Assessing Organisational Factors’ Influence on Work Engagement of Primary School Teachers in the Acholi Sub-Region of Northern Uganda

  • Gilbert Olanya Kyambogo University
  • Wilberforce Okongo, PhD Kyambogo University
Keywords: Organizational Performance, Work Performance, Primary School Teachers, Engagement of Teachers, Leadership Support, Organizational Factors
Share Article:

Abstract

This paper presents the influence of organisational factors on the work engagement of primary school teachers in selected primary schools in four districts of northern Uganda. In the cross-sectional survey research design, the study employed qualitative and quantitative data collection methods, focusing on quantitative approaches. Data were systematically collected from a sample of 326 participants using a self-administered questionnaire. The findings revealed that teacher absorption was as high as the personal self-efficacy of teachers, but teacher dedication and teacher vigour were moderate. In addition, organisational factors, leadership support and social support were fair. However, moderation analysis revealed that organisational factors had no clear moderating role in the influence of individual characteristics of the work engagement of teachers. It was concluded that organisational factors in the form of leadership and social support were essential for the engagement of teachers. Therefore, it was highly recommended that headteachers, education officers, and other stakeholders involved in the management of schools should consider providing leadership support and promoting social support in schools. It was also recommended that organisational factors should be emphasised in all the primary schools to promote effective work engagement of teachers

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ayugi, C., & Openytho, F. (2023, October 5). Agago teacher in detention over drunkenness. Uganda Radio Network (URN). https://ugandaradionetwork.net/story/agago-teacher-in-detention-over-drunkenness

Carter, W. R., Nesbit, P. L., Badham, R. J., Parker, S. K., & Sung, L. (2018). The effects of employee engagement and self‐efficacy on job performance: A longitudinal field study. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(17), 2483‐2502. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2016.1244096

Çemberci, M., Civelek, M. E., Ertemel, A. V., & Cömert, P. N. (2022). The relationship of work engagement with job experience, marital status, and having children among flexible workers after the Covid-19 pandemic. PloS one, 17(11), e0276784. https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0276784

Chan, C. M. H., Wong, J. E., Wee, L. H., Jamil, N. A., Yeap, L. L. L., Swarna Nantha, Y., & Siau, C. S. (2020). Psychological and work-related factors predicting work engagement in Malaysian employees. Occupational medicine, 70(6), 400-406. https://doi.org/10.1093/ occurred/kqaa107

Chan, X. W., Kalliath, T., Brough, P., O’Driscoll, M., Siu, O. L., & Timms, C. (2017). Self-efficacy and work engagement: Test of a chain model. International Journal of Manpower, 38 (6), 819-834. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-11-2015-0189.

Chaudhary, R. (2017). Demographic factors, personality, and entrepreneurial inclination: A study among Indian university students. Education and Training, 59(2), 171-187. https:// doi.org/10.1108/ET-02-2016-0024

Chaudhary, R., & Rangnekar, S. (2017). Socio-demographic factors, contextual factors, and work engagement: Evidence from India. Emerging Economy Studies, 3(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/2394901517696646

Chen, G., Gully, S. M., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational research methods, 4(1), 62-83. https://doi.org/10.1177/109442810141004

Chen, G., Gully, S. M., & Eden, D. (2001). Validation of a new general self-efficacy scale. Organizational research methods, 4(1), 62-83. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1177/ 109442810141004

de Souza, A. C., Alexandre, N. M. C., & Guirardello, E. D. B. (2017). Psychometric properties in instruments evaluation of reliability and validity. Epidemiologia e servicos de saude, 26, 649-659. https://doi.org/10.5123/S1679-49742017000300022

Douglas, S., & Roberts, R. (2020). Employee age and the impact on work engagement. Strategic HR Review, 19(5), 209-213. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-05-2020-0049

Eisenberger, R., Huntington, R., Hutchison, S., & Sowa, D. (1986). Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3), 500-507. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.71.3.500

Eisenberger, R., Rhoades Shanock, L., & Wen, X. (2020). Perceived organizational support: Why caring about employees counts. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 7, 101-124. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012119-044917

Fricker, R. D. [Ed.]. (2017). Sampling methods for online surveys. In N. Fielding & R. M. Lee & G. Blank (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Online Research Methods (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Sage.

