Psychological Contract: Structural Explanations of Breach among Secondary School Teachers in Kenya

Abstract

The study of employer and employee relationship among teachers is important to scholars and human resource practitioners. This paper, in perspective of psychological contract, analyzes the characteristics of psychological contract of secondary school teachers in Kenya, the relationship between psychological contract and psychological contract breach, and the influencing factors of contract breach and gives recommendations to improve on this relationship. The government of Kenya through the Teachers Service Commission which is the sole employer of teachers in public schools has made tremendous steps in the recent years to professionalize teaching, through introduction of registration of trained teachers, introduction of performance contracts (PC) to the heads of schools and teacher performance and appraisal development tool (TPAD). However, despite teachers devoting their time to these policy practices, they find themselves drifting to businesses that have nothing to do with teaching and scientific research which finally cause a misplacement of the primary objectives of these tools because of unfulfilled perceived employment promises. Studies show that psychological contracts impose certain inner drive on human behavior, which influences employees' performances and attitudes to a certain degree. In other words, In order to make secondary school teachers devote themselves to the education cause completely, it is imperative to build up a positive psychological contract between secondary school teachers and their employer.

Influence of early childhood teachers' psychological contracts on teacher competency: Chain mediating role of job crafting and professional identity

“…The research findings indicate that there is a positive correlation between the psychological contracts of preschool teachers and their professional identity. Numerous scholars have proposed that the level of psychological contracts affect work attitudes, job satisfaction, professional happiness, and professional identity [ 10 , 13 , 16 , 73 ], which aligns with the conclusions of this study. Moreover, the study indicates that all three sub-dimensions of the psychological contracts significantly and positively predict professional identity.…”

“…Based on regression tests, it is evident that the psychological contracts have a positive influence on teacher competency. Prior research primarily focused on the impact of psychological contracts on abilities and competencies, as well as the effects of teacher competency on psychological contracts [ 10 , 13 , 17 ]. These studies have provided indirect evidence for the impact of psychological contracts on teacher competency.…”

“…Teacher psychological contracts denote the mutual responsibilities perceived by teachers in their relationship with the school [ 9 ]. These inherent needs and psychological expectations often can't be presented in contracts, but they are the things that can truly satisfy teachers, significantly impacting their work competency improvement [ 10 ]. Thus, this study intends to start with early childhood teachers' psychological contracts, attempting to explore their influence on teachers' competency and their specific paths of effect.…”

“…Firstly, numerous studies have discussed the impact of psychological contracts on job competency [ 12 , 16 , 17 ], with results showing a high positive correlation between psychological contracts and professional core competencies and literacy, providing indirect evidence for the relationship between psychological contracts and competency. Secondly, many studies have empirically demonstrated that psychological contracts can effectively stimulate a positive work attitude and behavior [ 10 , 16 , 18 ]. As job crafting involves an individual's autonomous change, aligning personal ability with job requirements (i.e., demand-ability matching) and personal needs with job resources (i.e., needs-supply matching), it therefore promotes job satisfaction with personal skills and motivation, driving person-job fit.…”

Mediating Effect of Organisational Capabilities on Relational Contract and Performance of Academic Staff at Selected Public Universities in Kenya

“…The research considered employee well-being initiatives to moderate the relationship, the current research used human resource policies as the moderating variable. Odhiambo, Mande Wycliffe [13] investigated the psychological contract as a structural explanation for breach among Kenyan secondary school teachers. The current research is focused on Kenyan public universities.…”