Page 1 of 19

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 11

December 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 158

Relarionship between Work Variations Andteacher

Commitment in Kenya

Sharon Matama Gichaba

Kisii University

ABSTRACT

The nature of the work performed by employees

has a significant impact on their level of job

satisfaction. On the other hand, It implies that if

the supervisory exchange is deemed beneficial

the worker will reciprocate by having more

positive attitude towards the supervisor and the

workplace, experience greater job satisfaction,

improved organizational commitment and the

intention to leave or turnover may reduce. The

study examined the effect of four job satisfaction

determinants on commitment of teachers in

public secondary schools in Kenya with the

employee’s age as a moderating variable. The

job satisfaction dimensions studied included

reward, career development, supervision and

nature of work. The study adopted a descriptive

cross-sectional design, covering a target

population of 62,533 teachers drawn from 5210

public secondary schools in Kenya. Stratified

sampling involving multi-stage cluster sampling

technique was used by selecting 5 counties

randomly from the 47 counties which was the

first cluster. The number of respondents that

constituted the sample size using Fischer’s

calculation of sample sizes drawn from very

large populations was 384 teachers. From each

school, a sample of 4 respondents, comprising

the head teacher or deputy head teacher and 3

teachers was randomly selected and 96 schools

was the total number of schools constituting the

random sample for the study. The Counties

consisted of 19 schools each randomly selected

but the fifth county consisted 20 randomly

selected schools totalling 96 schools as the total

school cluster sample. Data was collected

through the use of self-administered

questionnaires that were distributed to

respondents at their work stations. Data

analysis involved descriptive statistics and

inferential statistical tools, - namely frequencies,

percentages, mean, Pearson Moment of

Correlation and regression analysis. Descriptive

statistical tools were used to determine and

explain the status of the variables while

inferential statistics were to explain the

relationships between the variables. The study

findings are presented using tables and charts.

From the study findings, majority of the teachers

disagree with the construct of existence of

quality of supervision in their schools. Most of

them reported that they had in the past

experienced low teacher commitment caused by

ineffective supervision. Moreover, the study

findings show that many teachers do not have a

great dislike for the core nature of their work.

Page 2 of 19

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 11

December 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 159

The challenges are in work overload and

handling of large classes. Most of the teachers

would leave teaching for another job implying

low commitment to the teaching career.

However, although a number of teachers are

dissatisfied with other determinants of job

satisfaction, they are still committed to the

teaching profession for intrinsic rather than

extrinsic reasons. In contrast to earlier findings,

the teachers are committed but not satisfied with

their profession.

Keywords: Quality, Supervision, Nature, Work,

Teacher Commitment, Public Secondary

Schools, Kenya

INTRODUCTION

It is important to gain insight into the concept of

teacher commitment since teachers interact daily

with students in a bid to enhance knowledge

acquisition, emotional development, behaviour

development and shape future career

orientations of the students. A growing body of

literature has revealed that there is a relationship

between teacher commitment and class

attendance levels, burnout, turnover,

organizational health which are important

aspects for overall long-term school health,

performance and growth (Mbwiria, 2010).

A number of scholars have defined employee

commitment to be multidimensional in nature.

Hurter (2008), for example, defines employee

commitment as commitment to both the

organization and type of work. Thus

commitment focuses on two components,

organizational commitment and work or career

commitment. Work commitment includes work

ethic, career commitment, organizational

commitment (affective and continuance), and

job involvement (Morrow, as cited in Awolusi,

2013). According to Hunt and Morgan (1994),

organizational commitment is the employee’s

belief in the organization’s goals and values,

initiative and effort to attain these goals on

behalf of the organization and the desire to be

identified as a member of the organization.

Imparting of academic knowledge and skills

requires long-term commitment and experienced

personnel in a dynamic environment of ever

changing skills. Longer serving employees are

essential for institutional memory and past

experiences that newer employees can draw

from and provide them with good mentorship

and on job training. Employee retention is often

associated with job satisfaction and

commitment. Past research has found a positive

correlation between job satisfaction and

organizational commitment (Mathieu & Zajac,

1991). According to Eslami and Gharakhani

(2012), when employees are not satisfied, they

will look for satisfaction elsewhere and this

diminishes their commitment to the

organization.

Commitment Theories

According to Hofmeyr and Rice (2000), the

theory of commitment was developed to answer

Page 3 of 19

Journal for Studies in Management and Planning

Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP

e-ISSN: 2395-0463

Volume 01 Issue 11

December 2015

Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 160

the questions as to why satisfied employees

leave an organization and why dissatisfied

employees stay. This section reviews two

theories scholars have attributed to explain

employee behaviours and motivations to

commitment. These are the Social Exchange

Theory by Peter Blau (1964) and the Three

Components Model of Organizational

Commitment by Meyer and Allen (2007).

Social Exchange Theory

The Exchange Theory has been widely cited as a

behavioural approach theory that explains an

employees’ commitment. Behavioural theories

explain some of the underlying causes that

influence an employee to exhibit particular

work-place related behaviours that reflect

attitude to work influenced by value or gains

received at the work place. Absence from work,

sloppiness, non-adherence to reporting times,

high turnover and stealing employer’s time and

resources are some of the manifestations that

may explain low employee commitment.

According to the Exchange Theory as

propounded by Peter Blau (1964) and scholars

such as Homans, who studied human beings’

social behaviourism, an employee who receives

favourable returns or rewards in exchange for

services rendered is likely to be a committed

employee (Emerson, 1976). Proponents of the

theory argue that the actor is motivated to act in

return for value, so long as the activity provides

value, the actor will be engaged until the act no

longer provides the desired value. Critics rebut

this behavioural proposition by arguing that

there are other motivational factors outside

reward or value that influence an employee’s

commitment such as intrinsic value gain

provided by the task characteristics that are non- monetary.

The Three Components Model of

Organizational Commitment

In contrast to the behavioural approach, the

psychological approach is more active with a

positive orientation that describes commitment

to be of high psychological attachment, linkage

and bonding (Morris & Sherman, 1981).Meyer

and Allen’s (2007) three components model of

commitment provides a psychological

dimension of assessing the mind states of an

employee’s commitment to an organization.

According to Ogunleye et al. (2013), the three

mind states can be categorized as: affective

Commitment (where an employee’s

commitment is seen as driven by affective

attachment to an organization), continual

commitment (where the employee acknowledges

the adverse consequences of leaving the

organization) and normative commitment

(characterized by an ethical responsibility to stay

with the organization). Studies on commitment

have provided strong evidence that affective and

normative commitment is positively related and

continuance commitment is negatively

connected with organizational outcomes such as