysis variance. The results of

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the study showed that the Taiwanese University students adopted the people-

oriented listening style most often, and that there is a positive relationship

between the respondents’ people-oriented listening style and their scores on

the listening test. Furthermore, it was found that female college students

made more use of the people-oriented listening style, while male students

made more use of action, content, and time-oriented styles. Based on the

results, the important implication for listening instruction is to teach listeners

to employ the people-oriented listening style more frequently to improve their

listening comprehension.

Similarly, with the developed instrument for measuring communication

skills, a number of studied have been conducted to investigate the relationship

between communication skills and related factors. In regard to

communication behaviours, Burgaz (2007) examined the views of advisers

and advisees about master’s thesis advisers’ behaviours of communication.

The study was a descriptive one. The sample consisted of 30 master’s thesis

advisers and 51 master’s programme students. A questionnaire was used to

gather the data. The items of the questionnaire was constructed as in 5-point

likert-type scale. Cronbach coefficient alpha was calculated as 0.95 for

advisee’s questionnaire and for adviser’s questionnaire as 0.86. In the analysis

of data, arithmetic means, standard deviations and t-test for comparison were

utilized. Findings of the research that advisers viewed their behaviours of

communication skills more positive than advisees, and advisees also

perceived these behaivours as positive generally but not appreciated them to

be sufficient. It was also determined that there has been a significant,

difference between the views of advisers and advisees in terms of

communication behaivours of advisers and graduate students have much more

negative perceptions about it.

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Okeke (2004), conducted a research work on development and

validation of administrative communication skills inventory for principals in

Anambra State. Thus it is an instrumentation design study. Five aspects of

communication were treated in the study: Oral, Written, Non-verbal,

Listening and Feedback. The instrument developed by the researcher from

literature review, is a questionnaire of a Likert-type response format, scored

on a 4 point basis. An initial draft of 38 items was face-validated by seasoned

administrators, supervisors, and teachers notably in Education Foundations,

University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Post Primary School Board (PPSB),

Nsukka Zone to determine which items of the instrument were suitable or not

suitable. This was subjected to trial-testing using twenty Principals of private

schools doing postgraduate studies in University of Nigeria, Nsukka. To test

the validity of the instrument, factor analysis was used which extracted thirty-

three pure and valid items under five factors or constructs-Oral, Written, Non-

verbal. Listening and Feedback Skills. These become the instrument for the

study. Cronbach Alpha was used to establish the reliability of the instrument

respectively yielding 0.64; 0.38: 0.43: 0.79 and a general internal consistency

coefficient of 0.86 was recorded. The population for the study was the entire

three hundred and thirty-four (334) principals in the two hundred and fifty-

nine (259) State Secondary Schools in Anambra State, but the data collected

back from three hundred and seven (307) principals (91.9%) were used for the

study. Means were used to test the hypotheses. Findings reveal that gender,

job experience and size or population of school did in no way affect

administrative communication.

The importance of effective communication in any organization cannot

be underestimated or overemphasized. Okeke (2004) quoting Sonnenschein

and Whitehurst (1983), explored why an effective speaker-training technique

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failed to generalize to listener skills. They did this by comparing the relative

efficiency of speaker and listener training. The research used a referential

communication paradigm. Five year olds received either speaker-training,

listener-training or both speaker and listener training. The children were

tested for transfer on speaking and listening tasks after one week delay. The

results propose that although speaking and listening tasks appear to require at

least in part, certain of the same skills, pre-scholars do not exhibit

spontaneous intermodality transfer. Theoretical implications are that listening

and speaking require certain skills that are unique to each. Further

developmental research is pertinent to define the functions these skills play in

communication development and performance.

Nwagbara (2006), stated in her studies on communication apprehension

and effective public speaking among the students of the University of Uyo.

The major research technique used for collecting data for the study was the

survey method. The instrument used in the study was structured questionnaire

consisting of 16 questions. The results indicate that 93 percent of the

respondents showed signs of being communication apprehensive and this was

as a result of the final year seminar presentation used as the case for the study.

This was actually the first attempt for some of the students at public speaking.

As a result of the aforementioned reason, some of them were ill prepared for

the presentation and others lacked the necessary communication strategies. As

a result, their nervousness affected their presentation. Suffice it to say that

both female and male students were equally nervous. There was significant

difference between the number of female student who were nervous and

number of male students who were nervous. If public speaking anxiety must

be eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum, it is pertinent however, that

students must learn to acquire speaking experience through constant practice,

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prepare adequately for any speech, think positively, use the power of

visualization and embark on systematic desensitization.

Summary of Literature Review

This chapter succinctly reviews various theories and conceptualizations

of listening skills with a view of arriving at a greater understanding of the

constructs. The theoretical perspective dealt directly with the theories of

listening and communication and how the study is derived from them. The

various kinds of listening skills were also discussed. The need of listening

skills in organizations, such as educational institution were stressed.

Emerging from the literature review also was the problems that could retard

reception of information. The review also showed various techniques of

listening skills and how principals use them in school administrations. The

research reports so far seen have not focused exclusively on listening skills of

principals in Awka Education Zone. However, if the listening skills of

principals are rightly the prerequisite to their progress as administrators, it is

imperative to develop an instrument to assess their competence. The

researcher therefore felt the urgent need to fill this gap. Hence, this study.

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHOD

This chapter described the method and procedure that were used in carrying

out the study. The chapter was presented along the following lines:- research

design, area of study, population of the study, sample, instrument for data

collection, validation of instrument, reliability of instrument, method of data

collection and method of data analysis.

