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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal – Vol. 10, No. 7

Publication Date: July 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/assrj.107.14983.

Kisaka, J. (2023). Effect of Promotion on the Satisfaction Levels of Teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Kilifi County, Kenya.

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 85-93.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

Effect of Promotion on the Satisfaction Levels of Teachers in

Public Secondary Schools in Kilifi County, Kenya

Joseph Kisaka

Pwani University, School of Education,

Department of Educational Foundations & Policy Studies, Kenya

ABSTRACT

The study set out to investigate the effects of promotion on influencing job

satisfaction levels among public secondary school teachers in Kilifi County in the

Republic of Kenya. The study was guided by the objectives of determining the effect

of gender and promotion on Job satisfaction levels of teachers in public secondary

schools in Kilifi County. The study adopted the Descriptive Survey Design to address

the statement of the problem and research questions. Information was generated

through questionnaires given to teachers within Kilifi County. Using Stratified

Sampling technique, 38 schools were selected from public secondary schools in

Kilifi County and a semi-structured 5-likert rating scale questionnaire schedule

issued to 418 teachers where systematic sampling technique was used. From the

sample identified for the study, only 379 were completed and returned. The

Questionnaire return rate was 90.6%. During the pilot study, three academic staff

members from Pwani University validated the data collection instrument. The

instrument had reliability co-efficient of 0.75 found using Pearson’s Product

Moment Correlation Co-efficient method. The data collected was analysed using

Descriptive Statistics such as means, frequencies and percentages provided by

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), and presented in form of tables, pie

charts and Bar graphs. The study found out that gender, as well as promotion of

teachers had an effect on their level of job satisfaction. The main recommendations

of the study were fair Promotion opportunities if increased may enhance high

retention in the profession and improve their job satisfaction of teachers.

Keywords: Gender, Job Satisfaction, Promotion, Retention, Satisfaction levels, Teachers.

INTRODUCTION

Job satisfaction is very essential to the growth of all education systems in the world. Apart from

knowledge and skills, education resources and strategies as determinants of education success,

job satisfaction and motivation are very crucial (Filak & Sheldon, 2003). The effectiveness of an

institution is to maintain a motivated, satisfied and competent team of employees whose

contributions are very significant towards the growth and development of an institution. In

light of this, needs satisfaction and motivation are the fundamental reasons for working and

many teachers fail to develop self-efficacy within the educational settings which makes them to

constantly agitate for needs satisfaction.

Job satisfaction among teachers is an issue which is found in schools throughout the world. In

England, teachers’ job satisfaction is very low to the extent that many teachers are leaving the

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Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal (ASSRJ) Vol. 10, Issue 7, July-2023

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

profession because their morale is also low. In this country, one of the reasons teachers have

become dissatisfied with their work is because they are not given the freedom in their teaching

job. Furthermore, teachers have become dissatisfied because of the increase in paperwork as

well data entry chores given to them in the previous years. Thus the workload of teachers have

simply become unmanageable. Since the year 2013, the rates of teacher retention have been

declining very much in recent years with no hope of the situation improving. To salvage this

situation, the government must address these fundamental issues and make teaching a

profession that people want to join and stay in for the sake of children’s education (Busby,

2018).

In the United States of America (USA), the challenge of job satisfaction among teachers is also

evident. The factors influencing job satisfaction among teachers in America were mainly

administrative support and leadership, student behaviour, school atmosphere, and the working

conditions. In such a developed country, the workplace conditions had a positive relationship

with teacher’s job satisfaction regardless of whether a teacher is in a private or public school or

an elementary or secondary school, and regardless of the teacher’s background characteristics

or the school demographics (Perie & Baker (1997).

In Tanzania, teachers were satisfied by both monetary and nonmonetary incentives. They were

pleased with fair remuneration packages that related to their labour input, opportunities for

career development, a well- defined individual appraisal system, timely promotions, and

requisite workplace conditions. Furthermore, teachers’ friendship and cooperation with co- workers and students as well as the respect of community members also enhanced their

satisfaction in teaching. Student success in and after school which reveals the teachers’ sense

of duty and responsibility also enhanced teachers’ job satisfaction. Thus, teachers’ job

dissatisfaction can lead them to search for other jobs or activities in order to gain economically.

