Headteachers’ selected leadership styles on teachers’ career commitment in public primary schools in Soin Division, Kericho County

Abstract

The schools have been under pressure because of poor management and planning and are now faced with serious consequences of low staff morale, poor academic performance and pupils falling rolls. The parents from Soin Division attribute this low work output to head teachers‟ and teachers‟ laxity in performing school activities and responsibilities well. The purpose of this study was to find out whether head teachers‟ leadership styles have influence on teacher career commitment in public primary school in Soin Division, Kericho County. This study employed a descriptive survey design. The researcher targeted 306 teachers and 44 head teachers in the Division, giving a target population of 350. In selecting the number of schools to be involved in the study, the guidelines given by Kathuri and Pals was used. According to these guidelines, 48 respondents were selected from a population of 55. Using the same guidelines, the number of the respondents were equivalent to 39 head teachers and 266 teachers which translate to 305 respondents. The main tool of data collection for this study were the questionnaires, which were administered to head teachers and teachers by the researcher during the study. A coefficient correlation of the two tests was calculated using Cronbach‟s Alpha. A reliability coefficient of 0.7685was found to be reliable for the study. The research data was analyzed using descriptive. Teacher‟s career commitment can lead to children good academic performance, retention of teachers and pupils, staffing and high of teachers‟ motivation. Policy makers in education may tap from the knowledge derived from this research. Based on the findings, the study concluded that head teachers‟ transformational leadership style positively influenced teacher career commitment. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education need to seek ways to improve career commitment of teachers by improving their working conditions and giving them more opportunities for training. One way of doing this is to encourage teachers to join professional associations and other forums that would enable them solve career-related problems. It is hoped that the findings of the study will equip administrators with knowledge to influence the retention rate of teachers to the benefit of the students, the teachers, and the school system.