Institutional culture and academic performance of government aided primary schools in Bbaale County, Kayunga district

Abstract

The study explored the influence of institutional culture on academic performance of the schools aided by the government in Bbaale County, Kayunga District. The study aimed at; assessing the influence of teacher professionalism on academic performance, exploring the influence of teacher collaboration on academic performance and investigating the impact of teacher involvement on academic performance of the government aided primary schools. A cross sectional survey research design was adopted on a sample of 74 head teachers, 10 directors of studies and 2 inspectors of schools. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, an interview guide and documentary review guide. Data collected was then analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative data collected using the self-administered questionnaire was then entered into Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS 24.0) from where it was analyzed at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels. Qualitative data was collected using a pretested interview guide and the data was later analyzed using content analysis. The study found out that the three institutional culture elements namely; teacher professionalism, teacher collaboration and teacher involvement had no influence on academic performance. This implied that these being standard professional components of teaching, they may be lacking other supporting factors in order to influence academic performance. It was therefore concluded that teacher professionalism and academic performance to a greater extent didn't impact on academic performance, teacher collaboration does not significantly support academic performance and teacher involvement is not a dominant factor for academic performance in the government aided primary schools. Therefore, the study recommends that teachers should integrate professionalism with academic performance of schools, collaboration should be practiced in a way that enhance teacher contribution to academic performance of schools and teacher involvement in managerial activities should focus more on the learning aspect in the schools which is the core function.