Heads of School and Teaching Commitment in Public Secondary Schools in Kagera Region, Tanzania

Abstract

Teaching commitment plays a pivotal role in the success of any education system. In vein, leadership behaviours by heads of schools is instrumental in shaping the teaching commitment. This study aims to examine the relationship between supervisory practices of heads of schools (HoS Practices) and teachers’ commitment within public secondary schools in Kagera Region, Tanzania. The study was grounded from transformational leadership theory. The study used positivism research paradigm and cross-sectional research design. The results has consistently demonstrated a strong connection between instructional leadership and teachers’ commitment. In the context of Kagera Region, which has witnessed a decline in various aspects of education and human development, resulting in increased poverty, this quantitative case study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the HoS Practices and teachers’ commitment. The data were collected through questionnaires from a sample of 240 teachers working across 80 public secondary schools in Kagera Region. Statistical regression analysis and descriptive statistics were used. Primarily, it was found that only about 52.5% of the variance in teacher commitment can be explained by the HoS Practices. This finding raises important questions regarding teacher efficacy and leadership efficacy within Kagera Region's public secondary schools. This research contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the critical role of heads of schools in enhancing teachers’ devotion to teaching activities. The results underline the need for targeted interventions aimed at improving instructional leadership practices to boost teacher commitment, finally improving the overall quality of education in Kagera Region.