Assessing the Nature and Impact of Organisational Communication in Government Secondary Schools in Tanzania

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to investigate the behaviour of heads of secondary schools in how they use the administrative competence of communication and the impact of the observed communication practices to the objectives of organizational communication.  Specifically, the study assessed how heads of schools are utilising specific skills for communication and how communication in schools is impacting teachers’ performance.  The study involved 326 teachers, twenty head of secondary schools, from twenty government secondary schools and two educational officers from Makete and Morogoro districts in Tanzania. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data. The quantitative data were analysed using computer software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 18, in which frequencies and percentages of responses from respondents were computed. Qualitative data gained from interviews were analysed in themes according to the research objectives. The findings indicated that poor communication dominated in most of studied schools and heads of schools were found not competent in effective communication.  On the ways of improving organisational communication in schools, Heads of secondary schools recommended, among other things, training organisational communication because they acknowledged the importance of communication in carrying out day-to-day administrative responsibilities.