ENHANCING THE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGERS IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE: BASIS FOR A TRAINING PROGRAM
ENHANCING THE COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGERS IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE: BASIS FOR A TRAINING PROGRAM A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban Quezon, Philippines In Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor in Education Management By HOANG VAN BINH - PEACE March 2014 APPROVAL SHEET i DEDICATION This piece of work is dedicated To My Family i ACKNOWLEDGMENT The researcher wishes to extend her most sincere gratitude to the following people who made this piece of work a reality Dr Cecilia N Gascon, President of Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines, who made possible the linkage with Thai Nguyen University and the offering of Doctor in Education Management, through the ITC-TUAF; Dr Dang Kim Vui, the President of Thai Nguyen University, who made the linkage with Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines and the offering of Doctor of Education Management, through the ITC-TUAF; Dr Ricaryl Catherine P Cruz, for her support and supervision throughout my graduate study program Her kindness and daily instructions in the last three years are greatly appreciated and this dissertation is as much her work as mine; Prof Nordelina Ilano, Director, Office for International Affairs of URS for her support to the Ph.D.Ed.M students; Dr Tran Thanh Van, the Dean of the Graduate School of Thai Nguyen University, for his assistance and encouragement to pursue this study; Dr Dang Xuan Binh, the Director of International Training Center, for his assistance and encouragement to pursue this study; Dr Nguyen Thanh Hai, the Vice Director of International Training Center, for his assistance and encouragement to pursue this study as Ph.D.Ed.M Class Manager; To all the SLSU and TNU Professors, for their support and guidance extended throughout the graduate studies in Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam; To his ever dearest friends for their kindness and remarkable support; To his family, for their support, encouragement for being the sources of greatest inspiration, which made his career a success ii ABSTRACT In management psychology, humans are considered central factors, throughout the management process People are the subjects as well as the objects of the management relationships In management, the psychological contact between officials or managers (to communicate) and the major management objects individual and collective (communication objects) is management communication, it is the basic content of the management To establish relationships with management objects, to deal with management tasks, to maintain management functions, management staff should have the psychological traits and communication ability in certain management in which communication ability are the most basic elements In fact, there have not been studies on communication ability of leaders in general and Vinh Phuc province in particular So the study focuses on communication ability of educational leaders is very useful Vinh Phuc is a newly re-established province, but has rapidly developed and shown to be a dynamic province during the period of industrialization and integration One of the causes leading to the development is educational leaders in Vinh Phuc It expresses that the educational leaders have vision, depth, leadership, communication ability to get the right policies to promote the education and socio-economic development in recent years; however there are some inevitable weaknesses Therefore, improving the communication ability for educational leaders is necessary Recognizing the problem, the researcher decided to conduct a study on communication ability of educational leaders to point out the strengths and limitations The researcher also gives solutions to improve psychological quality, leadership, communication ability of educational leaders to make a rapid development in Vinh Phuc province on the path of industrialization and international integration Keywords: Education, Ability, Leaders, Skills, Interpersonal, Emotional, Sensitivity, Flexibility, Persuasive, Problem solving iii TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE Page APPROVAL SHEET ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT iv ABSTRACT v TABLE OF CONTENTS viii ABBREVIATION x LIST OF TABLES xi LIST OF FIGURES xiii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………1 Background of the Study .2 Objective of the Study Hypothesis of the Study Significance of the Study Scope and Limitation of the Study Definition of Terms .6 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES Related Literature Related Studies 46 Conceptual Framework .53 METHODOLOGY… .54 Locale of the Study .54 iv Research Design 55 Population of the Study .55 Instruments 56 Data Gathering Procedure 57 Statistical Treatment 57 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION… 60 Respondents Profile 60 Respondents' Perception about communication ability 63 Analysis of factors influencing communication ability of