CAUSAL MODELLING OF THE INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION, TEACHERS’ MOTIVATION AND PRINCIPALS' DECISION-MAKING STYLES ON MATHEMATICS TEACHERS' JOB PERFORMANCE IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the causal modeling of the influence of instructional supervision, teachers’ motivation, and principals’ decision-making styles on Mathematics teachers’ job performance in public secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study adopted a model-fit correlational survey research design. The sample size of 227 Mathematics teachers in public secondary schools was used for the study. The sample was obtained through multistage sampling procedure. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher titled; Instructional Supervision Questionnaire (ISQ), Teachers’ Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ), Principals’ Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire (PDMSQ) and Mathematics Teachers’ Job Performance Questionnaire (MTJPQ). Reliability coefficient of 0.87, 0.92, 0.88, and 0.84 were obtained for ISQ, TMQ, PDMSQ and MTJPQ respectively using Cronbach Alpha method. The study adopted structural equation modeling (SEM), specifically the partial least squares (PLS-SEM) for data analysis. The findings revealed that teachers’ motivation exerted a strong and statistically significant direct effect on Mathematics teachers’ job performance, while principals’ decision-making styles such as top-down and disturbed exerted moderate but significant direct effects. Principals’ instructional supervision was found to exert a significant indirect influence on teachers’ job performance through teachers’ motivation. Collectively, the three exogenous variables of instructional supervision, teachers’ motivation, and principals’ decision-making styles explained 93% of the variance in Mathematics teachers’ job performance, indicating strong explanatory power of the causal model. The study concludes that teacher motivation is the most influential factor in determining job performance, while effective supervisory and participatory leadership practices further enhance teachers’ effectiveness. It is recommended that school principals strengthen instructional supervision, adopt participatory decision-making approaches, and implement strategies to enhance teacher motivation to improve Mathematics teaching outcomes in secondary schools.