WARDROBE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF FEMALE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN PLATEAU STATE

The major purpose of the study was to investigate wardrobe management practices of female secondary school teachers in Plateau State. Specifically the study determined wardrobe planning practices of female secondary school teachers, ways female secondary school teachers organize their wardrobe content, ways female secondary school teachers implement their wardrobe content, criteria female secondary school teachers evaluate their wardrobe content, challenges encountered by female secondary school teachers in planning their wardrobe content and possible solutions to challenges encountered by female secondary school teachers in their wardrobe management. Six research questions were developed and five null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Plateau State of Nigeria.The population was 3310 female secondary school teachers in Plateau State with three Senatorial Zones. The sample for this study consisted of a total of 357 female secondary school teachers. The sample size was determined using Yaro-Yamane formula for a finite population. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire and a focus group discussion guide (FGDG) developed by the researcher from literature based on the objectives of the study. The questionnaire was structured on a four-point rating scale of Strongly Agreed (SA), Agreed (A), and Disagreed (D) with numerical values of 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively. The instrument was subjected to face-validation by three experts from the Department of Vocational Teacher Education (VTE), University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Each validate was served with a copy of the instrument to ascertain the clarity, correctness and suitability of the items of the instrument. The researcher used their corrections, comments, suggestions, and amendments to produce the final copy of the instrument. To establish the reliability of the instrument, a pilot study was conducted. The instrument was trial tested using 20 female secondary school teachers in Abuja which is different from the area of the study. Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument and it yielded the overall reliability coefficients of 0.82. The researcher administered and collected the instrument with the help of research assistants. 357 copies of the questionnaire were returned duly completed and formed the basis of analysis FGDG was collected and reported. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions that guided the study while t-test statistic was used to test hypothesis five at 0.05 level of significance. The finding of the study showed among others that, female secondary school teachers in Plateau State plan their wardrobe through identifying their clothing needs, taking inventory of clothes no longer worn and those that need repair, planning for fashion clothes that are responsive to quality time. The finding of the study showed that, female secondary teachers organize, implement and evaluate their wardrobe content. The finding of the study from the test of hypotheses among others showed that urban and rural female secondary school teachers differ significantly in their (p0.05) opinion on wardrobe implementation practices in Plateau State. It was recommended among others that Curriculum planners should include dress code for teachers, so that they can be dressing very well to school. Professional bodies like HERAN and HETAN should place more emphasis on dress code to work during conferences seminars and workshops for lecturers, teachers and students of home-economists and Home economics courses should include dress code as a topic in the curriculum.