educational leaders 76 Comparison of respondent’s perception by personal profile .80 Proposal Training Programs .91 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.104 Summary of Findings .104 Conclusions .105 Recommendations 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY 107 QUESTIONNAIRE 110 v ABBREVIATION ANOVA Analysis of Variance ES Emotional skills FS Flexibility skills IC Interpersonal communication PCS Persuasive communication skills PSS Problem solving skills SWOT Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats SPSS Statistical Package for Social Sciences SS Sensitivity skills VIF Variance inflation factor WM Weighted Mean vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Distribution of Respondents Title of the table Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents Profile in 56 56 terms of Age and Gender 60 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents Profile in terms of Educational Qualification 61 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents Profile in terms of Length of Work Experience 61 Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Respondents Profile in terms of Number of Years in Management Reliability statistics on Interpersonal communication skills 62 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of 63 Interpersonal Communication skills Reliability statistics on Emotional skills 10 64 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of 65 Emotional skills 11 Reliability statistics on Sensitivity skills 12 67 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of Sensitivity skills 68 13 Reliability statistics on Flexibility skills 69 14 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of 70 vii Flexibility skills 15 Reliability statistics on Persuasive communication skills 16 71 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of Persuasive communication skills 17 72 Reliability statistics on Problem solving skills in communication process 18 73 Mean Distribution of Respondents Perception in Terms of Problem solving skills in communication process 19 74 Mean distribution of respondents’ perception in terms of average evaluation following citizen 75 20 Descriptive statistics 76 21 ANOVA analysis 77 22 Result regression 78 23 Hypothesis Testing 80 24 Comparisons of respondent’s perception according to profile 25 Test homogeneity of variances in term of age 82 26 ANOVA analysis in term of age 83 27 Test homogeneity of variances in term of work experiences 84 28 ANOVA analysis in term of work experiences 85 29 Test homogeneity of variances in term of number of years in 81 management 86 30 ANOVA analysis in term of number of years in management 87 31 Test homogeneity of variances in term of Educational qualification 88 32 ANOVA analysis in term of Educational qualification 89 33 The Independent Sample Test in term of gender 90 viii Describe management communication, using a five-stage system model and distinguishing between wishes, activities, goals, objectives, standards, and quotas Illustrate via examples the problem-solving and the decision-making processes, using a decision matrix and assigning weights to the “desirables” and the “options.” Identify the five positions on a conflict grid and describe at least half of the 12 negotiation strategies and their outcomes (“zero sum” vs “everyone’s a winner”) Define public relations with regard to the public, the gatekeepers, the internal and external activities, and the evaluation of impact Describe the communication functions of advertising, the components of an ad, the benefits of an agency and of an internal department, and the skills required at each stage of ad preparation Compare and practice different types of interviews: directive, non-directive, and behavioral, including their preparation, execution, and summarization Define the roles of human resources development (HRD) as everyone’s job: recruitment, training, coaching, counseling, appraising, disciplining, and mentoring State the communication guidelines for conducting effective meetings and presentations: roles, objectives, agendas, timing, location, participation, closure, followup, and control Prepare written internal and external documents (letters, memos, reports), applying the “six C’s” (clarity, conciseness, etc.), the three Flesch readability guidelines, the density ratio, Hayakawa’s abstraction ladder, and solid editing Apply sound communication ethics in all transactions, as discussed in the 14 ethical dilemmas examined in class Duration: 15 weeks 100 Program content: Unit 1: Introduction to Organizational Communication Identify the five stages of organizational growth and change from Industrial to Information Age, understand the communication model, recognize the impact of technology on organizations, describe the organization in terms of process, people, messages, meaning, and purpose Unit 2: Communication Implications of Organizational Behavior Examine and compare/contrast the Scientific Management theory, the Human Behavior School, integrated perspectives, and recent cultural approaches Unit 3: Communication Theories of the Individual and the Organization Examine and compare/contrast Malsow’s Hierarchy of