Teachers’ Collegiality and its Influence on Learners’ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools of Baringo North Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to establish the effects of teachers’ collegiality on learners’ academic performance in public secondary schools of Baringo North Sub-County, Kenya. The study employed mixed methods approach which utilized questionnaires and interview schedules. It adopted a descriptive research design in carrying out the study. The target population comprised 27 principals and 216 teachers in the 27 public secondary schools of Baringo North Sub County. A simple random sampling technique was used to select 138 teachers while 24 principals were purposively selected. From these populations, two schools were selected to pilot the research tools where a reliable Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 0.77 was obtained upon computation. Validity of the research instruments was carried out by the University supervisor and necessary revision done. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from teachers while interview schedule was used to collect qualitative data from principals. Quantitative data were analysed to obtain means, percentages, and standard deviation. Qualitative data on the other hand were analysed and presented thematically alongside the quantitative data. Inferential statistics were run to test the null hypothesis using Pearson’s Linear Correlation Coefficient. The findings established that teachers’ collegiality influences learners’ KCSE academic performance in public secondary schools of Baringo North Sub-County. However, there was a weak positive correlation between teachers’ collegiality and learners’ academic performance. It also established that though collegiality was not fully practiced there was a strong synergy among teachers to improve learners’ performance. The study recommends that teachers need to be supported by headteachers to collaborate to offer the best services to their learners and create more meaningful work. School headteachers should enhance teamwork among teachers to perform their best and staff members should meet or interact regularly, share ideas and expertise to attain higher performance.