Publication: Teachers' Perception of The Performance Appraisal on Learners Academic Performance in Secondary School of Kitui Central District, Kitui County, Kenya
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2013-08
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
The factors influencing teachers’ perception of the teachers’ performance appraisal system was
investigated in this study. The purpose of performance appraisal in schools is to assess teachers’
performance in their job as objectively as possible. The information collected through
performance appraisal is used to assess training needs and in determining teachers’ potential for
development. The results of the performance appraisal are useful in setting direction for
individual performance development by bringing out both performance strengths and weaknesses
and subsequently developing an action plan to facilitate the desired development. The purpose of
this research was to investigate the teachers’ perception of their existing performance appraisal
practices in public secondary schools in Kitui District. The following were the objectives of the
study:- to establish the influence of the purpose of appraisal, to find out the influence of
performance, to determine the influence of motivation, to determine the influence of
interpersonal relations and to find out how control influenced teachers’ perception of the
performance appraisal in public secondary schools.
The researcher used a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of 50
head teachers, 50 deputy head teachers, 116 heads of departments and 333 assistant teachers in
the 50 public secondary schools in Kitui Central District who were employed by the Teachers
Service Commission (TSC). Therefore, the targeted population was 549. Using simple random
sampling the researcher selected a sample of six head teachers, twenty deputy head teachers
(D/HTs)/heads of departments (HoDs) and Forty assistant teachers where the total sample size
was 66 participants. This was 12% of the study population and it was a representative sample
because it was higher than the minimum 10% recommended as a sample adequately representing
the study population by Mugenda and Mugenda (2003). The researcher used head teachers’,
deputy head teachers’ and/or heads of departments’ and assistant teachers’ questionnaire for data
collection on general information of factors influencing teachers’ perception of the current
performance appraisal practices. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. The study
results were presented by use of frequency distribution tables, pie charts and bar graphs with
narrations of major findings in between the tables and graphs.
The findings indicated that teachers had varying experiences and mixed feelings about the
appraisal process in the District. It emerged that many teachers viewed the current teacher
appraisal system in Kenya as demoralizing, even threatening. In conclusion, the study confirmed
that all parties involved in the teacher appraisal process should know its purposes, and should
interpret and apply these in a uniform and professional way. From the findings of the study, the
researcher recommended that the current teacher appraisal system as practiced in public
secondary schools in Kenya require further improvement to ensure its general teachers’
professional acceptance and implementation. The interpretation of the research findings were not
a confine of the Kenyan borders because there was hardly a country in the world where teacher
performance appraisal was not a contentious issue. This meant that the research findings could
be generalized to cover similar teachers’ perception and experience of their performance
appraisal in any other country in the world. Further thorough and diagnostic study was
recommended by the researcher to help in ascertaining the research findings and improve on the
teachers’ view for their appraisal practices.
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Bachelor Degree of Education