CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Structure and Rationale of the Study

Communication plays an important role in every organization. According to Trenholm

(2011), communication is an essential element for the success of any organization. For

organizations to function well, they need to communicate within themselves as well as with the

external environment. Organizational managers must develop a system of information exchange

that is both understood and accessible to members. Having a good communication among the

members of an organization such as public school heads and teachers can create a harmonious

working relationship among them. Thus, being able to live one of Deped's mission in which

Students learn in a child-friendly, gender sensitive, safe and motivating environment.

In a similar perspective, leaders can lead through effective communication, and

consequently, good communication encourage trust, understanding, inspiration, and allows

subordinates to follow (Barrett, 2006) effectively. Leadership is not limited to those who hold

managerial or supervisory positions. Leaders include any subordinate who goes above and

beyond their responsibilities to advance the organization. Therefore, it is necessary for

organizational managers and subordinates alike to understand the principles of communication

and the potential barriers to communication which leads up to communication satisfaction in the

workplace.
 In particular to the school setting, the intent of this study is to assess communication

satisfaction among teachers and how it is related to their working relationships with their school

heads in public integrated schools in the DepEd (Department of Education) Division of Calamba

City. This study also aims to identify relevant activities and seminars to deepen and strengthen

leadership and communication skills.

Research Questions and Objectives

This research aims to asses communication satisfaction and its correlation to the working

relationship of school principals and teachers. Specifically, this study is designed to answer the

following questions:

1. What is the distribution of school principals and teachers in terms of profile?

a. Gender

b. Education Attainment

c. Years of Service

d. Position or Rank

2. What is the level of communication satisfaction in public integrated schools in Deped

Calamba City based on the following:

a. Personal Feedback

b. Supervisor Communication

c. Subordinate Communication

d. Horizontal Communication

e. Communication Climate

f. Media Quality
3. What is the manifestation of indicators of a harmonious working relationship between school

heads and teachers?

4. What is the correlation of communication satisfaction and school head - teacher working

relationship?

5. What are the suggested activities and seminars to be conducted to deepen and strengthen the

leadership skills?

The objectives of this study is to have an assessment on Communication Satisfaction and

School Head - Teacher Working Relationship on Public Integrated Schools of Deped Calamba

City and designed to:

1. Determine the distribution of school principals and teachers in terms of profile such as:

a. Gender

a. Education Attainment

b. Years of Service

c. Position or Rank

2. Identify the level of communication satisfaction in public integrated schools in Deped

Calamba City based on the following:

a. Personal Feedback

b. Supervisor Communication

c. Subordinate Communication

d. Horizontal Communication

e. Communication Climate

f. Media Quality
3. Identify the manifestation of indicators of a harmonious working relationship between school

heads and teachers.

4. Determine the correlation of communication satisfaction and school head - teacher working

relationship.

5. Identify the suggested activities and seminars to be conducted to deepen and strengthen the

leadership skills.

Significance of the Study

This study will further strengthen and create harmonious working relationship among the

school heads and teachers in public integrated schools of Deped Calamba City. The result of this

study could be the basis of the Division of Calamba City to improve and align activities and

seminars with regards to communication and leadership skills aside from academic and

employee performance related stuffs.

For the School Heads and Teachers, this will deepen and strengthen their working

relationship and would create a harmonious working environment for them. Thus, would help

them to achieve Deped's goal of protecting and promoting the right of every Filipino to quality,

equitable, culture-based, and complete basic education.

Scope and Limitations

The scope of this study is specific only to the assessment of communication satisfaction

and school head - teacher working relationship and its correlation in which would also identify

activities and seminars related to leadership and communications skills resulting to a harmonious

relationship and workplace.

 The respondents for this study are the school heads and teachers of public implementing

schools in Deped Calamba City.

Definition of Terms

The definition of terms will help the readers of this study to further understand the

terminologies used.

Communication satisfaction, defines the level of satisfaction of each school head and

teacher in terms of giving feedbacks, communications coming from the superior and

subordinates and media quality.

Working Relationship could be professional or interpersonal relationships among the

school heads and teachers. It is whether the school head consider the teachers as part of his or her

family or just merely as superior and subordinate.

Implementing Units are public secondary schools which consist of 50 and above teaching

personnel and has their own finance department which handles the schools' budgetary and

accounting transactions.
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter presents the discussion of related literature and studies. Important

information are required and all variable references such as books, journals and case studies are

used and gathered. These reviews will help the researcher to acquire better understanding about

this study.

Effective communication, as explained by Azhar (2006), is essential to the overall

success of an organization, and therefore, should have a fundamental role in the strategic

planning process for all organizations.

In a similar perspective, leaders can lead through effective communication, and

consequently, good communication fosters trust, understanding, inspiration, and allows

subordinates to follow (Barrett, 2006) effectively. Leadership is not limited to those who hold

managerial or supervisory positions. Leaders include any subordinate who goes above and

beyond their responsibilities to advance the organization. Therefore, it is necessary for

organizational managers and subordinates alike to understand the principles of communication

and the potential barriers to communication which leads up to communication satisfaction in the

workplace.

Furthermore, Ludema and Di Virgilio (as cited in Bouckenooghe & Menguc, 2010)

explained that communication increases organization members’ readiness for change. It provides

information on the intentions and exigency for change. Inadequate dissemination of information
frequently results to widespread gossips that facilitate a heritable condition for the development

of negative feelings and beliefs.

