Effect of Head Teachers Leadership Styles on Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Tigania West District, Kenya

Abstract

s ABSTRACT In the late l 980's and early 1990's there was a notable increase in mass indiscipline in various secondary schools in Kenya. Students' unrests not only resulted in loss of human life and property but also in unwarranted disruption of teaching and learning. In September and October 2010, the media reported many cases of unrests in secondary schools in which some were fatal. Many parents and stakeholders blamed the leadership of the respective schools. This is a clear indicator that the leadership of a school has a great influence on discipline. The purpose of this study was to find out how leadership in secondary schools affects discipline. Questionnaires, observation schedules and in depth interviews were used to collect the data. The research design used was a descriptive research. Thus, this design was suitable to answer the questions concerning the current effects of leadership on school discipline, especially where the researcher will not practically control the effects of the independent variables on dependent variables. The research-focused on all the 23 secondary schools in Tigania West District consisting of 10 day schools, 5 Girl's Boarding schools, 5 Boys boarding schools and 3 mixed boarding schools. The total population of students was 8,830. The respondents, who included 154 teachers, 3000 students and 15 head teachers, were selected through random sampling. The main tools of data collection for this study was a questionnaire for head teachers, a questionnaire for teachers and a questionnaire for students. Observation schedules and in depth interviews were also prepared to obtain general data to back up the data from the questionnaires. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, means and frequencies were used to report the data. The study established that most teachers rated their head teachers as effective in instilling discipline. The findings also show that head teachers with more years of work experience were more effective in discipline maintenances than those with less experience. Head teachers with a Master of Education degree were more effective than those with a Bachelor of Education degree's notable percentage of head teachers had received in-service training on issues related to discipline. Attendance of in-service training positively influenced head teachers' effectiveness in discipline maintenance. The study recommends that: head teachers should be trained on aspects of discipline as this will greatly reduce the current problems existing in schools; head teachers and teachers across the country should be in-serviced constantly; students should be restrained from peer pressure through strengthened guidance and counseling programs.