Entrenching Ethical and Professional Teaching Through Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development in Public Primary Schools, Migori County, Kenya

Teacher conduct is instrumental in enhancing national values in teaching and learning. The teacher is a role model to learners and society at large; as an epitome of ethics. In Kenya, teacher conduct is a key element of teacher professionalism which can affect teacher performance in service delivery. The Teachers Service Commission has handled numerous cases of professional misconduct leading to termination of services of the affected teachers. Professional misconduct of the teacher has impacted negatively to the learner leading to high drop – out rates. Between the years 2019 and 2021, 59 teachers had indiscipline cases in Migori County. To curb the malpractice, TSC introduced Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) to appraise teachers on adherence to recommended teacher conduct and professionalism as a key indicator in teacher performance. This study sought to evaluate the contribution of TPAD to teacher conduct and professionalism towards enhancement of teacher performance in public primary schools, Migori County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Goal setting Theory which requires teachers to set performance targets at the start of the school term regarding adherence to the recommended teacher conduct and professionalism parameters. The set targets are then utilized as a measure of teacher performance during appraisal at the end of the school term. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. Simple random sampling and random sampling techniques were used to select 30 Curriculum Support Officers, 240 deputy head teachers and 362 teachers for the study. Fischer’s Formula was used to select the sample size of 632 participants from a population of 7038, comprising 637 deputy head teachers, 6362 teachers and 39 Curriculum Support officers in Migori County. Data collection was done using questionnaire for deputies and teachers; Focus group discussion guide for Curriculum Support officers, and document analysis guide for school records. Quantitative data was analyzed using Descriptive Statistics in the form of frequency counts, mean and percentages as well as Inferential Statistics of T- Test and Correlation Coefficient. Qualitative data was cleaned, coded, transcribed and analyzed thematically. Findings from the study indicate that TPAD Implementation contributed highly to teacher performance, with regard to punctuality, ethics, and compliance to legal and professional requirements on conduct and professionalism in public primary schools.