Ghiwaa, T., Khan, I., White, M., & Beloff, N. (2023). Telemedicine adoption for healthcare delivery: A systematic review. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science & Applications, 14(11), 1230-1243.

Hakanen, J. J., Ropponen, A., Schaufeli, W. B., & Witte, H. D. (2019). Who is engaged at work? A large-scale study in 30 European countries. JOEM, 61 (5), 373-381. Doi: 10.1097/JOM. 0000000000001528

Han, Y., & Wang, Y. (2021). Investigating the correlation among Chinese EFL teachers' self-efficacy, work engagement, and reflection. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 763234. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763234

Köse, A. (2016). The relationship between work engagement behavior and perceived organizational support and organizational climate. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(27), 42-52.

Krejcie, R. V., & Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and psychological measurement, 30(3), 607-610. https://doi.org/10.1177/001316447003000308

Kuok, A. C., & Taormina, R. J. (2017). Work engagement: Evolution of the concept and a new inventory. Psychological Thought, 10(2), 262-287. https://doi.org/10.5964/psyct.v10i2.2 36

Maan, A. T., Abid, G., Butt, T. H., Ashfaq, F., & Ahmed, S. (2020). Perceived organizational support and job satisfaction: a moderated mediation model of proactive personality and psychological empowerment. Future Business Journal, 6, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-020-00027-8

Mansor, F. A., Jusoh, Y. H. M., Hashim, M. Z., Muhammad, N., & Omar, S. N. Z. (2023). Employee engagement and organizational performance. Int J Account, 8(50), 69-80. http://dx.doi.org/10.55573/IJAFB.085006

Mohajan, H. (2017). Two criteria for good measurements in research: Validity and reliability. Annals of Spiru Haret University Economics Series, 4, 59-82.

Mohajan, H. K. (2020). Quantitative research: A successful investigation in natural and social sciences. Journal of Economic Development, Environment, and People, 9(4), 50-79.

Monje, A. A., & Calvo, N. (2023). Individual, job, and organizational dimensions of work engagement: evidence from the tourism industry. Baltic Journal of Management, 18(1), 70-88. https://doi.org/10.1108/BJM-03-2022-0110

Mugizi, W., Bakkabulindi, F. E. K., & Bisaso, R. (2015). A framework for the study of employee commitment. Makerere Journal of Higher Education, 7(2), 15-47. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/majohe.v7i2.2

Poro, S. G., Eton, M., Yiga, A. P., & Enon, J. C. (2019a). Curriculum Interpretation and Learners’ Attainment of Reading Skills in Uganda a Case of Selected Districts in Acholi Sub-Region. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), 3(6), 271-277.

Poro, S. G., Yiga, A. P., & Enon, J. C., Mwosi, F., & Eton, M. (2019b). Teacher competence and performance in primary schools in Nwoya District, Northern Uganda. International Journal of Advanced Educational Research, 4(1), 3-8.

Rahmadani, V. G., Schaufeli, W. B., Stouten, J., Zhang, Z., & Zulkarnain, Z. (2020). Engaging leadership and its implication for work engagement and job outcomes at the individual and team level: A multi-level longitudinal study. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(3), 776. https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fijerph17030776

Rakthin, S., Punnakitikashem, P., Pisitsupakarn, N., & Aksaravut, K. (2021). Factors influencing employee engagement: Evidence from Thai SMEs. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, 42(3), 482-488. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/kjss/article/view/253457

Rana, S., Chopra, P., & Pant, D. (2019). Employee engagement: Role of demographic characteristics in the telecom sector. Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 6(6), 331-343.

Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). Utrecht Work Engagement Scale-9 (UWES-9) APA PsycTests. https://doi.org/10.1037/t05561-000.

