Influence of School Physical Environment on Teachers’ Satisfaction in Selected Public Primary Schools in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya

Abstract

A conducive working environment is critical in enhancing productivity as well as satisfaction among professionals. Primary school teachers form a vital segment of the basic education as they impart basic knowledge to leaners. Prioritizing their professional needs is, therefore, commendable to ensure that they fulfill their professional roles. This study sought to establish the influence of physical environment on teachers’ satisfaction in public primary schools in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya. The study was guided by four objectives: one, to identify how physical facilities, influence teachers’ satisfaction in Elgeyo Marakwet County; two, to assess how work environment influence teachers’ satisfaction in Elgeyo Marakwet County; three, to establish how the classroom arrangement influenced teachers’ satisfaction in Elgeyo Marakwet; and, four, to identify the measures that teachers in Elgeyo Marakwet County use to improve their satisfaction. The two factor theory of Herzberg (1993) guided the study. The theory was based on the assumption that dissatisfaction leading to avoidance of work and satisfaction leading to attract one to work do not present end point of a single continuum. The study area was chosen owing to the high-stress levels due to workload and other indicators of dissatisfaction experienced by school teachers. Teachers, Head Teachers, Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs) and Assistant County Directors were targeted in the study. The county has 4 sub-counties headed by Sub-County Directors of Education with 26 educational zones headed by Curriculum Support Officers (CSOs). The county has 345 public primary schools with a population of 3,771 public primary school teachers. The study used stratified, purposive and simple random samplings to select participants. A total of 140 participants (where 38 were males and 102 being females) from Keiyo North Sub-County having a total population of 1,295 primary school teachers (221 males and 1,074 females) were sampled from 11 schools with 11 teachers per school to give 121 teachers (24 males and 97 females), 11 head teachers (8 males and 3 females), 7 Curriculum Support Officers (5 males and 2 females) and 1 Sub-County Director (1 male). Questionnaire, interview schedule and observation was used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed by use of both descriptive and inferential statistics where multiple regression was used. The inferential statistics comprised of Pearson product moment and multiple regression. The multiple regression model, (R2 = .557) shows that physical environment account for 54.4% variation in teachers’ satisfaction. The physical facilities (β1 = 0.419), classroom arrangement (β2 =.606) and work environment (β3 =.454) had significant relationship with teachers‟ satisfaction. The school physical facilities, work environment, and classroom arrangement positively influenced teachers’ satisfaction. The study recommended that there is need for school management to ensure that good physical appearance; conducive working environment, adequate facilities such as desks, shelves and classrooms are fully satisfied. Secondly, adequate reading and writing materials, reduced workload and proper cooperation by the school management should be addressed. Finally, proper demarcation of space, proper arrangement of books as well as adequate space for teacher movement in class should be well addressed in order to enhance teacher motivation and satisfaction level.