Needs, theories of motivation, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, Skinner’s reinforcement theory, and subgroups within the organization Unit 4: Team Based Communication in Organizations Communications List different types of groups (teams, task forces, committees, focus groups, and social support groups), understanding task roles and maintenance roles within groups, discuss how to deal with negative group behavior, and critique a videotape showing a group at work Unit 5: Leadership and Management Communications Differentiate between leadership skills and characteristics, list and explain the four approaches to leadership (traits, style, situation and transformational), describe the sources of power Unit 6: Goal Setting and Communication by Objectives 101 Describe the focused approach, why it works, and why it fails to be effective; distinguish between setting goals and standards; list twelve guidelines for using goals to motivate; critique and analyze a management situation on videotape Unit 7: Developing Critical Organizational Communications Competencies Develop an action plan, list the eight-step problem-solving process; discover how to collect and evaluate evidence; describe how to use a decision matrix; analyze a case study Unit 8: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Define conflict; examine the sources of conflict; list and discuss the five stages of conflict; review several techniques for escalating, avoiding, maintaining, and reducing conflict; describe and evaluate desirable outcomes of negotiation; forms of negotiation; interpret the ethics of negotiation; analyze a case study Unit 9: Communicating with your many Publics Define (traditional and more recent) public relations; list characteristics of the many publics of an organization; describe and identify typical public relations activities; develop a crisis management plan; analyze a case study Unit 10: Advertising as a Communication Tool Define the role of advertising in an organization; list and describe the five functions of the ad; examine the benefits and disadvantages of both internal and external advertising agencies; list the functions of advertising; suggest how to target an audience; define and list example of positioning; list and describe two measures of success Unit 11: Interviewing and Surveying 102 Realize when to interview and when to survey; create some directive and non-directive interview questions; discuss the guidelines for survey questionnaire preparation; list guidelines for scheduling and conducting interviews Unit 12: Training and Development of Human Resources Examine why training is essential; identify when to use professional trainers and when to use supervisors for training; list the three stages of instruction; describe the B.F Skinner model; critique a script of a training session Unit 13: Conducting Meetings and Making Presentations Identify when to hold a meeting; explain how to prepare objectives and agendas’ identify roles to be filled; list and evaluate several guidelines for meeting planners; list and evaluate several guidelines for participating in meetings Unit 14: Structuring the Message List and identify the six C’s of effective written communication; create examples of effective writing; list Flesch’s three guidelines on readability; evaluate and identify several criteria for editing and self- evaluation of writing Unit 15: Values and Ethical Communication Behaviors Compare and contrast values, ethics, and law; differentiate between terminal and instrumental values; list and describe five values that influence our lives at work; list and describe four guidelines for evaluating the ethics of an organization; analyze Wilbur Schramm’s 25 cases of violation of journalistic ethics Evaluation: Describe general guidelines for examinations, required work, course work, assignments, and tests Explain how assignments evaluate student achievement of course objectives Multiple measures (quizzes, tests, essays, projects, portfolios, 103 practicum’s, etc.) are the most effective way to evaluate student learning See the Syllabus for specific evaluation information Method of Instruction: The course will be taught using a variety of methods, including lecture, paired work, small group work, case study analysis, critique of written work, and oral presentations 104 Chapter V SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Summary of Findings The paper research on respondents of the study including 243 respondents, they are education managers of Vinh Phuc Province Based on the objectives the following are observed: The majority of the respondents covering fifty-three percent (53%) are female and about forty-seven percent (47%) are male There is the highest percentage of respondents having the age of 41 - 50 years (47%) The number percentages of respondents having the age of 31 - 40 years are 40 percent There is the highest percentage of respondents having length of work experiences more than 10 years (88%) The gap between single and married respondents is not much (47% and 53%) The education level has 47 percentage of respondents having graduate and 42 percentage of respondents having postgraduate 35 