The effect of career plateau on the academic productivity of public secondary school teachers in Kikuyu District, Kenya
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Date
2013-01-03
Authors
Esther, N. A.
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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish how the negative outcomes of career
plateau affect productivity. The general objective of the study was to determine how
career plateau has an influence on the academic productivity of public secondary
school teachers in Kikuyu District. The specific objectives were to determine; how
stress and burnout, absenteeism, conflict with administrators, and the desire to leave
the teaching profession have affected the academic productivity of teachers.
The Study was conducted in Kikuyu District, which is one of the 10 districts in
Kiambu County. The other districts in this county are: Gatundu, Githunguri, Kiambu,
East Kiambaa, Kiambu West, Lari, Ruiru, Thika East and Thika West. There were 26
public secondary schools in Kikuyu district. The target population consisted of 563
teachers from the 23 public secondary schools in the district. The researcher used
stratified random sampling and simple random sampling to get the sample size of 141
teachers out of whom 110 teachers participated by responding to the questionnaire.
The research utilized descriptive design. Frequency counts, percentages, bar graphs,
and charts were used in data analysis. The study established that, majority of the
teachers 69 (63%) were last promoted between 2 - 15 years ago. This revelation
clearly indicates that very many teachers have been experiencing career plateau in
their profession. The results on teachers' assessment on job productivity show clearly
that teachers who are exhibiting characteristics of career plateauing are among those
teachers who are citing reasons for average and below average performance. The
study leads to the conclusion that career plateau has caused many teachers to desire to
leave the teaching profession. The study recommends that teachers should be
motivated and good promotion policies developed.