Thus, care should be given to address teachers’ pertinent issues, especially salaries, workplace

conditions, and timely promotions to enhance teachers’ physical and mental attachment to

their workplaces (Nyamubi, 2017).

In Nairobi, Kenya, teachers were not rewarded competitively which negatively affected their

motivation. Teachers also rarely received any on- job training. In this County, the four broad

aspects that affected teachers’ job satisfaction were rewards, school culture, leadership and

training. Therefore, the government should institute a fair reward system for teachers to be

paid well and be given other incentives as well as providing favourable working conditions for

teachers, and have a staff development programme to help teachers improve in their teaching

profession (kituto, 2011).

In Kilifi County, job satisfaction of public secondary school teachers is a major problem which

has led to poor performance in public secondary schools’ students. With education being the

key to the development of any country, it is in the interest of the stakeholders of education to

establish the causes of low levels of job satisfaction among its employees and come up with

measures towards improving it. The choice of Kilifi County was informed by the fact that studies

of job satisfaction levels of teachers in public secondary schools in Kilifi County had not been

done. It is therefore upon this background that the research project is aimed at filling the gap

and determine the effect of gender and promotion on job satisfaction levels of teachers in public

secondary schools in Kilifi County.

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Kisaka, J. (2023). Effect of Promotion on the Satisfaction Levels of Teachers in Public Secondary Schools in Kilifi County, Kenya. Advances in Social

Sciences Research Journal, 10(7). 85-93.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/assrj.107.14983

Statement of the Problem

The ability of any head teacher to motivate and satisfy teachers is very important for effective

management of schools. Teachers play a critical role in teaching and learning in schools and

satisfaction with their careers which leads to quality of education delivered in the academic

institutions. Research has indicated that the level of job satisfaction among teachers in public

secondary schools in Kilifi County is still low (County Education Office, 2019) despite the efforts

made by the government, the teachers’ unions which are Kenya Union of Post Primary

Education Teachers (KUPPET) and Kenya National Union Teachers (KNUT) as well as other

stakeholders to improve the welfare of the teachers. Teacher shortages, absenteeism, and low

turnout of teachers has an effect of low levels of job satisfaction, that has led to high rate of

school dropout, indiscipline, students’ unrest and poor performance of learners in public

secondary schools in kilifi county. Low levels of job satisfaction among teachers is therefore a

very serious problem in the teaching profession as it is manifested in teacher unwillingness to

participate in school activities, poor lesson attendance, absenteeism of teachers, late coming of

teachers, lack of on-job training, uncreative and non-stimulating teaching, as well as negative

attitude of teachers towards the teaching profession, which negatively affect teaching and

learning in schools (Kilifi County Education Office, 2019). This problem if not addressed,

schools would suffer from poor development and lack of capacity in fulfilling their requirement

as ideal institutions for moulding successful children socially, academically and physical

advancement. From the background information, it appears that studies investigating the effect

of gender and promotion on job satisfaction levels of secondary school teachers in Kilifi County

have not been done to establish reasons why teachers still exhibit low levels of job satisfaction.

This study therefore intended to fill the gap by examining the effect of gender and promotion

on job satisfaction levels of teachers in public secondary schools in Kilifi County and suggest

possible solutions because a dissatisfied teaching force is disastrous for the education sector in

Kenya.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing job satisfaction levels among

teachers in public secondary schools in Kilifi County.

Objectives of the Study

The study was guided by the following objectives:

(i) To determine the effect of gender on Job satisfaction levels in public secondary schools

in Kilifi County.

(ii) To determine the effect of Promotion of teachers on Job satisfaction levels in public

secondary schools in Kilifi County.

Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions:

(i) What is the effect of gender on Job satisfaction levels in public secondary schools in Kilifi

County.

(ii) What is the effect of Promotion on Job satisfaction levels of teachers in public secondary

schools in Kilifi County?