Teacher participation in decision making and its effects on Performance of public secondary schools in Mombasa County, Kenya.

Abstract

The research study was conducted to evaluate effects of teacher participation in decision making on performance of public secondary schools in Mombasa County. Many schools in Mombasa County register low performance especially in national examinations. Studies have proved that teachers have great impact on performance of schools. However, the management tools employed by the head teacher have been seen to hamper the performance of these teachers. Consequently, the performance of the school is affected. Decision making is one of the tools that the school management uses to run schools. The objectives of this study were therefore to find out the decision making processes used in the school, the extent of teacher participation in schools and the impact of their participation on school performance. The study was significant as it forms the basis for planning and strategizing in schools in order to improve performance. The study was based on the social constructivist theory as advanced by Vygotsky which focuses on the connections between people and the socio-cultural context in which they act and interact through shared experiences. The study used the mixed methods approach which is deemed necessary in uncovering information and perspective, increased corroboration and render less biased and more accurate conclusions. The study targeted 24 public schools in the county. Out of these 10 schools were selected through purposive sampling to give a sample size of 41.6%. From the 10 schools, 110 teachers were selected through the simple random sampling technique. Data was obtained using self administered questionnaires and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data using mean, frequencies, standard deviation and percentages and the findings presented using tables. The research findings show that the widely used decision making process in secondary schools is participatory. Teachers were partially involved in decision making process in the school as they participated in one area more than the others. Their participation was mostly on group basis. The research findings illustrate that teacher‟s participation in decision making process in the school had impact in school administration, school activities, academic performance, school discipline and drop out rates. The findings from the study draws to the conclusion that teachers in Mombasa County do not participate fully in the decision making process in their schools. The study recommends the inclusion of continuous induction courses for school principals on management of human resources in schools for effective and quality management of the schools. It also recommends teacher empowerment and engagement in decision- making processes in all aspects of the school system.