Perceived Influence of Human Resource Management on Instructional Delivery in Primary Schools in Rivers State

This study investigated perceived influence of human resource management on instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State. The study used three research questions and three hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The total population was 988,508 (961 headteachers and 987,547 teachers) from all 961 primary schools in Rivers State. A sample size of 460 (60 headteachers and 400 teachers) was determined using multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument for the study was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Perceived Influence of Human Resource Management on Instructional Delivery Questionnaire”. The instrument was validated by experts in the Measurement and Evaluation and Department of Educational Management. Cronbach Alpha was used to achieve an overall reliability index of 0.84. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while the z-test was used in testing the formulated null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that teachers’ appraisal, teachers’ training, and orientation of teachers influence instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State. Based on the findings, it was recommended that school managers should regularly carry out performance appraisal to ensure teachers update their knowledge in a way that will enable them to deliver the curriculum effectively; there should be massive training and retraining of primary schools’ teachers to improve their pedagogical skills for effective instructional delivery in schools and school managers should ensure adequate orientation programmes are put in place for newly employed teachers to acquaint them with the requirement of their jobs for quality instructional delivery.


Introduction
Primary education is the education given to children aged 6-12 years and it is the foundation of a productive and functional education system.The primary education is saddled with the responsibility of laying a solid foundation of the children for further education hence, the bedrock upon which other levels of education are built.No child gains admission into the secondary school without a proof that he/she had completed his/her primary education.According to the Federal Government of Nigeria in her National Policy on Education (FGN, 2014) the objectives of primary education are to: inculcate permanent literacy, numeracy and ability to communicate effectively; lay a sound basis for scientific critical and reflective thinking; promote patriotisms fairness understanding and national unity; instill social moral norms and values in the child; the ability to adapt to the changing environment and provide opportunities for the child to develop life manipulative skills that will enable child function effectively in the society within the limits of the child capability.Achieving these goals depends on the quality and efficient management of both material and human resources.
According to Abraham (2013) human resources in the school system are people whose services aid the achievement of educational goals, it comprises of curriculum planners, school administrators, teaching and non-teaching staff who ensure the attainment of educational goals.The human resource is the most valuable resource in any school and effective instructional delivery depend heavily on their ability to professionally interpret the curriculum.In schools the teaching staff are the core human resources for instructional delivery therefore, the quality of a school to a great extent is determined by the quality of the teaching staff of that school.Santiago and Benavides (2019) concisely captured it; thus, as the most important resource in schools, teachers are critical to raise education standards.Consequently, there is need for proper management of teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively and enhance students' academic performance.George and Boudreau (2014) opined that human resources management is the process of recruiting, selecting, inducting employees, providing orientation, imparting training, and development, appraising the performance of employees, deciding compensation and providing benefits, motivating employees, maintaining proper relations with employees and their trade unions, ensuring employees safety, welfare and health measures in compliance with labour laws of the land.The need for human resource management in the school system is integral and offers a wide range of channels through which the school administrator carries out statutory duties and other responsibilities.There are many ways in which human resources within the formal school system can be effectively managed.These include promotion, discipline, remuneration, motivation, supervision, the involvement of staff in decision making, interpersonal relationship, effective communication, the delegation of responsibilities and so on (Kempen, 2020).However, the emphasis was based on three aspects of human resource management in this study which includes teachers' performance appraisal, teachers' training, and orientation of teachers.
Teachers' performance appraisal was defined by Akinfolarin (2017) as the systematic evaluation of the quality of teachers' performance.The author stated that employees should not be viewed as an end in itself, but rather as an important process within a broader performance management system that links organizational objectives, professional development and rewards.To the author, there is also the need to measure the performance of the employees in an organization in order to promote efficiency.Fakharyan, Dini, and Dehafarin (2013), observed that teachers' performance appraisal makes teachers feel motivated, challenged, and satisfied in their jobs and are likely to be committed to a given work environment, company or organization.Similarly, they noted that committed employees feel a certain bond with the organization, which, in the positive form, makes them more willing to perform.
Teachers' training is viewed as a means of equipping teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them to perform their job better and as a way of solving teachers' problem of self-improvement, advancement, and better placement (Afshan, Sobia, Kamran & Nasir, 2013).Training involves formal and informal methods, and both could be on or off the job training.The efficient of any organization depends directly on how well its members are trained.Asfaw, Argaw, & Bayissa (2015) conducted a study on the impact of training and development on teachers' performance and effectiveness.The findings show that training and development have a positive correlation on the outputs of employee's performance and effectiveness.
According to Kempen (2020) orientation of teachers is the process designed to acquaint newly and reassigned teachers with their place of work.In corroboration Surbhi (2015) averred that orientation programmes can improve the skills for new teacher, interaction with students, parents, colleagues, and officials.Teachers' orientation ensures proper classroom management, proper handling of students' continuous assessment, effective use of instructional facilities and effective teaching in schools (Nwabueze, 2020).Globally, teachers are orientated with the ideals, aspirations and traditions of sufficient pedagogical knowledge and skills for quality education.Ideally, teachers as professionals demands continuous human resource management activities such as teachers' appraisal, training, and orientation for continuous development of knowledge and ability to effectively improve their pedagogical skills needed for quality instructional delivery.
Basically, instructional delivery is the actual accomplishment of assigned task.It is the actual work done against the expected standard of achievement (Abraham, 2013).There are numerous activities which teachers carry out which determine how effective and productive their job might be.Such activities include the drawing or preparing of scheme of work, lesson plan, delivery lesson, evaluation of students, reporting of student progress.Other activities carried out by teachers include maintenance of discipline among students, keeping of attendance register, house mastership/mistress, counseling participation in sports and club activities.These are areas which relate to the individual teacher's instruction delivery needs.The primary goal of effective instructional delivery is to ensure that educators have skills and knowledge necessary to provide students with effective teaching and determining a teacher's proficiency in effective delivery of content knowledge (Elenwo & Dike, 2023).Therefore, all efforts to improve the quality of education are dependent on the instructional delivery competence of teachers and their capacity to undertake the various important roles and functions (Napocao, 2016).