Research of Downs and Hazen (as cited in Ziuraite, 2008: 4-5) came up with the

multidimensional constructs of communication satisfaction. Accordingly, the personal feedback

dimension includes the degree to which subordinates “feel that their efforts are Communication

satisfaction and working relationship 51 recognized, their superiors understand their problems,

and the criteria by which they are being judged are fair.” Supervisor Communication “covers

both the upward and downward aspects of communicating with supervisors,” whereas

subordinate communication “taps the receptivity of subordinates to downward communication

and their willingness and capability to send good information upward.” Meanwhile, horizontal

communication “shows the extent to which horizontal and informal communication is accurate

and free flowing. This factor also includes satisfaction with the activity of the grapevine.”

Furthermore, organizational integration “reflects the degree to which individuals receive

information about their immediate work environment and includes both information received by

subordinates and their opportunities to participate in the unit.”

Downs and Hazen (as cited in Ziuraite, 2008: 4-5) further defined the other constructs

and one of which is the organizational perspective dimension as “the satisfaction with the

broadest kinds of information about the organization as a whole such as its goals and

performance, notification of changes, and financial standing.” Communication climate, on the

other hand, reflects communication on both: organizational and personal levels. This dimension

is about communication in the organization which motivates and stimulates subordinates to

“meet organizational goals and makes them identify with the organization. It also includes

estimates of whether or not people's attitudes toward communicating are healthy in the
organization.” And finally, media quality dimension “reflects the helpfulness, clarity, and

quantity of information associated with channels such as publications, memos, and meetings.”

The Communication satisfaction, amounts to a member’s satisfaction with information

flow and relationships with other members and superior in an organization whereas Leader

Member Exchange (LMX) refers to the effective interaction between superiors and subordinates

which promotes a positive relationship towards organizational success. Specifically, LMX

involves exchange behaviors between the two which lead to the establishment of the mutual

relationship and, in turn, further develop a high level of mutual respect and trust with one another

(Hsiung & Tsai, 2009).

According to the dissertation of Joan Glover (2012), positive and effective relationships

that motivate teachers may be influenced by a principal through the creation of professional

working conditions. When considered as an administrator distanced from the direct contact of

students as compared to classroom teachers, a principal's impact on student learning and teacher

practice may appear to be indirect. However, the relationship between principal and teacher is

important because it affects student achievement. A principal may influence teacher

effectiveness by recognizing and acting upon the elements essential in quality relationships.

Synthesis

A good working relationship must be realized, and in this situation, effective

communication is an essential element. For different organizations, the complicatedness of

communication processes varies, and the level of their impact on member relationships adapts to

the general environment.

Research Gap

Communication plays an important role in every organization. Although, according to

Joan Glover (2012), positive and effective relationships that motivate teachers may be influenced

by a principal through the creation of professional working conditions. As we all know school

heads are treated professionally by the teachers and it was always kept in mind.

The way to improve communication and working relationships among the school heads

and teachers is by providing relevant activities and seminars to deepen their understanding about

communication and leadership. In such a way, a harmonious working relationship and workplace

will be achieved.

Theoretical Perspective

The theoretical perspective of this study is inspired by the research paper "A Case Study

of an Ameliorable Career/Technical School: An Exploration of Principal/Teacher Relationships

in 2012.

Positive and effective working relationship among the school heads and teachers may

result to a harmonious workplace. As a result their working relationship may have an impact to

the student learning and teacher's performance.

Conceptual Framework

 Effective  Data collection Recommend

communication through survey activities and
questionnaires
 Harmonious seminars in line with
working  Analysis and communication and
relationship interpretation of leadership skills.
data obtained

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework of the Study

The level of communication satisfaction will be measured and also the correlation of

communication and work relationship among the school heads and the teachers. The data will be

obtained through survey questionnaires and upon completion, the researcher will analyze and

interpret the data obtained. Based on the data and analysis the researcher will now recommend

ways on how to improve the communication and working relationships among the school heads

and teachers.

Philosophical Underpinnings

Postpositivism will be used in this study. The researcher will be constructing a

questionnaire to be answered by the school heads and teachers. by analyzing and interpreting the

data obtained, the goal of assessing the communication and work relationship among the school

heads and teachers will be determined through the numerical results of the respondents. Through

this, quantitative research approach will be used.

Hypothesis and Assumption

The hypothesis for this study will be:

a. The level of communication satisfaction has a significant relationship with school

head - teacher working relationship.

b. The level of communication satisfaction has no significant relationship with

school head - teacher working relationship.

References

Azhar, A. (2006). Auditing communication satisfaction among academic staff: An approach to

managing academic excellence. The Business Review, 5(1), 330-333.

Barrett, D. J. (2006). Leadership communication: A communication approach for seniorlevel

managers. Retrived from https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/27037.

Bouckenooghe, D., &Menguç, B. (2010, May). Organizational politics and the moderating role

of organizational climate on change recipients’ readiness for change. Retrieved from

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1359432X.2011.591573

Ziuraite, J. (2008). Relationships of internal organizational communication, performance and

work motivation (Unpublished master’s thesis).Växjö University, Sweden. Retrieved from

http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/ diva2:202585/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Hsiung, H. H., & Tsai, W. C. (2009). Job definition discrepancy between supervisors and

subordinates: The antecedent role of LMX and outcomes. Retrieved from

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1348/096317908X292374.

Glover, Joan.Northern Kentucky University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012. 3551615.