Principals' Participatory and Intuitive Decision-Making Styles and Their Influence on Teachers' Work Motivation in Public Secondary Schools in Laikipia County, Kenya

Public secondary school teachers’ work motivation has been significantly low in Laikipia County, Kenya. This study examined the principals' participatory and intuitive decision-making styles and their influence on teachers' work motivation in public secondary schools in the County. The decision-making model of Scott and Bruce (1995) anchored the study. A descriptive research design was employed with 13 principals and 261 teachers constituting the sample size of 274 respondents. Interview schedules for principals and the Decision-Making Styles Questionnaire (DMSQ) for teachers were used to collect data. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential techniques with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 6. The findings showed that teacher job motivation was positively and significantly correlated with participatory decision-making style (β=.299, p<.05). Teacher job motivation was also positively and significantly correlated with intuitive decision-making style (β=.362, p<.05). The study concluded that principal’s adoption of participatory decision-making style was crucial for motivation of teachers in public secondary schools in Laikipia County. Adoption of an intuitive decision-making style by principals had a significant influence on teacher work motivation. The study recommended that the Ministry should encourage participatory leadership and offer workshops to enhance intuitive decision-making in key school management areas. Article visualizations: