Psychological Contract: Structural Explanations of Breach among Secondary School Teachers in Kenya

The study of employer and employee relationship among teachers is important to scholars and human resource practitioners. This paper, in perspective of psychological contract, analyzes the characteristics of psychological contract of secondary school teachers in Kenya, the relationship between psychological contract and psychological contract breach, and the influencing factors of contract breach and gives recommendations to improve on this relationship. The government of Kenya through the Teachers Service Commission which is the sole employer of teachers in public schools has made tremendous steps in the recent years to professionalize teaching, through introduction of registration of trained teachers, introduction of performance contracts (PC) to the heads of schools and teacher performance and appraisal development tool (TPAD). However, despite teachers devoting their time to these policy practices, they find themselves drifting to businesses that have nothing to do with teaching and scientific research which finally cause a misplacement of the primary objectives of these tools because of unfulfilled perceived employment promises. Studies show that psychological contracts impose certain inner drive on human behavior, which influences employees’ performances and attitudes to a certain degree. In other words, In order to make secondary school teachers devote themselves to the education cause completely, it is imperative to build up a positive psychological contract between secondary school teachers and their employer.