Research Design

This study was a descriptive survey designed to investigate the

listening skills practices of principals in Awka Education Zone in Anambra

State. According to Ali (1996) “descriptive design studies are mainly

concerned with describing events as they are without any manipulation of

what is being observed.

Area of the Study

The study was conducted in public secondary schools in Awka

Education zone of Anambra State. This zone has Five (5) Local Government

Areas, with their headquarters as: Anaocha-Neni, Njikoka-Abagana,

Dunukofia-Ukpo, Awka North- Achalla and Awka South– Awka, Awka

Education Zone was chosen because of poor listening behaviour common

among the principals in Awka Education Zone as evidenced from researcher’s

interaction within the environment.

Population of the Study

The population for the study consisted of all the principals and vice

principals in 59 public secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of

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Anambra State. Based on the 2007/2008 school year, their population was

177 made up of 59 principals and 118 vice principals. The distribution of the

population was shown in appendix iv.

From the table, Anaocha Local Government Area has 14 schools, 14

principal, and 28 vice principals, then making a total of 42 respondents;

Njikoka Local Government Area has 12 schools, 12 principals, 24 vice

principals which are equal to 36 respondents; Dunukofia has 8 schools, 8

principals, 16 vice principals which are equivalent to 24 respondents, Awka

south has 17 schools, 17 principals, 34 vice principals making a total of 51

respondents and Awka North has 8 schools, 8 principals, 16 vice principals

forming a total of 24 respondents. The total sum of all the respondents in five

various Local Government Area in Awka Education Zone are 177

respondents respectively.

Sample

The sample consisted of all the principals and vice-principals in Awka

Education Zone of Anambra State. Thus, the sample size is 177. There was

no sampling since the entire population was studied.

Instrument for Data Collection

The study used a structured questionnaire titled Listening Skills

Practices (LSP) of Secondary School Principals to collect the needed

information from the respondents. The questionnaire consisted of two

sections; Section A and Section B. Section A comprised of information

regarding the personal data of the respondents such as name of school, status

of respondent, sex and number of years spent as a principal/vice principal.

While Section B contained the items that was grouped in three clusters i, ii

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and iii. Cluster I has 16 items measuring the listening skills principals use in

school administration. The response mode of each item is Strongly Agree

(SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). Cluster II has 16

items measuring principals rating of these listening skills in terms of their

importance. The response mode of each items is very important (VI),

Important (I), Less important (LI) and Not Important (NI). Cluster III has 16

items measuring the extent to which principals practise those identified

listening skills in school administration. The response mode of each item is

Very High Extent (VHE), High Extent (HE) Low Extent (LE) and Very Low

Extent (VLE) (see Appendix II for the instrument for Data Collection).

Validation of the Instrument

The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts, two

from the Department of Education Administration and Planning and one from

the Department of Measurement and Evaluation, in the University of Nigeria,

Nsukka. Their corrections and comments were used to modify and refine the

questionnaire.(see Appendix I for letter of request for validation of

instrument).

Reliability of the Instrument

In order to ensure that the instrument to be used is reliable, it was trial-

tested on 30 principals in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra

State. Using Cronbach Alpha, the reliability of the instrument was found to be

0.68 for cluster 1, 0.70 for cluster 2 and 0.68 for cluster 3. which indicated

that the instruments were reliable. (See Appendix III for computation of

reliability coefficient.

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Method of Data Collection

The questionnaire was administered to the principals and vice-

principals. The questionnaire was designed to elicit responses from principals

and vice principals on their views towards listening skills.

The procedure that was adopted for data collection was self delivery

method. The administration of questionnaire to the respondents was done

using three trained research assistants. The research assistants assisted the

researcher in both the administration and collection of the questionnaire as

they were completed by the respondents.

Method of Data Analysis

Research questions one to five was subjected to descriptive statistics,

where the mean was used as follows: 2.5 and above from 4 point scale was

used to determine the required listening skill (Q1), and how principals rate the

skills in terms of their importance (Q2). Research question 3, was answered

using principals mean rating of each item. Specifically, the following scale

was used to interprete the mean rating for research question 3:

1.00 ≤ x ≤ 1.75 Very Low Extent (VLE)

1.75 ≤ x ≤ 2.50 Low Extent (LE)

2.50 ≤ x ≤ 3.25 High Extent (HE)

3.25 ≤ x ≤ 4.00 Very High Extent (VHE)

Research question 4 and 5 were answered using the mean rating of principals

according to gender and experience respectively. In this researcher’s

questions, the minimum score expected from any respondent is 16 x 1 = 16

while the maximum score is 16 x 4 = 64. The scores of all female and male

principals with respect to cluster III, were used to determined the mean rating

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of principals due to gender. In the same vain, the mean rating of principal due

to experience were calculated using scores from cluster III also.

Hypothesis 1 was analysed using t-test while hypothesis 2 was analysed using

one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The entire analysis was performed

using statistical packages for Social Science (SPSS).

