Influence of Principals’ Management of Mentorship and Coaching Programmes of Teacher Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Mary Mugwe Chui
School of Education
Mount Kenya University
Email: mugwemary01@gmail.com

Abstract: Mentorship and coaching programmes organized by principals play a key role in teacher performance. However, in Kiambu County, teacher performance in public secondary schools is low since many teachers do not complete syllabus in time which has occasioned low performance among students. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the influence of principals’ management of mentorship and coaching programmes on teacher performance in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study applied a mixed-methodology and adopted a concurrent triangulation design. Target population comprised 227 principals, 3479 teachers and 24 Sub-County Directors of Education summing up to 3730 respondents from which a sample size of 348 respondents was determined using Yamane’s Formula. This consisted of 36 principals, 288 teachers and 24 Sub-County Directors of Education. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages and inferentially using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Analysis with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS Version 25 and presented in tables. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and presented in narration. The study revealed that teacher performance has been low with many of them unable to cover syllabus in time which has translated to low academic performance in KCSE among their students. The Teacher Service Commission has introduced mentorship and coaching programmes for teachers. However, principals rarely set clear objectives to be achieved during mentorship nor do they frequently monitor the progress of mentorship programmes. Hence, principals should foster best practices when organizing mentorship and coaching programmes for teachers.