The effects of work climate on teachers' job performance in public primary schools in Nairobi North District

Abstract

The study examines the effects of work climate on teachers' job performance in public primary schools in Nairobi North District. The need for the study rose from the realization that most public primary schools in Nairobi Province and in particular Nairobi North District had been performing extremely poorly in the K.C.P.E for the last five years. The study attempted to assess the effects of work climate on teachers' job performance. The study sought to examine the type of work climate that existed in public primary schools in the district, the impact of working relationship on teachers' job performance and the effects of motivation on teachers' job performance. It also sought to establish the effects of internal supervision and staff collegiality on teachers' job performance and finally it endeavored to establish the elements of work climate that best determine teachers' job performance. The literature review focused,.. on the meaning and general view of work climate,the types of work climate that exist in schools, the elements of work climate with particular reference to working relationship, staff motivation, supportive leadership, internal supervision and staff collegiality and how they affect teachers' job performance . The head teacher was seen as the sole creator of the school work climate. It also looked at the head teachers' empowerment programmes and their significance in sharpening the managerial skills of the head teachers in creating a positive school work climate. The conceptual framework highlighted the elements of work climate that can Improve teachers' job performance and fir;a.lly lead to higher levels of performance. The study used the survey research design to explore the existing work climate and the impact it has on teachers' job performance in the sampled schools in Nairobi North district. Stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques were used to obtain the 29 schools for the study. Data was collected through the use of questionnaires from the 29 head teachers and 119 class teachers. The head teachers and class teachers were purposively selected. The instrument validity and reliability were tested through piloting in three schools and professional advice sought from the university supervisors. The remaining 26 schools participated in the main study. All the 26 head teachers and 102 out of 104 teachers returned the questionnaires, leaving only 2 questionnaires unreturned. The study used the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) programme for the data analysis and the results were presented in frequency tables, bar graphs and pie charts. The major findings of the study showed that the main elements of work climate that affected teachers' job performance were poor working relationships, team work (staff collegiality) and motivation. They were also found to be the main determinants of teachers' job performance. In the face of the findings, the study recommends that; 1. Head teachers should be given comprehensive training courses specifically on how to build good working relationships, team work and how to come up with creative ways of motivating teachers in order to create and maintain a positive work climate in their schools. 2. Periodic training courses on team building and effective interpersonal relationships should be provided to all the teachers to enable them to work in harmony with their colleagues and administration and re-enforce a sense of collegiality. 3. The head teachers and teachers should be helped through training programmes to balance their demanding family responsibilities and school work to ensure that family duties are not favoured at the expense of the school. 4. Improved and more effective mechanisms for the evaluation of the professional training courses offered to both head teachers and teachers should be instituted to improve their performance. 5. The Ministry of Education to employ creative ways of motivating teachers including the use of financial incentives, besides professional development courses. 6. The Ministry of Education should employ more teachers, with specific attention to the need for gender balance, and rescind as much as possible from transferring head teachers to different stations within a short period of time.