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CHAPTER FOUR

PRESENTATION OF RESULTS This chapter deals with analysis and interpretation of the data obtained. The order of presentation is according to the research questions and hypotheses listed in chapter one. Research Question 1 What listening skills do principals require for effective school, administration? Table 1: Mean Rating of required listening skills of principals S/N Items Mean Standard

Deviation Decision

1 Active 3.8757 .33085 Accepted 2 Appreciative 2.7797 .54568 Accepted 3 Biased 1.1864 .39057 Rejected 4 Inactive 1.1638 .37118 Rejected 5 Comprehension 2.9831 .55876 Accepted 6 Evaluative 2.8079 .53016 Accepted 7 Deep 2.9492 .80673 Accepted 8 Dialogic 2.9153 .57272 Accepted 9 Discriminative 2.7232 .47335 Accepted 10 Sympathetic 3.3955 .64101 Accepted 11 Empathic 3.1299 .54362 Accepted 12 High-integrity 2.5763 .56014 Accepted 13 Initial 1.1977 .41341 Rejected 14 False 1.6893 .98831 Rejected 15 Reflective 2.7062 .55761 Accepted 16 Relationship 3.0508 .50307 Accepted

Where N = 177 is each case

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The mean rating of principals in table 4 shows that, active listening,

appreciative listening, comprehensive listening, evaluative listening, deep

listening, dialogic listening, discriminative listening, sympathetic listening,

empathic listening, high-integrity listening, reflective listening and

relationship listening are required by principals for effective school

administration. The table also shows that false listening, inactive listening,

biased listening and inactive listening have very low mean values meaning

that principals do not need them in the school administration (see appendix iv

for detail).

Research Question 2 How do principals rate these skills in terms of their importance? Table 2 Mean rating of principals listening skills in ranking order of importance. S/N Types of Listening Skill Mean Standard

Deviation Decision

1 Active listening 3.8757 .33085 VI 2 Sympathetic Listening 3.3955 0.64101 VI 3 Empathic Listening 3.1299 .54362 I 4 Relationship Listening 3.0508 .50307 I 5 Comprehension Listening 2.9831 .55876 I 6 Deep Listening 2.9492 .80673 I

7 Dialogic Listening 2.9153 .57272 I 8 Evaluative Listening 2.8079 .53016 I 9 Appreciative Listening 2.7797 .54568 I 10 Discriminative Listening 2.7232 .47335 I 11 Reflective Listening 2.7062 .55761 I 12 High-integrity Listening 2.5763 .56014 I 13 False Listening 1.6893 .98831 NI 14 Initial Listening 1.1977 .41341 NI 15 Biased Listening 1.1864 .39057 NI

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16 Inactive Listening 1.1638 .37118 NI From table 5, Active listening has a mean rating of 3.8757 and it is rated highest among the listening skills under study. This is followed by sympathetic listening with a mean of 3.3955, empathic listening has a mean of 3.1299, relationship listening has a mean of 3.0508, comprehensive listening has a mean of 2.9831, deep listening has a mean of 2.9492, dialogic listening has a mean of 2.9153, evaluative listening has a mean of 2.8079, appreciative listening has a mean of 2.7797, discriminative listening has a mean of 2.7232, reflective listening has a mean of 2.7062, high-integrity listening has a mean of 2.5763, false listening has a mean of 1.6893, initial listening has a mean of 1.1977, biased listening has a mean of 1.1864 and inactive listening has a mean rating of 1.1638. (See appendix iv for detail). Research Question 3 To what extent do principals perform the identified listening skills? Table 3: Response of principals showing the extent they use the identified listening skills. S/N Listening Skills Response Category

X Decision

VHE HE LE VLE 1 Active listening 155 22 - - 3.84 VHE 2 Appreciative listening 11 116 50 - 2.78 HE 3 Biased listening - - 33 144 1.19 VLE 4 Inactive listening - - 29 148 1.16 VLE 5 Comprehension listening 26 122 29 - 2.98 HE 6 Evaluative listening 11 121 45 - 2.81 HE 7 Deep listening 50 71 53 3 3.51 VHE 8 Dialogic listening 22 118 37 - 2.92 HE 9 Discriminative listening 2 124 51 - 2.72 HE 10 Sympathetic listening 85 77 15 - 3.17 HE 11 Empathic listening 39 122 16 - 3.13 HE 12 High-integrity listening 2 102 69 4 2.58 HE 13 Initial listening - 1 33 143 1.20 VLE 14 False listening 14 25 30 108 1.69 VLE 15 Reflective listening 5 119 49 4 2.71 HE 16 Relationship listening 27 132 18 - 3.05 HE

Where N = 177 in each case

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From table three above, active listening and deep listening were used to a

very high extent: their mean rating were found to be 3.84 and 3.51

respectively. The table also indicated that appreciative, comprehensive,

evaluative, deep, dialogic, discriminative, empathic, high-integrity, reflective

and relationship listening are used to a high extent. Their mean rating are:

2.78, 2.98, 2.81, 3.51, 2.92, 2.72, 3.13, 2.58, 2.71, 3.05 respectively. The table

equally indicated that biased, inactive, initial and false listening are used to a

very low extent. Their mean rating are: 1.19, 1.16, 1.20, 1.69 respectively.

Research Question 4 How does gender influence the listening skills of school principals? Table 4 Mean rating of principals by sex N Mean Standard

Deviation Female 110 41.75 2.770 Male 67 38.81 2.032 Total 177 80.56 In other determine how gender influences the listening skills of

principals, the mean rating of female principals was compared with the mean

rating of male principals. In the above table, 110 females used in this study

have a mean rating of 41.75 while 67 males used in this study have a mean

rating of 38.81. This result indicated that gender may have influence on the

listening skills of principals (See Appendix vi).