Statement of the Problem
The primary education is an important level of education which is saddled with the goal of preparing a child for secondary education.To achieve this goal, the school managers are to properly engage in human resource management to enable teachers gain expertise that will propel effective instructional delivery.Despite the huge resources invested in human resource management, the quality of teachers in our primary schools do not match the huge investment.Some of the problems bedeviling the schools in relation to human resource management is lack of quality performance appraisal, training, and orientation of newly employed teachers.The lack or inadequate of the above listed problems has reduced the quality of teachers in the primary schools and impede their instructional performance as they lacked the proficiency to effectively deliver instructions needed in the 21 st century classroom.This study stems out of the realization of the need to examine the perceived influence of human resource management on instructional delivery bearing in mind the huge amounts being invested in human resource management programmes by the school managers over the years.Furthermore, the inconsistency in the existing empirical literature makes it inevitable to seek for more evidence on the perceived influence of human resource management on instructional delivery.The lacuna created by the non-contextualization of the perceived influence of human resource management on instructional delivery with specific reference to primary schools in Rivers State will be bridged by this study.

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate perceived influence of human resource management on instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.Specifically, the study sought to: 1.
determine the influence of teachers' performance appraisal on instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State.

2.
examine the influence of teachers' training on instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State.

3.
ascertain the influence of orientation of teachers on instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State.

Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study.

1.
How does teachers' performance appraisal influence instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?

2.
How does teachers' training influence instructional delivery as perceive by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?

3.
How does orientation of teachers influence instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?

Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses guided the study and were tested at 0.05 level of significance, 1.
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

2.
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

3.
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Methodology
The design of the study is the descriptive survey research design.This study was carried out in Rivers State.The population of this study 988,508 comprising of 961 headteachers and 987,547 teachers from all 961 primary schools in Rivers State.The sample size is 460 (60 headteachers and 400 teachers).Multistage sampling technique was used to determine the simple size.The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled, "Perceived Influence of Human Resource Management on Instructional Delivery Questionnaire (PIHRMIDQ).The questionnaire was divided into two sections, A and B. Section A which focused on bio-data of the respondents, sought information on the personal background of the respondents while section B contains 15 items which were used to elicit responses of the respondents about the research questions using a 4-point rating scale of Strongly Agreed (SD), Agreed (A), Disagreed (D) and Strongly Disagreed (SD) with assigned values of 4,3,2 and 1 respectively.To determine the validity of the instrument, Copies of the instrument objective, research questions and hypotheses were given to an expert in the Department of Educational Management and two other experts from the Department of Measurement and Evaluation to assess the suitability of the items.
To determine the reliability of the instrument, a trial test was carried out by the researcher.The Cronbach Alpha method was used to ascertain the reliability of the instrument.The instrument was administered to 10 teachers and 10 headteachers from Oyigbo Local Government Area which is outside the selected Local Government Areas where the study was carried out.The scores collated were analyzed using Cronbach Alpha method to determine and obtain reliability indexes of 0.84, 0.80 and 0.78 for clusters 1-3 respectively.The questionnaire was administrated to the respondents by the researchers with the help of two trained research assistants.Out of the 460 copies of the instrument distributed only 445 (390 from teachers and 55 from headteachers) were retrieved and used for the study.Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions with a criterion mean of 2.50.Questionnaire items with ratings below 2.50 denoted 'Disagree' while 2.50 and above signified 'Agree'.The hypotheses were tested using z-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance.Analyzed data therefore, with calculated z-values above or equal the z-critical value of ±1.96 were rejected and below ±1.96 were accepted.

