Influence of Teacher Role Modeling on Professional Conduct of Secondary School Teachers in Western Kenya

Background: Teachers are perceived as the most valuable asset or resource to the achievement of the primary objectives of education in any Kenyan school. Just like employees in other institutions, their professional conduct should be given due consideration if public secondary schools have to meet their strategic goals. Mentorship has, throughout the annals, been the guiding light towards growth, wisdom and enlightenment. Its role in the professional space cannot be overstated, as mentorship relationships are said to be a powerful source of role modeling with mentors. Despite the introduction of role modeling, the issue of teacher professional misconduct in public secondary schools in Kenya is still prevalent. This indicates that the Commission still grapples with challenges of teacher conduct and performance, which, if not solved, will aggravate the already existing challenge of inadequate staffing in the teaching service. This study's objective was to assess the effect of role-modeling mentorships on professional conduct among public secondary school teachers. Materials and Methods: The study adopted the descriptive survey design with both qualitative and quantitative approaches being used. The study targeted 1308 respondents comprising 4 TSC county directors, 68 principals, 279 HoDs and 957 teachers from all the 68 extra county secondary schools in the Western Kenya region. A sample size of 299 was determined using Krecjcie and Morgan table (1970). It comprised 2 TSC County Directors, 21 principals, 137 HoDs (mentors) and 137 teacher mentees. Simple random sampling was employed to select 21 extra county schools where the study was carried out all the 68 principals. The instruments used to collect data were interview schedules and questionnaires. The interview schedule was used to collect data from the principals and County Directors, while questionnaires were administered to HoDs (mentors) and novice teachers (mentees). Results: The above-average level of agreement in professional conduct based on the rating by mentors was (mean = 3.558, std. dev. = .962) rated moderate, 53.9% (mean = 3.620, std. dev. = 0.996) rated moderate by mentees. There was a significant positive correlation between role modeling practices in mentorship and professional conduct among public secondary school teachers in the Western Region, Kenya. Linear regression findings indicated that role modeling had a statistically significant positive effect on professional conduct among teachers in public secondary schools in the Western Region, Kenya (b= 0.854, p-value = 0.00 < 0.05). Conclusion: Enhanced role modeling practices would contribute significantly to professional conduct among teachers in public secondary schools in Western Kenya