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Research Question 5 To what extent do experiences influence the listening skills of school principals? Table 5 Mean rating of principals by experience N Mean Standard

Deviation 1-4 years 43 38.1628 1.98722 4-8 years 82 42.4512 2.61596 8 years and above

52 39.8269 1.89655

Total 177 40.6384 2.89087 From the table above, 43 principals have spent between 1-4 years, 82 have spent 4-8 years while 52 principals have spent 8 years and above on service. The mean rating of principals who have spent 1-4 years is 38.1628, for those who have spent 4-8 years, their mean rating is 42.4512 and those who have spent 8 years and above have a mean rating of 39.8269. From the above analysis, the mean values of the three groups under consideration are close to each other. However, those who had spent between 4-8 years had the highest mean score (See Appendix vii). Hypothesis 1 Gender is not a significant factor in the listening skills of principals as measured by the mean rating on LSP. Table 6 Independent t-test analysis of the scores of female and male on listening skills Variable N Mean Standard

deviation tcal Sig. (2 tailed)

Female 110 41.7545 2.770 Male 67 38.81 2.032 7.559 .000

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From the statistical packages for social science (SPSS) print out above, the calculated t-value is 7.559. This was tested for significance by comparing it with the critical value of 0.000with 175 degree of freedom. This means that gender is a significant factor in the listening skills of principals as measured by the mean rating on listening skills of principals (LSP). Since the probability set by the computer analysis is 0.000 and is less than 0.05 set by the researcher, the null hypothesis was rejected. (See appendix vi). Hypothesis 2 There will be no significant difference in the listening skills of principals due to experience as measured by the mean rating on LSP. ANOVA Table 7 Mean rating of principals due to experience Sum of

Square d/f Mean

square F Sig

Between groups

567.251 2 283.626 54.615 .000

Within groups

903.608 174 5.193

Total 1470.859 176 From the analysis of variance (ANOVA) table above, the F-ratio obtained is 54.615 and the probability level set by the computer is 0.000. When this probability level of 0.00 was compared to that of 0.05 set by the researcher, the result was found to be significant. It therefore means that there is a significant difference in the listening skills of principals due to experience. (see appendix vii)

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CHAPTER FIVE

DISCUSSION

This chapter deals with the discussion of the findings on listening skills

of principals as they relate to the research questions and hypotheses.

Conclusion were drawn, implications highlighted and limitation pointed out

in this chapter. Recommendations and suggestions for further study were also

made and the summary of the entire work presented.

Discussion of the Results

Listening Skills that Principals Require for Effective School

Administration

The first research question was to identify the listening skills for

effective communication of principals. Based on the data, as shown in table 1,

the findings revealed that out of the 16 listening skills studied in this research

work, 12 skills were accepted as effective listening skills while 4 were

rejected. The accepted listening skills were: active, appreciative,

comprehensive, evaluative, deep, dialogic, discriminative, sympathetic,

empathic, high-integrity, reflective and relationship listening. Their calculated

mean values were more than or upto 2.5 which is the decision rule for

accepting a particular listening skill. From the same table, result showed that

false listening, initial listening, biased listening and inactive listening have a

low mean rating which is below 2.5 and any listening skill whose mean rating

is below 2.5 was seen as not being required by principals. This result is in line

with Derington and Groom (2004) who agreed that the above mentioned

listening skills are needed for effective management.

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Principals Rating of the Identified Listening Skills in Terms of their

Importance in School Administration

The second research question was principals rating of the identified

skill in terms of their importance in school administration. Result showed that

active listening is the most effective listening skill followed by sympathetic,

empathic, relationship, comprehension, deep, dialogic, evaluative,

appreciative, discriminative, reflective, high-integrity, false, initial, biased and

inactive listening skills. The above view is consistent with the findings of

Rynders (1999) who opined that the highest and most effective listeners are

the active listeners because they listen not only for the content of the speakers

message, but more importantly, for the intent and feeling of the message as

well. The result of this study showed that empathic listening is also an

effective listening skill. It was in line with the research findings of John and

Bechler (1998), Covey (2004) and Derrigton and Groom (2004) who also

found that administrators exhibit empathic listening because of tremendous

interest in the organization. Contrarily, the findings was at variance with the

opinion of Payne (2001) who stipulated that empathic listening is the highest

level of listening. The result of the findings showed that active listening is the

highest level of listening. Rynders supported the idea that inactive listener

which be called marginal listener is extremely dangerous in any

establishment. This view was in agreement with the researchers findings

which rejected inactive listening skills as one of the required listening skills.

Camp and Satterwhite (1998) supported the idea that passive listening is

inappropriate, instead, principals should listen actively, with a higher level of

concentration because they are listening for information.

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The Extent of Exhibition of the Identified Listening Skills by School

Principals

Several researchers and authors have agreed that active listening is the

most effective listening skills required in school administration. The result of

this study showed that the extent of usage of active listening was very high in

secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State. Deep listening

skill was also used to a very high extent in school administration. One would

have expected that appreciative, comprehension, evaluative, dialogic,

sympathetic, empathic reflective and relationship listening should have been

used by principals to a very high extent but surprisingly, they were used to a

high extent. The extent of usage were not low but there is need for additional

improvement. Listening skills like biased and inactive listening were used but

the extent of usage were very low. One would also expect that principals

should not use them at all because they were not effective in the actualization

of educational goals. Initial and false listening skills were used to a very low

extent which indicated that their were little degree of their usage in

administration despite their irrelevances.

Discussion on Influence of Gender in Listening Skills

The issue of influence of gender in the listening skillsof principals was

addressed by research question 4 (RQ4) and HO1 which sought to answer how

gender influence the listening skills of school principals. The findings of this

study showed that gender is a significant factor in the listening skills of

principals as measured by the mean rating on listening skills of principals.

The finding indicated a higher mean value of 41.75 for female principals

when compared to mean of 38.81 of their male counterpart. This finding

showed that male and female listen differently. The finding is in agreement

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with Adler and Elmhorst (2002) opinion that men and women listen

differently to at least some degree. In relation to their opinion, this study

showed that women used effective listening skills more than men in school

administration (see table 4). The result of the findings could be so because

women are naturally emotional. This was in accordance with Tannem (1990)

who observed that most women use “rapport talk” as a way of establishing

relationship while men use “report talk” to preserve their independence and

maintain status. Consequently, they have a harder time learning to be good

listeners. Similarly, McCutcheon, Schaffer and Wycoff (1994) supported the

idea that men listened passively and begin to interrupt the conversation. This

is because men have been taught since childhood to be problem solvers.

Consequently, they fail to listen for more information before arriving at a

conclusion. There was consistency from the above view and the findings of

this study.

Discussion on Influence of Experience in Listening Skills of Principals

When taken into consideration the means of views of principals in

regard to their experience, the findings revealed that those principals who

have worked from 4 to 8 years acquired a high mean rating of 42.4512 more

than those who have worked from 1 to 4 years and also from 8 years and

above (see table 5). This findings did not agree completely with Mgbodile

(2003) who argued that the behaviour of a leader is often influenced by the

aggregate of his background, his knowledge and his experience which

indicated that experienced principals were likely to have acquired adequate

listening skills than inexperienced principals and better disposed to become

good listeners. From the findings, those principals who have served for 4 to 8

years may have acquired adequate listening skills more than those who have

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served for 1 to 4 years because of their exposure. Contrarily, principals who

have been in office for 8 years and above supposed to have acquired more

experience more than principals who have served for 4 to 8 years. This was at

variance with the result of this study. This variation could be attributed to

some factors such as age, health and others. The more principals stay in

office, the more they become older and there are possibilities that they may

deteriorate in their listening proficiency regardless of the number of years

they have served. One may assume that the principals who have spent 8 years

and above should exhibit more listening skills than those who have spent 1-4

and 4-8 years. Surprisingly, the result of this study disapproved the idea, what

could have been the causative factors? Perhaps, the reason may be because

those principals who have spent 8 years and above take things for granted or

may be, lack of commitment to duty and nonchalant attitude. Conclusively,

this findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the listening

skills of principals due to experience as shown in table 5. Many listening

errors is as a result of making faulty assumption. Locker and Kaczmarek

(2004) suggested that to avoid listening errors that are caused by faulty

assumptions, one should consider the other person’s background and

experiences. The implication of the above statement is that experiences have a

tremendous role to play in the listening skills of principals. This current study

indicated that duration of service could make a principal gather experiences

but this does not mean that the years people work as principals, would make

them gather more experiences than others. That is to say, more years, more

experience. There are probabilities that if they serve for many years, they

would gather many experiences and there are also probabilities that they may

serve for many years without getting much experiences than others. Lucas

(2001) also pointed out that experience can make someone to avoid mistakes

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which an unexperienced person would be vulnerable. The above statement

was in line with the findings of the study.

Conclusion

This research study examined the listening skills as practiced by

principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State. Based on the result of

the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. Active listening appears to be the most effective listening skills in

school administration while inactive listening seems to be the least used

in school administration.

2. Gender is a significant factor in the listening skills of principals.

3. There is a significant differences in the listening skills of principals due

to experience.

Educational Implications

This study has several implications to school administrators e.g.

principals, teachers, students and educational planners. The task of

developing a profile of administrators listening skills can help principals

become aware of their listening habits and further improve their listening

effectiveness. Thus the current study can also offer some implications for

principals listening instruction by helping them to understand their listening

skills. Principals can teach their teachers and as well students to develop more

the active listening skill. Active listening strategy is actually an effective

listening strategy which can facilitate job performance in school

administration

By providing empirical descriptions and evidence of principals’

listening skills preference in terms of their genders and experiences, the

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present study is expected to contribute to teachers understanding of the

various listening skills and also improve their listening proficiency.

A study of this nature will help students to have a better listening

comprehension because they have identified the various listening skills used

by principals. This understanding will enable them to give feedbacks during

the process of interaction.

The awareness through this study will assist the educational planners in

the planning of the pre-service curriculum as it concerns what, when and how

to communicate between and among school superordinate and subordinate.

Recommendations

If principals are really willing to learn how to listen, they can become

more effective administrators. It will take hard work to learn the skills,

constant practice to keep the skills viable and periodic retrospective analysis

to check their progress. The key element is realizing that listening, and

especially active listening, is as important as other communication skills of

reading, writing and speaking. It is also pertinent for principals to understand

that listening should not take a secondary position to speaking which is its

verbal counterpart.

The researcher also recommends that principals should read books on

listening skills to help them develop their listening competency. Many

educational opportunities are available to develop improved listening skills

such as internet and library.

Limitations of the Study

Some principals vehemently refused to fill the questionnaire because of

fear of unknown. Some principals rated themselves arbitrarily in some of the

106

items which degenerated to faking of answers. The task was capital intensive

which prevented the researcher from covering much.

Suggestions for Further Study

The researcher suggested that further research should cover all other

aspects of listening skills which the researcher could not accomplish such as:

Social listening skill, secondary listening skill, aesthetic listening skill,

creative listening skill and others.

The researcher also suggested that other researchers should expand

their sample size since the population this study used were small and

manageable.

Summary of the Study

This study focused on listening skills as practiced by principals in

Awka Education Zone of Anambra State. In this regards, excellence in

communication skills by secondary school principals depends on the extent

to which the principals use effective listening skills.

Five research questions and two null hypotheses were stated to guide

the study. Instrument for data collection was developed and was titled

Listening Skills Practices (LSP) of secondary school principals. This

instrument was validated by experts in the field of education. The population

of the study comprised all the principals and vice principals in 59 public

secondary schools in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State. The sample

size was 177 principals. There was no sampling because the entire population

were used.

The research questions were analyzed using descriptive statistics,

where the mean was used as follows: 2.5 and above from 4 point scale was

107

used to determine the required listening skill, and how principals rate the

skills in terms of their importance. Research question 3, was answered using

principals mean rating of each item. Research question 4 and 5 were

answered using the mean rating of principals according to gender and

experience respectively. The results from the analysis revealed that active

listening appears to be the most effective listening skills in school

administration while inactive listening seems to be the least used in school

administration. The result also showed that gender is a significant factor in

the listening skills of principals; therefore, the null hypotheses were rejected.

The major findings of the study were extensively discussed, their

educational implications highlighted and recommendations made. Some

limitations of the study were identified and suggestions for further studies

were also made.

108

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117

APPENDIX I

Department of Education Foundation, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 7th May, 2008.

Dear Sir/Madam,

REQUEST FOR VALIDATION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENT

I am a postgraduate student of the above-mentioned Department currently

undertaking a research study titled: Self Assessment of Listening Skills by

Secondary School Principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State.

You are therefore humbly requested to diligently fill out the

questionnaire as your responses will be used purely for academic purposes.

Thanks for your co-operation.

Yours faithfully,

Molokwu, Maureen N.

118

APPENDIX II

Questionnaire on self Assessment of Listening Skills Adopted by Principals

SECTION A

Personal Data

Please tick the following information that is appropriate to you.

1) Name of School

……………………………………………………………

2) Status of respondent (a) principal (b) Vice principal

3) Gender: (a) Male (b) Female

4) Number of years spent as a principal/vice-principal

1 – 4 years 4 – 8 years

8 years and above

SECTION B

This section of the questionnaire is structured to reflect the research

questions raised for this study. Therefore, each cluster answers the research

questions. You are expected to indicate your responses to the questions along

the following scales.

Instruction: Tick () in the appropriate box/ column against your choices

that best suit and represent your disposition.

Cluster I

Strongly Agree (SA)

Agree (A)

Disagree (D)

Strongly Disagree (SD)

119

What listening skills do Principals use in School administration?

S/N Cluster I: listening skills of principals In my school, I :

SA A D SD

1 Listen with interest in what is being said. (Active) 2 Takes pleasure in listening to people. (Appreciative) 3 Hear only what I want to hear. (Biased) 4 Pay little attention to teachers and students.(Inactive) 5 Listen to understand the meaning of any message

delivered by my staff and students. (comprehension)

6 Assess and evaluate the accuracy of a message delivered by staff, students and members of the community.(Evaluative)

7 Seek to understand people’s personalities and their motivators. (Deep listening)

8 Learn through conversation with my teachers, students and members of the community. (Dialogic)

9 Can identify the voice of my teachers in a noisy staff room. (Discriminative)

10 Show concern for the welfare of the teachers and students. (Sympathetic)

11 Seek a truer understanding of peoples feelings. (Empathic)

12 Listen for honesty and moral behaviour in a speech. (High-integrity )

13 Pay attention only at the beginning of a message or speech and then seek for response. (Initial)

14 Listen most of the time to teacher’s complaints and sometimes absentminded. (False)

15 Cast back to teacher’s reports, complaints and comments.(Reflective)

16 Develop good connection with my relationship with

teachers student and members of the community.

(Relationship)

120

Cluster II

Instruction: Tick () in the appropriate box/ column against your choices

that best suit and represent your disposition.

Very important VI Important I Less Important LI Not Important NI

S/N Cluster II: How do principals rate these skills in terms of their importance? In my school, I:

VI I LI NI

1 Listen with interest in what is being said. ((Active) 2 Takes pleasure in listening to people. (Appreciative) 3 Hear only what I want to hear. (Biased) 4 Pay little attention to teachers and students. (Inactive) 5 Listen to understand the meaning of any message delivered by

my staff and students. (Comprehension)

6 Assess and evaluate the accuracy of a message delivered by staff, students and members of the community. (Evaluative)

7 Seek to understand people’s personalities and their motivators. (Deep)

8 Learn through conversation with my teachers, students and members of the community. (Dialogic)

9 Can identify the voice of my teachers in a noisy staff room.(Discriminative)

10 Show concern for the welfare of the teachers and students. (Sympathetic)

11 Seek a truer understanding of peoples feelings. (Empathic) 12 Listen for honesty and moral behaviour in a speech. (High-

integrity)

13 Pay attention only at the beginning of a message or speech and then seek for response. (Initial)

14 Listen most of the time to teacher’s complaints and sometimes absentminded. (False)

15 Cast back to teacher’s reports, complaints and comments.(Reflective)

16 Develop good connection with my relationship with teachers student and members of the community. (Relationship)

Cluster III

121

Instruction: Tick () in the appropriate box/ column against your choices

that best suit and represent your disposition.

Very High Extent (VHE)

High Extent (HE)

Low Extent (LE)

Very Low Extent (VLE)

To what extent do principals use these skills in school administration?

