Assessment of Teachers’ Participation in Decision Making Process in Public Secondary Schools of Moshi Municipality, Tanzania

Baraka Manjale Ngussa – University of Arusha, Tanzania *Corresponding Email: ngussathe5th@gmail.com

ABSTRACT: Participation in decision making is an important aspect for proper functioning of any kind of organization, educational institutions included. In response to this fact, this study sought to investigate on teachers‘ participation in various aspects of decision making among Public Secondary Schools of Moshi Municipality, Tanzania, using descriptive survey research design. A random sample of 260 teachers from 14 schools participated by filling the questionnaire. A group of research experts from the University of Arusha went through the questionnaire against three research questions that guided this study and gave comments where necessary adjustment was needed before data collection was done. To ensure acceptable reliability of data, a pilot study was conducted in one school which was not part of the study sample and Cronbach‘s Alpha of greater than 0.7 was obtained in each category of the questionnaire. Data analysis was done through descriptive statistics in terms of mean scores and standard deviations. The study came up with a conclusion that the level of teachers‘ participation in planning extra-curricular activities, allocation of resources, determining sources of income and allocation of budget was limited. Proper channels for them to air out their views on curriculum planning and change were very low. Based on these conclusions, it is recommended that school administrators need to change their attitudes and consider teachers as key partners in the process of decision making. They also need to establish a collaborative atmosphere in which teachers can freely share their ideas regarding different aspects of school planning and development.