Doctoral thesis
The study investigated the influence of functional and emotional factors on teachers' work engagement in secondary schools in Tanzania. Specifically, the study aimed to: examine the impact of employee remuneration, nature of the job, and teachers' relationship with their head of schools and co-worker support on teachers' work engagement. The study was carried out among secondary schools teachers in Bukoba Municipal Council, Kahama Town Council, Korogwe District Council, and Ruangwa District Council. The study used a cross-sectional survey with a sample of 440 teacher respondents who were obtained by stratified random sampling techniques. Data collection tools were survey questionnaires, focus group discussion, and key informant interview guide. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Key results on qualitative information were integrated with quantitative information to provide meaningful study conclusion. Quantitative data were analyzed by Structural Equation Modelling using statistical package of social science with AMOS software Version 21. Findings on the first specific objective indicate that; employee remuneration significantly influences teachers' work engagement. But it is not a stand-alone factor for employee work engagement. On the other hand, findings on the second specific objective indicated a positive and significant influence of the nature of the job on teachers' work engagement. Findings on the third objective revealed a positive and significant influence of teachers’ relationship with their heads of schools on teachers’ work engagement. Finally, results on the fourth objective informed the positive and significant influence of co-worker support on teacher’s work engagement. The study concludes that remuneration has little incentive to contribute towards employee work engagement. Instead, factors like the nature of the job, employee relationship with their leaders, and co-worker support substantially impact teachers’ work engagement. Therefore, the study recommends that policymakers in the education sector take a broader view of factors when designing interventions relating to employee work engagement. Moreover, District directors and Heads of Schools should be trained to address employees' dynamic behaviour to enhance employee work engagement.