Assessment Of Teachers’ Perceptions On School Environment: The Case Of Preparatory Schools In North Gondar Administrative Zone

Abstract

School environment variables were found to impact students’ learning and achievement both positively and negatively. These variables include teachers’ satisfaction, their relationship with students, teachers’ influence on the school, collegiality, principal leadership, students’ discipline as well as teachers’ personal character such as gender, marital status and seniority. The purpose of this research was to examine the levels of teacher’s perception on their personal and school environment factors in the preparatory schools of north Gondar zone. The research used descriptive survey design. From the 29 preparatory schools, 18 schools were selected for the research purposes. From each school, 5 senior teachers (90 teachers in total) were selected using stratified random sampling. Data was collected with questionnaire developed by the researchers and data was analyzed using descriptive (mean and median), and inferential (ANOVA) statistics. Findings showed that teachers experienced unfavorable school environment leading to low satisfaction, poor teacher student relationship, limited teachers influence, lack of collegiality, poor principal leadership and student’s indiscipline. There were no significant differences regarding job satisfaction by gender; however female teachers had relatively higher satisfaction scores than males. There was no significant difference between married and single teachers on their perceptions regarding school and personal variables. However, teachers with lower seniority had higher scores on open environment/climate, job satisfaction, and teacher student relationships. These findings have implications for School Improvement Program (SIP).