Principals’ Post-Observation Conference and Its Influence on Quality of Education among Public Secondary Schools in Machakos County, Kenya

Caroline Mbesa Mathuku; Susan Chepkonga; Jeremiah M Kalai

doi:10.53103/cjess.v6i5.572

Authors

Caroline Mbesa Mathuku University of Nairobi, Kenya
Susan Chepkonga University of Nairobi, Kenya
Jeremiah M Kalai University of Nairobi, Kenya

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53103/cjess.v6i5.572

Keywords:

Post-Observation Feedback, Post-Observation Conference, Quality of Education, School Principals

Abstract

Supervision of instruction by the school principal is a critical practice that enhances teaching and learning for the benefit of the students. Of the supervision practices, post-observation conference is deemed most critical in helping the teacher to understand teaching areas that need to be improved upon. However, studies focusing on student outcomes have hardly paid attention to post-observation conference as a practice for enhancing instruction and quality education as reflected in learner transition and performance. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the relationship between principals’ classroom observation practices and students’ performance in public secondary schools in Machakos County. Instructional Leadership Theory pioneered by Hallinger and which views school principals as leaders who are able to define a clear direction for the school and motivate others to join in the achievement of school mission was used to guide the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted under positivism paradigm, while simple random sampling and stratified sampling were used to select target population of 8 sub county Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QUASOs) and 370 principals of public secondary schools within Machakos County, Kenya. Yamane’s (1967) formula was used to compute a sample size of 192 principals from whom data was collected using questionnaires. All the QUASOs were included for interviewing. Both descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (regression analysis) were used in the analysis of quantitative data. Qualitative data was analysed thematically and through narration. The study established that that principals’ post-observation conference practices influence quality of education in public secondary schools in the study area ((M=2.936; SD=0.581). The principals’ post-observation conference causes .939 significant unit changes in quality of education (β=.939; p=.000), contributing 74.3% (R² =.743) of variations in quality of education. Adequate time for post-observation conference should be allocated so that observed teachers can sufficiently explain the challenges they encounter during instruction.

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