Teachers' perception of the delegation process in schools: A case of secondary schools in Mathioya District Murang'a County, Kenya
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Date
2012-09-17
Authors
Irungu, Mwahaki Cecilia
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Abstract
This study sought to determine the teachers' perception of the delegation process in secondary schools in Mathioya District. The headteacher needs a staff that can carry out the various duties of the school organization management on his / her behalf. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the teachers' perception of the delegation process in public secondary schools in the district. The study sought to find out the nature and process of delegation in schools, fmd out the attitude of teachers on delegation of authority ~ issues and challenges facing delegation of authority and also
find out ways of resolving challenges encountered in the delegation of authority in schools. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population was the 28 public secondary schools in the district with a population of 283 teachers. Stratified sampling techniques were used to select a study sample of 10 schools. The sampled schools provided the 10 headteachers and Purposive sampling was used to select the 50 teachers. Two sets of questionnaires were used as the key data collection tool; one for the headteachers and one for the teachers. The instruments were piloted in a school which did not form part of the randomly selected schools. Reliability of the instruments was determined by the use of split-half method. The researcher personally administered the questionnaires to the two groups. Data collected from the field by the researcher was coded and entered into the computer for analysis using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data obtained and the results were presented using frequency tables, bar charts and percentages. This study revealed that there are certain tasks which headteachers do not delegate to any of their teachers which included management of fmances and BOG management among others. Although the headteachers cited enhancement of accountability, the general feeling by the teachers is that there are certain benefits associated with those tasks. The study also revealed that headteachers did not adhere to essentials of effective delegation and most of the head teachers were eager to reprimand and issue threats instead of offering advice when teachers failed to achieve desired results. It is generally accepted that delegation removes routine work from the hands of the headteachers, motivates staff and creates a positive work environment that translates into the achievement of desired goals and objectives. However, in the case of this study, one may be justified to conclude that staff morale is low, as shown by what the respondents have cited as their main challenges. The teachers cited lack of authority to make pertinent decisions, lack of rewards and recognition by headteachers among others. The headteachers cited unwillingness ofthe teachers to accept delegated duties, a general negative attitude to work among other challenges. In view of the findings of this study, it was recommended that relevant educational bodies like TSC and KIE ought to play a leading role in the in-service training of headteachers and teachers; headteachers should delegate sufficient authority to enhance performance as well as define clearly the goals and objectives before the delegation of a task. This study then suggested that further research be carried out to look into the effectiveness of the delegation process in schools as well as additional research on finding ways of overcoming the challenges that headteachers' and teachers face in this study.
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85P.