Schaufeli, W.B. (2013). What is engagement? In C. Truss, K. Alfes, R. Delbridge, A. Shantz, & E. Soane (Eds.), Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice. London: Routledge.

Schneider, B., Yost, A. B., Kropp, A., Kind, C., & Lam, H. (2018). Workforce engagement: What it is, what drives it, and why it matters for organizational performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 39(4), 462-480. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2244

Sekhar, C., Patwardhan, M., & Vyas, V. (2018). Linking work engagement to job performance through flexible human resource management. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 20(1), 72-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/1523422317743250

Sharma, A., Goel, A., & Sengupta, S. (2017). How does work engagement vary with employee demography? Revelations from the Indian IT industry. Procedia computer science, 122, 146-153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.11.353

Sharma, U., & Rajput, B. (2021). Work engagement and demographic factors: A study among university teachers. Journal of Commerce and Accounting Research, 10(1), 25-32.

Shuck, B., Nimon, K., & Zigarmi, D. (2017). Untangling the predictive nomological validity of employee engagement: Participating variance in employee engagement using job attitude measures. Group and Organizational Management, 42(1), 79112. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1059601116642364

Shukla, S., Adhikari, B., & Singh, V. (2015). Employee engagement-role of demographic variables and personality factors. Amity Global HR Review, 65-72.

Simbula, S., Margheritti, S., & Avanzi, L. (2023). Building work engagement in organizations: A longitudinal study combining social exchange and social identity theories. Behavioral Sciences, 13(2), 83. https://doi.org/10.3390%2Fbs13020083

Sunita, S., Bhavana, A., & Vikas, S. (2015). Employee engagement-role of demographic variables and personality factors. Amity Global HR Review, 65-72.

Suryaratri, R. D., Yudhistira, S., & Ulayya, D. (2020, September). The influence of social support towards high school teachers' resilience in Jakarta, Indonesia. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Learning Innovation and Quality Education (pp. 1-6). https://doi.org/10.1145/3452144.3452241

Taherdoost, H.., Sahibuddin, S., & Jalaliyoon, N. (2022). Exploratory factor analysis; concepts and theory. Advances in applied and pure mathematics, 27, 375-382.

Viladrich, C., Angulo-Brunet, A., & Doval, E. (2017). A journey around alpha and omega to estimate internal consistency reliability. Annals of Psychology, 33(3), 755-782. http://dx.doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.3.268401

Wang, J., Zhang, X., & Zhang, L. J. (2022). Effects of teacher engagement on students’ achievement in an online English as a foreign language classroom: The mediating role of autonomous motivation and positive emotions. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 950652. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.950652

Willmer, M., Westerberg Jacobson, J., & Lindberg, M. (2021). An exploratory analysis of work engagement among women with and without disordered eating. BMC Women's Health, 21, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01429-8

World Bank. (2020, September 27). Implementation completion and results report on a grant in the amount of US$100 million to the government of Uganda for the Uganda Teacher and School Effectiveness Project. Report No: ICR00005174

Xiao, Y., Fathi, J., & Mohammaddokht, F. (2022). Exploring a structural model of teaching enjoyment, teacher self-efficacy, and work engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 918488.https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.918488

Zhang, D., He, J., & Fu, D. (2021). How can we improve teacher’s work engagement? Based on Chinese experiences. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 721450. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg. 2021.721450.

Zhang, L., & Farndale, E. (2022). Workforce age profile effects on job resources, work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Personnel Review, 51(1), 194-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-02-2020-0095

Zhang, L., & Guo, X. (2023). Social support on calling: Mediating role of work engagement and professional identity. The Career Development Quarterly, 71(2), 97-110. https://doi.org/10.1002/cdq.12321

Published
19 May, 2025
How to Cite
Olanya, G., & Okongo, W. (2025). Assessing Organisational Factors’ Influence on Work Engagement of Primary School Teachers in the Acholi Sub-Region of Northern Uganda. East African Journal of Education Studies, 8(2), 434-442. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajes.8.2.3015

Most read articles by the same author(s)