percentage of respondents who has number of years in management over 10 years and 35 percentage of respondents who has number of years in management from - 10 years Communication ability of educational leaders in Vinh Phuc province in terms of the following by district/provincial of the Department of Education and Training, High School, and the Primary and Secondary Schools, respectively Interpersonal skills WM-3.25 Good, WM-3.20 and 3.30 Fair, respectively; Emotional skills WM-3.42 and 3.40 Good, respectively, and WM-3.23 Fair category; Sensitivity skills WM-3.42 Good, WM-2.96 and 3.34 Fair, respectively; 61 Flexibility skills WM-3.42 Good, WM-2.96 and 3.34 Fair category, respectively; Persuasive skills WM-3.52 Good, WM-3.35 and 3.25 Fair category, respectively; Problem - solving skills WM-3.53, 3.45, 3.45 Good category, respectively; Ascertain the relation of the profile of the educational leaders with their communication: The result shows that no significant difference between the satisfied level or agree level of these respondents about all the factors influence to communication ability of education managers in Vinh Phuc Province and age, length of work experiences, number of years in management, educational qualification, and gender Because, the Sig coefficient more than 0.05 Lots of training programs were proposed, including: General communication training, Art of communication, Foreign language training, Psychology Leadership training, Soft skills, Art of Negotiation, Art of Presentation, Improving capacity in analyzing and solving problems, Enhancing informatics capacity and so on The regression model explained 87.1 percentage of the communication ability of educational leaders variable changes because of these independent variables The most important factor affecting to communication ability of educational leaders is interpersonal communication skills factor (Beta = 0.238), followed by persuasive communication skills factor (Beta = 0.203), problem solving skills in communication process factor (Beta = 0.199), emotional skills factor (Beta = 0.136), flexibility skills factor (Beta = 0.112), and finally sensitivity skills factor (Beta = 0.069) Conclusions Based on the findings, the following are the conclusions 107 That the majority of the educational leaders are matured females with higher educational attainment, higher educational revise and management experiences That the communication ability of the educational leaders at Vinh Phuc province is just normally observed Supplement of the educational leaders profile that they manifest their communication ability in a moderate and normal experiences That a training program is developed Recommendations Based on the findings and conclusions, the following are the recommendations: That the proposed training should be implemented to as to have a continuously of succession the educational leaders in the hierarchy of the Department of Education Enhancing quality and quantity of training programs The government should focus and provide all necessary equipment for implementation of training programs Inspecting and assessing the status of communication skills as well as the quality of the training programs regularly to adjust for timely improvements 108 BIBLIOGRAPHY A.Lonchiev And communication activities The philosophical issue No A.L.Kolominxki The basis of pedagogical psychology Volume - 1979 Education Publishing House Hanoi 1981 B.D.Darughin The theoretical basis of social psychology Truth Publishing House 1971 CudominE X, VoncopJ.P, EmelianopIu.N The leadership and collective Publishing the truth, 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leadership National Political Publishing House Hanoi 2003 16 Nguyen Minh Dao (1997) Basis of Management Science The National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 17 Ngo Cong Hoan and Hoang Anh Communication pedagogy Education Publishing House, 2000 18 Ngo Cong Hoan Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh Nguyen Kim Quy The psychological test Volume National University Publishing House, Hanoi, 1997 19 Nguyen Van Le Human communication, non-verbal communication Publishing children in Ho Chi Minh City 20 Nguyen Van Le Communication problems Education Publishing House, Hanoi, 1992 21 Nguyen Thi Oanh Traditional psychology and communication Science Publishing House in Ho Chi Minh City 1995 women 22 Nguyen Ba Son (2000) Some basic problems in management science The National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 23 Pham Minh Hac, Nguyen Khoa Diem (2003) Cultural development and human development and modernization period The National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 24 Pham Minh Hac, Le Khanh and Tran Trong Thuy Psychology Education Publishing House, 1998 108 25 Shelley D Lance, Interpersonal Communication Competence and contexts, Second edition, Pearson Education, Inc (copyright 2010) 26 Tran Tuan Lo Psychology of communication Ho Chi Minh City in 1993 27 Vu Van Hien Develop team leaders and management in order to meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization of the country The National Political Publishing House Hanoi 2007 109 PROT ECT ED WHEN COMPLET ED: RESPONDENT NO QUESTIONAIRE In order to gather data for the research of “COMMUNICATION ABILITY EDUCATIONAL LEADERS IN VINH PHUC PROVINCE: A PROPOSED TRAINING PROGRAM” In terms of executing research, accessing the current status and bring out solutions, Please your helps to fill in your answers for the following questions: Please indicate your personal information - Full name:……………………………………… …………………………………… - Age:……………………………… Sex: male/female:……………………………… - Name of organization:……………………………………………………………… - Position/Designation: ………………………………………………………………… - Number of years in working:…………………Number of years in management:…… - Educational qualification: Intermediate High school College Graduate Postgraduate Please self-assessment of the communication ability by mark (x) in the appropriate column of the following values: Self-assessment scale: (5) Always; (4) Very Often; No (3) Sometimes; (2) Rarely; Self-assessment I Interpersonal communication skills (1) Never Contacting and making relationships with people easily and naturally I usually bow or face the other direction when contact with strangers Experiences has shown me how to comfort people have anything to worry, sadness I rarely intend to find out other people's intentions 107 when they interact with me I need more time to adapt to the new organization I never deny contacting with strangers I have no difficulty when exposed to the crowd I know how to make strangers closer to me Self-assessment II Emotional skills Not easy to restrain themselves when others tease bare, offensive, defamatory It is difficult to remain calm when exposed to prejudice I'm not interesting in its own interest to other people The problem is not solved because of people not compromise when debate Everyone has made me feel imbalance I know how to self-control People hardly make me lose my temper Many people say they want to keep calm as I Self-assessment III Sensitivity skills Feel guilty when brought into other people's speech Not everyone knows just what to do, when and how to so need to lead, counseled them right I can express exactly the intention of the speaker when they come in contact with me I know how to stop people who saying too much I not know how to prevent aggression in the debate When the others awkward and embarrassment I try to as little impact on them as good When people talk with highly emotional, I would not make them stop words I am often forced to raise key characteristics, thorny debate IV Flexibility skills Self-assessment 108 5 Difficult to be receptive ideas, opinions of others Even when speaker gives new idea I am often not pay attention and ignore I not like talking too much because I know behind the words was nothing remarkable Do not keep standing pat if you know that it is wrong in the debate Many times I found that the majority of people keep their opinions to the end of debating Unfortunately many people always change the view while listening to the opinions of others I was surprised that many people are unaware of the attitude and response of the others I'm having trouble to change the view in the situation of the story in another direction Self-assessment V Persuasive communication skills 4 In communication I not try to use emotional to enlist the sympathy and support of others I usually say clear, the argument hints certified I have not learned how to effectively convince others If others have the opposite opinion, I not waste time convincing them In fact that I convince people who talk to me is not very difficult Many people said that I am better than them in convincing others If I need to convince someone, I often succeed I cannot make other people agree with my opinion even if they not believe in themselves Self-assessment VI Problem solving skills in communication process 109 Once I choose a solution, I develop an implementation plan with the sequence of events necessary for completion I strive to look at problems from different perspectives and generate multiple solutions I evaluate potential solutions carefully and thoroughly against a predefined standard I find that small problems often become much bigger in scope, and thus very difficult to solve I ask myself lots of different questions about the nature of the problem When I need to find a solution to a problem, I usually have all of the information I need to solve it When evaluating solutions, I take time to think about how I should choose between options After a solution has been implemented, I immediately look for ways to improve the idea and avoid future problems I wish you success in the work! Sincerely thank you! 110 ... ability in management With the research "Enhancing the Communication Skills of Educational Managers in Vinh Phuc province: Basis for a training program" , the researcher would like to contribute a part... as in meetings at work Talking in private settings reflects the assumption that femininity means taking care of others and main-taining relationships; talking in public settings reflects the assumption... the characteristics of communication in the management of the management staff inseparable characteristics of the object management and process management From the above communication management