The influence of principals’ motivational practices on academic performance in public secondary schools in Kathiani sub-county, Kenya.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of Principals’ motivational practices on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Kathiani sub-county, Kenya. The study was guided by four objectives that focused on communication, monetary rewards, teachers’ welfare and teachers’ promotion as strategies of motivating teachers and their influence on students’ academic performance. Premised on the research objectives were the hypotheses which stated; Communication strategy, monetary reward, teachers’ welfare and teachers’ promotion have no influence on students’ academic performance. The study used descriptive survey research design where questionnaires and an interview schedule were used as the main tools for data collection. The study was conducted in all public secondary schools in Kathiani Sub County. The target population included all the 30 Principals, 150 Heads of Department and 320 teachers working in the sub-county. Using simple random sampling method, a sample of 17 principals, 34 HODs and 68 teachers from the public secondary schools in the sub county were selected. A test-retest method was used to test for reliability and validity of the instruments while data analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. All the null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. The findings revealed that teachers were dissatisfied with the manner that principals handled matters of communication, monetary rewards, welfare, and promotion. It was further revealed that there was statistically a positive and significant influence of communication, monetary reward, welfare and promotion strategies of teacher motivation on students’ academic performance (p<.05). Using the coefficient of determination, r 2 , the study found that teachers’ welfare, teachers’ promotion, monetary reward, and communication could each explain respectively about 94%, 71%, 66% and 64% of the total variance on students’ performance. The study recommends that principals adopt an open door policy of communication and hold regular meetings with teachers besides involving them in decision making concerning welfare matters. Moreover, principals need to be trained on modern performance appraisal techniques instead of relying on traditional methods which, according to teachers, reward sycophancy instead of productivity.