Teacher Support Systems and Quality of Pedagogical Practices in Uganda’s Public Secondary Schools

Abstract

This study explores the extent to which teacher support systems influence the quality of 
pedagogical practices in public secondary schools in Uganda. It specifically examines the extent 
to which supervision and evaluation of teachers explain variations in quality of pedagogical 
practices. It was triggered by the persistent criticisms about the deteriorating quality of teaching 
and learning in public secondary schools in the country. A descriptive cross-sectional survey 
research design was used to conduct the study. Data was collected from 76 head teachers 
and 934 teachers drawn from 95 public secondary schools and six officials from the Uganda’s 
Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) using survey, interview, observation and document 
analysis methods. Data collected from teachers was analysed using descriptive statistical analysis and ordered logistic regression, while content analysis was used to analyse qualitative 
data collected from lesson observations, document analysis, head teachers and ministry officials. The study findings revealed that first, teacher supervision (Odds ratio =1.89; p=0.000<0.05) and 
teacher evaluation (Odds ratio =1.54; p=0.000<0.05) have statistically significant influence on 
the quality of pedagogical practices in public secondary schools in Uganda. Second, the study 
established that teacher supervision was based majorly on fault-finding, schools lack appropriate teacher evaluation tools, and third, the study established that school administrators, in attempt to ensure quality of teaching and learning, used a ‘monitoring tool’ to supervise teacher punctuality and attendance, used previous national examination results to evaluate teacher performance and encouraged peer coaching. The study recommends that in order to enhance the quality of pedagogical practices, the Ministry of Education and Sports should (i) build the capacity of the schools to provide effective teacher support supervision; and (ii) develop standard formative evaluation tools that can be used for continuous teacher evaluation as well as train head teachers on how to effectively appraise their staff.