Thesis:

An investigation of the effectiveness of teamwork on quality education in public secondary schools in Samburu County , Kenya

Quality education has received a great deal of attention in the recent years. There is an agreement that quality education leads to better placement in the job markets, schools, better earnings and improved living standards. Quality education in schools depends on several factors such as child’s participation in class/school, availability of resources, class size, child-centered teaching-learning practices, continuous assessment of students understanding, teacher knowledge, continuous professional development for the teachers, time devoted to teaching by teachers. There are issues of lack of team work effectiveness in schools thus the study investigated the effectiveness of teamwork on quality education guided by Tuckman’s Teamwork Theory, Teamwork allows people to discuss their work together and as a result grow professionally. Once a team works well together, the job is less stressful, more enjoyable, more rewarding for all team members and results in greater benefits to students. Team is the norm across all walks of life and in the classroom teachers makes every effort to make students work together. This study adopted the following methodology in its scope of research; sampling, analysis technique and ethical consideration among other things. The results of the study were both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative data collected using a questionnaire was analyzed by the use of descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and presented through percentages, means, standard deviations and frequencies. This was done by tallying up responses, computing percentages of variations in response as well as describing and interpreting the data in line with the study objectives through use of SPSS. The study found that educators are enriched by working together in teams. People who work together closely become more productive and more satisfied in their jobs, which may affect their organizational commitment, cohesiveness, and effectiveness. The study found that effective teamwork requires clear and specific outcomes of goals and objectives. Team goals should be achievable, realistic, and measurable. Teams must be committed to a common purpose and goal and Team members must be able to communicate effectively with each other. The findings indicated that schools tend to demonstrate different profiles of team culture. The study recommends that quality teaching policies should be designed consistently at institutional, programme and individual levels. Learning experiences can be gained in many different forms of learning environments, not to be limited to auditoriums and class-rooms. Learning happens also outside the institution and also from a distance. Our findings call for further investigation into school effectiveness vis-à-vis team culture and organizational commitment.