Influence of head teachers’ leadership styles on teachers’ job satisfaction in public primary schools in kirinyaga west sub county, kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of head teachers’ leadership styles on teachers’ job satisfaction in public primary schools in Kirinyaga West Sub-County. Four research objectives were formulated to guide the study which was; to determine the extent to which Autocratic, Democratic, Laissez faire and Transformational leadership styles of head teachers influence primary school teachers’ job satisfaction. The study was based on Fredrick Herzberg’s Two Factor theory. The study employed the descriptive survey research design. The study targeted 43 head teachers and 560 teachers in the 43 public primary schools. Stratified sampling technique was used to get 24 head teachers and 168 teachers. Two questionnaire sets were used to collect the required information from the head teachers and teachers. A pilot study was conducted to pre-test the reliability and validity of the instrument. Quantitative data was entered into the computer for analysis using the SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Science). This processed the frequencies, means and percentages which were used to discuss the findings while the qualitative data was analyzed through the use of content analysis. The analyzed data was presented using tables, pie charts and bar graphs. The study revealed that the democratic leadership style is the most used style in primary schools and that head teachers’ autocratic leadership style negatively influence primary school teachers’ job satisfaction. The study also revealed that head teachers’ democratic leadership style positively influence primary school teachers’ job satisfaction. The study established that head teachers’ laissez faire leadership style on primary school moderately influenced teachers’ job satisfaction and that the head teachers’ transformational leadership styles positively influences primary school teachers’ job satisfaction. The main recommendations of this study are: School head teachers should avoid the use of autocratic style of leadership in the management of schools as it does not allow teachers to give off their best. Adoption of leadership strategies by the schools’ heads such as participative style of leadership that creates conducive environment which will help in improving primary school teachers’ job satisfaction, The study also recommends that school managers, avoid the laissez-faire leadership style which permits total delegation of responsibility to teachers. Specialized management and leadership training course be designed for those aspiring to become head teachers, current serving heads should undertake courses on the modern rudiments of leadership styles. A mentoring program is recommended for newly appointed and underperforming serving head teachers thus promote and encourage the use of transformation leadership in the school systems. In conclusion; further comparable studies in public primary schools should be carried out in other parts of the county to find out whether the findings can be generalized to the entire county. Further research on effects of school’s leadership styles on pupils’ KCPE performance.