SCHOOL CLIMATE AS A DETERMINANT OF TEACHER PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KITUI COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Any educational organization that wants to be successful must place a high priority on fostering a supportive school climate and raising the caliber of its faculty. Teachers in Kitui County have expressed concern about a hazardous learning environment. Despite the fact that studies on the school environment in Kenya have been conducted, none of them have gone into further detail about the connection between the school climate and failing teachers. A study of this kind was necessary as a result. The goal of this study in Kitui County was to determine how the school environment impacts teachers' productivity. The findings of this study may be helpful for secondary school administrators who want to improve the settings of their institutions. The aim of the variables included in this study was to explore the relationship between teacher academic success and school culture. The study's objectives were to: (1) ascertain the impact of easily accessible teaching and learning resources on teachers' performance in public secondary schools in Kitui County; (2) examine the impact of teaching workload on teachers' performance in public secondary schools in Kitui County; and (3) investigate the impact of principals' leadership styles on teachers' performance in Kitui County public secondary schools. and The purpose of this study is to look at how cooperation affects academic performance in the public secondary schools in Kitui County. This study used a mixed methods approach and descriptive survey research design to uncover and evaluate the viewpoint of teachers and the indicators of school environment, which were based on three motivational theories: the McGregor theory x and y, Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, and Hertzberg's two factor theory. Participants were 2417 instructors from Kitui County's 400 public secondary schools. A combination of random and systematic procedures were used to choose 488 instructors and 40 school administrators. A proportionate selection process was used to randomly choose 20% of the 2417 instructors from each sub-county. Due to this, a total of 528 respondents—40 administrators and 488 instructors— took part in the survey. To gather the data, principals and teachers were given interview schedules and questionnaires, and records were evaluated. We evaluated the validity of the instrument using factor analysis. Split-half reliability calculations were made for principal checklists and teacher surveys. A pilot project to assess research tools involved 25 educators and 5 administrators from Katulani sub-county. The reliability of the questionnaires and interview schedule was generally excellent (0.89 for the former and 0.8 for the latter). The data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation since it offers a quantitative evaluation of the strength of a link between two variables. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used in the analysis of the data. Descriptive statistics were presented using percentages, frequencies, and tabular presentations of the data, which were then analyzed in light of the study's objectives. The study discovered and concluded that there was a statistically significant correlation between teaching and learning resources, teachers' workload, principals' leadership, and teacher performance using Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis. The study concluded that there was a link between the school climate and teachers' performance at the public secondary schools in Kitui County. The research advises administrators to provide enough instructional resources and balance teachers' workloads, especially with regard to assessments, in order to enhance the indicators of the school environment.