District Administrative Practices, Geographical Accessibility, and Teacher Outcomes in Mangochi District, Malawi Journal Section: Educational Management and Administration

The provision of education services in different geographical areas is a challenge in most decentralised education systems in sub-Saharan Africa. The study aimed at finding out how district administrative practices influence motivation and job performance of the teachers of Accessible and Hard-to-Reach public primary schools in Mangochi District, Malawi. The research method used was convergent parallel mixed methods design, which involved using structured survey questions with 196 teachers in 33 schools, key informant interviews with 43 education administrators, and five years (2020–2024) of longitudinal Education Management Information System (EMIS) data. The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors of the motivational dimension which fit with Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory: Intrinsic Motivation, Hygiene Dissatisfaction and Job Dissatisfaction. Hard-to-Reach teachers had significantly lower IM scores and significantly higher scores on both the dissatisfaction dimensions (all p ≤ .001). The stratum coefficient for Job Dissatisfaction was reduced to non-significance by administrative practice variables (ΔR² = .477, p < .001) and was almost entirely due to the variable of perceived administration supportiveness (β = -.699, p < .001). In contrast, the relationship between remoteness and Intrinsic Motivation was mostly direct. Qualitative results confirmed these trends, and the factors identified were supervision gaps, professional isolation and inequitable performance appraisal. The results indicate that increasing administrative support systems is a viable and affordable way to increase teacher wellbeing and educational equity, beyond just decreasing distance.

Educational Management and Administration

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