Teachers’ and principals’ attitudes towards school inspection in selected public secondary schools in Kenya’s Nyandarua District

Abstract

Great emphasis has been placed on the quality of education in Kenya. The procedure used in quality assurance has been a subject of debate among educationists. Over the years, teachers and principals held negative attitudes towards the approach used in school inspection. They complained that the approach lacked clear objectives and was fault finding rather than trying to identify and improve standards. However, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology published a handbook for inspection in the year 2000, which spelt out the uniform approach to inspection of schools. This study aimed at determining the attitudes of public secondary school teachers towards inspection of schools since the new approach was introduced. The study adopted a cross-sectional research design. Principals and teachers from public secondary schools in Nyandarua District formed the population of the study. A sample of 12 schools was purposively selected out of 34 schools that had been inspected at least once between the year 2000 and 2004. All teachers and principals from selected schools were respondents, forming a sample size of 204. Teachers‟ and Principals‟ Attitudes towards School Inspection Questionnaire (TPASIQ) was used to determine the attitudes of teachers and principals towards school inspection by experience, designation, type of inspection approach and professional qualification. Principals‟ Attitudes towards Inspection on School Management (PAISM) was used to determine principals‟ attitudes towards inspection on school management by size of the schools they headed. A panel of experts in education from Egerton University was used to establish validity of the instrument. The instrument had an α reliability coefficient of 0.795. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in data analysis from TPASIQ and PAISM. A one way ANOVA, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and t-test were used to test the null hypotheses at α = 0.05. The findings of the study showed that there was a significant relationship between type of inspection approach and attitudes of teachers and principals towards inspection. The reseacher concluded that the old approach to school inspection is still in use despite the Ministry‟s new initiative. It is recommended that inspectors require further training and sensitization on the current approach to inspection.