Assessment of effective communication in international schools in Lusaka based on BERLO'S SMCR MODEL.

Communication is important in an organization because it enables the organization to give information to both the internal and external public. Although communication is at the heart of the school life there are communication problems in multicultural schools because Principals, Teachers and other members of staff misunderstand the each other. The purpose of this study was to assess effective communication in International Schools in Lusaka based on Berlo’s SMCR Model. The study was conducted at International School of Lusaka and Lusaka International Community School. The study utilized a quantitative paradigm. Questionnaires were used as a research instrument for collecting data from the Principals, Heads of Departments, Teachers and Support Staff who were purposively selected from a sample size of 135 employees. The questionnaires were distributed to 101 people and 83 questionnaires were returned. The data collected using the questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive analysis and inferential statistics (Pearson Correlation Coefficient). Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine the relationships between the variables. The significance level was that if the P-value was < 0.05 or equal to 0.05 then the null hypothesis was rejected in favour of the alternative hypothesis. If the P-value was greater than 0.05 then the null hypothesis was accepted. Out of the eight hypotheses which were tested it was discovered that four were accepted while four hypotheses were rejected. Therefore, there were only four variables which were showed a statistically significant relationship. Based on the finding a proposed model was developed in order to address issues of effective communication.