S/N In my school, I : VHE HE LE VLE 1 Listen with interest in what is being said. (Active) 2 Takes pleasure in listening to people. (Appreciative) 3 Hear only what I want to hear. (Biased) 4 Pay little attention to teachers and students. (Inactive) 5 Listen to understand the meaning of any message delivered

by my staff and students. (Comprehension)

6 Assess and evaluate the accuracy of a message delivered by staff, students and members of the community. (Evaluative)

7 Seek to understand people’s personalities and their motivators. (Deep)

8 Learn through conversation with my teachers, students and members of the community. (Dialogic)

9 Can identify the voice of my teachers in a noisy staff room. (Discriminative)

10 Show concern for the welfare of the teachers and students. (Sympathetic)

11 Seek a truer understanding of peoples feelings. (Empathic) 12 Listen for honesty and moral behaviour in a speech. (High-

integrity)

13 Pay attention only at the beginning of a message or speech and then seek for response. (Initial)

14 Listen most of the time to teacher’s complaints and sometimes absentminded. (False)

15 Cast back to teacher’s reports, complaints and comments. (Reflective)

16 Develop good connection with my relationship with teachers student and members of the community. (Relationship)

APPENDIX III

122

COMPUTATION OF RELIABILITY COEFFICIENT

Cluster I

Item S/N

Item variance (i2)

1 0.18 2 0.36 3 0.62 4 0.58 5 0.24 6 0.26 7 0.35 8 0.46 9 0.35

10 0.49 11 0.29 12 0.18 13 0.32 14 0.43 15 0.21 16 0.17

i2 = 5.49

Respondents scores on cluster I 46, 45, 38, 45, 48, 39, 50, 41, 45, 50, 50, 41, 50, 44, 45 47, 47, 38, 45, 44, 47, 43, 42, 44, 51, 48, 44, 48, 55, 46 Variance (t

2) = 15.05 = where = Cronbach alpha n = number of items i

2 = variance of single item t

2 = variance of the total scores on a cluster = = 1.0667 x 0.6352

n n – 1

t2 - i

2 i

2

16 16 – 1

15.05 – 5.49 15.05

123

= 0.6776 = 0.68 Cluster 2

Item S/N

Item variance (i

2) 1 0.26 2 0.42 3 0.58 4 0.41 5 0.18 6 0.33 7 0.49 8 0.31 9 0.21

10 0.19 11 0.53 12 0.44 13 0.21 14 0.37 15 0.24 16 0.53

i2 = 5.70

Respondents scores on cluster 2 42, 45, 50, 49, 57, 38, 53, 46, 42, 45, 51, 49, 49, 46, 48 49, 51, 51, 45, 46, 45, 39, 50, 46, 51, 45, 53, 50, 47, 48 Variance (t

2) = 16.38 = = 1.0667 x 0.6520 = 0.6955 = 0.70

16 16 – 1

16.38 – 5.70 16.38

124

Cluster 3

Item S/N Item variance (i

2) 1 0.23 2 0.34 3 0.42 4 0.48 5 0.73 6 0.64 7 0.37 8 0.68 9 0.72

10 0.67 11 0.33 12 0.57 13 0.58 14 0.71 15 0.62 16 0.41

i2 = 8.50

Respondents scores on cluster 3 42, 41, 41, 56, 48, 36, 47, 46, 41, 44, 45, 47, 46, 45, 44 45, 49, 37, 48, 47, 46, 41, 48, 45, 54, 45, 47, 48, 44, 48 Variance (t

2) = 23.03 = = 1.0667 x 0.63090 = 0.6816 = 0.68

16 16 – 1

23.03 – 8.50 23.03

125

APPENDIX IV Table 1: Population distribution of principals and vice principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State

Local Government Area

No of School No of Principal

No of Vice Principals

Total of Respondents

Anaocha 14 14 28 42

Njikoka 12 12 24 36

Dumukofia 8 8 16 24

Awka South 17 17 34 51

Awka North 8 8 16 24

Total 59 59 118 177

Source: States Education Board Awka

LISTENING SKILLS AS PRACTISED BY PRINCIPALS IN AWKA

EDUCATION ZONE OF ANAMBRA STATE

BY

MOLOKWU MAUREEN NWAMAKA

PG/M.ED/04/39104

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FEBRUARY, 2009.

i

TITLE PAGE

LISTENING SKILLS AS PRACTISED BY PRINCIPALS IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE OF ANAMBRA STATE

A RESEARCH THESIS PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA NSUKKA

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION (M.ED) IN

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

BY

MOLOKWU MAUREEN NWAMAKA

PG/M.ED/04/39104

FEBRUARY, 2009.

ii

APPROVAL PAGE

THIS THESIS HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF

EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

NSUKKA

BY

------------------------------- -----------------------------------SUPERVISOR HEAD OF DEPARTMENT (Prof. Rev. Fr. A.U. Akubue) (Prof. N. O. Ogbonnaya) ------------------------------- ---------------------------------- INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER (Dr, J. C. Omeje) (Prof. G. C. Unachukwu)

------------------------------------ DEAN OF FACULTY

(Prof. G.C.Oforma)

iii

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to the memory of my father Chief Innocent

Molokwu who laid the foundation for my education and my darling Stanley.

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher wishes to express her gratitude to her supervisor Rev.

Prof. A.U. Akubue who was meticulous in guiding and advising her

throughout the course of study. His boundless patience, scholarly criticism

and advice in this work are immensely appreciated.

She expresses gratitude to Dr. J.C. Omeje, Dr. K.O. Usman, Dr. A.

