Perceived school support, interpersonal relationship and teachers sense of community in government-aided secondary schools in Bukwo district, Uganda

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of perceived school support on teachers’ sense of community moderated by interpersonal relationship in government-aided secondary schools in Bukwo district, Uganda. Specifically, the study assessed the influence of perceived school support on sense of community, examined the influence of interpersonal relationship on sense of community and tested the moderating effect of interpersonal relationship in the influence of perceived school support on teachers’ sense of community in government-aided secondary schools in Bukwo District. Employing a quantitative approach, this study utilised a correlational research design. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 240 secondary school teachers, selected through simple random sampling. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Descriptive statistics revealed that teachers' sense of community and perceived school support were moderate but interpersonal relationship was high. The SEM findings revealed that perceived school support had a positive and significant influence on sense of community; interpersonal relationship had a negative insignificant influence on sense of community while perceived school support moderated by interpersonal relationship had a positive but insignificant influence on sense of community. The findings led to the conclusion that school support is crucial for teachers’ sense of community; interpersonal relationship is not crucial for the teachers’ sense of community, and equal emphasis on perceived school support and interpersonal relationship does not necessarily lead to teachers’ sense of community. The study recommends that education stakeholders should provide sufficient support to teachers in terms of fairness, supervisor support, rewards, good job conditions and school participation to enhance their sense of community; mutual acceptance and uplifting should be promoted among teachers and greater emphasis should be laid on school support compared to interpersonal relationship in fostering teachers’ sense of community.