Research Question 1
How does teachers' performance appraisal influence instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?The result on table 2 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed to all the questionnaire items with average mean scores of 2.62, 2.79, 2.78, 2.93 and 2.80.This deduces that teachers' training influence instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Research Question 3
How does orientation of teachers influence instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?The result on table 3 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed to all the questionnaire items with average mean scores of 2.85, 2.87, 2.78, 3.21 and 2.88.This concludes that orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Hypothesis 1
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.Source: Field Survey, 2024 Table 4 above shows the z-test analysis of difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.At 0.05 level of significance and 443 degree of freedom, the z-calculated value of 0.21 was less than the z-critical value of ±1.96; therefore the null hypothesis was accepted which states that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Hypothesis 2
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.Source: Field Survey, 2024 Table 5 above shows the z-test analysis of difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.At 0.05 level of significance and 443 degree of freedom, the z-calculated value of 0.36 was less than the zcritical value of ±1.96; therefore the null hypothesis was accepted which states that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Hypothesis 3
There is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.Source: Field Survey, 2024 Table 6 above shows the z-test analysis of difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.At 0.05 level of significance and 443 degree of freedom, the z-calculated value of 0.79 was less than the z-critical value of ±1.96; therefore the null hypothesis was accepted which states that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Discussion of Findings
Findings on research question 1 on Table 1 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed that teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with a grand mean score of 2.86, for both headteachers and teachers.Hypothesis 1 on Table 4 showed that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' performance appraisal influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with zcalculated value of 0.21 which was less than z-critical value of ±1.96.This finding was in line with Fakharyan, Dini and Dehafarin (2012), who observed that teachers' performance appraisal makes teachers feel motivated, challenged and satisfied in their jobs and are likely to be committed to a given work environment, company or organization.Also, committed employees feel a certain bond with the organization, which, in the positive form, makes them more willing to perform.
Findings on research question 2 on Table 2 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed that teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with a grand mean score of 2.78, for both headteachers and teachers.Hypothesis 2 on Table 5 showed that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how teachers' training influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with z-calculated value of 0.36 which was less than z-critical value of ±1.96.This finding was in consonance with the finding of Asfaw, Argaw, & Bayissa (2015) that shows that training and development have a positive correlation on the outputs of employee's performance and effectiveness.
Findings on research question 3 on Table 3 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed that orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with a grand mean score of 2.92, for both headteachers and teachers.Hypothesis 3 on Table 6 showed that there is no significant difference between the mean perceptions of headteachers and teachers on how orientation of teachers influences instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State with z-calculated value of 0.79 which was less than z-critical value of ±1.96.This finding is in agreement with Nwabueze (2020) who asserts that teachers' orientation ensures proper classroom management, proper handling of students' continuous assessment, effective use of instructional facilities and effective teaching in schools.

Conclusion
In view of the results obtained from the study, it was concluded that teachers' performance appraisal, teachers' training and orientation of teachers have positive influence on instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.

Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations were made: 1. School managers should regularly carry out performance appraisal to ensure teachers update their knowledge in a way that will enable them to deliver the curriculum effectively.

2.
There should be massive training and retraining of primary schools' teachers to improve their pedagogical skills for effective instructional delivery in schools.

3.
School managers should ensure adequate orientation programmes are put in place for newly employed teachers to acquaint them with the requirement of their jobs for quality instructional delivery.

Table 1 . Mean Perceptions of Headteachers and Teachers on how Teachers' Performance Appraisal Influence Instructional Delivery in Primary Schools in Rivers State
The result on table 1 revealed that headteachers and teachers agreed to all the questionnaire items with average mean scores of 2.97, 2.75, 2.84, 2.92 and 2.80.This infers that teachers' performance appraisal influence instructional delivery in primary schools in Rivers State.How does teachers' training influence instructional delivery as perceived by headteachers and teachers in primary schools in Rivers State?

Table 3 . Mean Perceptions of Headteachers and Teachers on how Orientation of Teachers Influence Instructional Delivery in Primary Schools in Rivers State
Source: Field Survey, 2024