Oboegbulam, Prof. Ogbonnaya, Dr. C.U. Onwurah, Dr. T. Oforka, Dr. C.U.

Nkokolonye and Dr. J. Anyanwu for their various suggestions and

encouragement. She remains indebted to her sweetheart Stanley for his

constructive criticism, advice, sacrifice, encouragement and more especially

financial support without which this project would not have been

accomplished. The researcher also wishes to appreciate Mr. John Agah for his

effort and contributions in making this work a reality.

Moreso, I owe my heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation to my

friends Ebele, Grace, Goddy, Ene, Uju Ayika, Dr. Chinelo Moneke for their

assistance and moral support. I also wish to appreciate U.K. Computer for her

tireless effort to see this work completed.

MOLOKWU MAUREEN NWAMAKA

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

Title Page ---------------------------------------------------------------- i

Certification Page ---------------------------------------------------- ii

Dedication ------------------------------------------------------- ---- iv

Acknowledgement ------------------------------------------------ v

Table of Contents ----------------------------------------- vi

List of Tables ------------------------------------------------------- vii

Abstract ------------------------------------------------------------------ viii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study -------------------------------------------------- 1

Statement of Problem ------------------------------------------------------ 5

Purpose of the Study ------------------------------------------------------- 6

Significance of the Study -------------------------------------------------- 6

Scope of the Study ---------------------------------------------------------- 7

Research Questions --------------------------------------------------------- 8

Hypotheses ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Conceptual Framework ----------------------------------------------------- 9

Concept of Listening as Communication Skills ----------------------- 9

The need for Listening Skills in School Administration -------------- 30

Kinds of Listening ---------------------------------------------------------- 36

Barriers to Listening Skills ------------------------------------------------ 60

Techniques of Listening Skills -------------------------------------------- 669

Theoretical Framework ----------------------------------------------------- 75

vi

The Scientific Management Theory of Communication ------------- 76

Human Relation Theory --------------------------------------------------- 79

The System Theory of Communication --------------------------------- 81

Review of Empirical Studies --------------------------------------------- 82

Summary of Literature Review ------------------------------------------- 87

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHOD

Design of the Study --------------------------------------------------------- 88

Area of Study ---------------------------------------------------------------- 88

Population of the Study ---------------------------------------------------- 88

Sample- and Sampling Technique --------------------------------------- 89

Instrument of Data Collection -------------------------------------------- 89

Validation of the Instrument ---------------------------------------------- 90

Reliability of the Instrument ----------------------------------------------- 90

Method of Data Collection ------------------------------------------------ 91

Methods of Data Analysis ------------------------------------------------- 91

References -- -----------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF RESULTS

Presentation of Results ------------------------------------------------- -- 93

Research Question One---------------------------------------------------- 93

Research Question Two --------------------------------------- ------------ 94

Research Question Three ------------------------------------------------ - 95

Research Question Four - -------------------------------------------------- 96

Research Question Five --------------------------------------------------- 97

Hypothesis One ------------------------------------------------------------- 97

Hypothesis Two ------------------------------------------------------------- 98

vii

CHAPTER FIVE: DICUSSION

Discussions ------------------------------------------------------------------ 99

Discussion of the Results -------------------------------------------------- 99

Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------- 104

Educational Implications -------------------------------------------------- 104

Recommendations ---------------------------------------------------------- 105

Limitations of the Study --------------------------------------------------- 105

Suggestions for Further Study -------------------------------------------- 106

Summary of the Study ----------------------------------------------------- 106

REFERENCES -------------------------------------------------------------- 108

APPENDICES

Appendix I: Request for Validation of Research Instrument -------- 117

Appendix II: Questionnaire on self Assessment of Listening Skills

Adopted by Principals ------------------------------------ 118

Appendix III: Computation of Reliability Coefficient ---------------- 122

Appendix IV ----------------------------------------------------------------- 125

Appendix V ------------------------------------------------------------------ 126

Appendix VI ----------------------------------------------------------------- 127

Appendix VII ---------------------------------------------------------------- 128

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Mean Rating of required listening skills of principals - 93 Table 2 Mean rating of principals listening skills in ranking order of importance. - - - - - 94 Table 3: Response of principals showing the extent they use the identified listening skills. - - - - 95 Table 4: Mean rating of principals by sex - - - 96 Table 5: Mean rating of principals by experience - - 97 Table 6: Independent t-test analysis of the scores of female and male on listening skills - - - - - - 97 Table 7: Mean rating of principals due to experience - - 98

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ABSTRACT

This research project used descriptive survey to investigate the listening skills practiced by principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State. The main purpose of this research is to determine the various kinds of listening skills used by principals for effective administration of schools, and then to examine the following questions: what listening skills do principals require for effective school administration? How do principals rate these skills in terms of their importance? To what extent do principals perform the identified listening skills? How does gender influence the listening skills of school principals? To what extent do experiences influence the listening skills of school principals? The methods employed to investigate these questions include an exhaustive literature review, information obtained by talking to principals, teachers and students and mostly principals and vice principals response to the questionnaire developed by the researcher. The study was guided by two hypotheses. The sample consisted of 177 principals and vice principals in Awka Education Zone of Anambra State.A questionnaire titled Listening Skill Practices (LSP) was used to gather the data. Findings of the research revealed that: gender is a significant factor in the listening skills of principals as measured by the mean rating on listening skills of principals and there is a significant difference in the listening skills of principals due to experience. The researcher suggested among others that since it is not known if administrators possess superior verbal skills in school administration, there is the need for further research in this area.