Influence of organizational culture on teachers’ job commitment in public primary schools in Ndhiwa Subcounty, Kenya

Abstract

xii ABSTRACT Culture includes deep patterns of values, beliefs and traditions that have been formed over the course of history. In the study, the school culture is defined as the element of school environment that is developed over time. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of organizational culture on teachers’ job commitment in public primary schools whose focus was in Ndhiwa Sub-County Kenya. It was guided by three objectives which included the following: to examine the influence of adhocracy culture on primary school teachers’ job commitment; to determine the influence between job motivation and teachers’ job commitment; and to determine how staff collegiality influences teachers’ job commitment. The study used descriptive survey design to collect data. The target population was consisting of 224 teachers from which a sample of 196 teachers were randomly selected for study. The researcher used random sampling technique because it allows generalizability to a larger population with a margin of error that is statistically determinable. The data was gathered using questionnaires which were filled and returned by 190 teachers representing 97 percent return rate. To examine the influence of adhocracy culture on teachers’ job commitment, the researcher used frequency tables to analyse the research objective; to determine the influence of job motivation on teachers’ job commitment, the researcher used frequency tables and percentages to analyse the data; to determine how staff collegiality influences teachers’ job commitment, the researcher used frequency tables and percentages to analyse the data. The analysis of data was aided by the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software processed data was presented in the form of percentages and tables upon which data could be interpreted easily. According to the study, 90 percent of teachers indicated that school culture influenced their job commitment positively. For example, 91 percent of the teachers were motivated due to team teaching and 88 percent of the teachers were highly committed when given permission for creativity. The teachers were asked to indicate whether job motivation influenced their job commitment, 57 percent of the teachers agreed that they are not committed due to poor remuneration. Teacher collegiality, adhocracy culture and motivation influenced their job commitment positively. For example 90.5% of the teachers who were involved in decision making were highly motivated. This could be because they felt respected, recognized, honored as teachers in their respective schools. Likewise when teachers are motivated, a culture of hard work, commitment and team spirit is enhanced which in turn affect job commitment positively. The study revealed that a number of schools embraced team teaching, teacher independence, creation of ad hoc teams, little formalization if activities, innovation, clearly stated goals, participation and decision making and having good relations with other teachers in and outside their schools. The study also revealed that teachers are not committed and motivated to their work because of poor remuneration package. The researcher suggests that the government should address these issues of poor remuneration with the concern it deserves. On conclusion, 97.8 percent of the teachers in Ndhiwa Sub-county are highly committed to their work. The study recommends that other studies on the same should be carried out in other sub-countries, to investigate whether schools in these districts are experiencing the same cultural challenges. The researcher recommends that head teachers should create a culture that acts as a standard or a rule book for teachers to follow and adopt a leadership style that includes teachers in decision making.