Selected Administrative Practices Influencing Student Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Kisumu County, Kenya

Abstract

The globe's educational institutions face a serious challenge from instances of student disobedience. As a result, school administrators are expected to put in place proper measures in order to secure learning environments that are free of disturbances brought on by unruly behaviour. With over 114 occurrences of arson in 2016 as well as the annual cancelling of the KCSE examination for some schools, student indiscipline issues in Kenya have gotten worse over the last ten years, raising concerns about the efficacy of administrative policies. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of particular administrative methods on student behaviour in public secondary schools in Kisumu, County, Kenya. The objective of the investigation was to determining the influence of communication methods on students' behaviour, evaluating the influence of students' participation in decision-making on their behaviour, assessing the influence t of welfare management on students' behaviour, determining the influence of administration of school rules on students' behaviour, and evaluating how education policies in public schools moderate the influence of certain administrative practices on students' behaviour. The General Systems Theory by Ludwig Wittgenstein, which views educational institutions as systems that can be positively or negatively influenced by their surroundings, served as the study's main theoretical framework. Cross-sectional survey design and a mixed-methods technique were used in this study. The study targeted 225 Kisumu County public secondary schools, seven Sub County Directors of Education officers, 225 principals, 225 disciplinary masters, as well as 225 student council leaders adding up to 682 respondents. The sample size for this study, which was 439, was determined using Yamane's methodology. The study sample included seven (7) sub county education officers, 144 student council leaders, 144 discipline masters, and even the principals of 144 schools. Leaders of the student council and discipline officers filled out a questionnaire to provide statistics. Data was gathered through interviews with Sub County Directors of Education and school principals. The documentation of administrative procedures and student disciplinary measures was gathered using a document analysis guide. Face, content and construct validity index were employed to check instrument validity. Based on data from a pilot research involving 22 schools, the reliability of the instrument was evaluated using the split-half test method. Regressions and descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data. Results revealed that judgments of student discipline based on communication strategies, student participation in decision-making, management of student welfare, and application of school rules did not differ significantly from one another. The use of communication strategies (B=.284; p=.000), student participation in decision-making (B=.236; p=.000), student welfare management (B=.109; p=.002), administration of school regulations (B=.381; p=.000), and students' discipline all showed a significant link. When the moderator, education policy, is taken into consideration, administrative procedures account for around 63.2% of the variation in students' behaviour, with welfare management (Welfare*Policy) having the biggest effect (Beta=.122). this study concludes that administrative practices: communication methods, student involvement in decision-making, welfare management, and administration of school rules are major predictors of students' behaviour in public secondary schools when used in consideration of education policy on discipline management requirements. It is recommended that administrative procedures for handling student disciplinary issues should be put into effect within the constraints of educational policy. Further research should be done on the influence of policy-based student welfare management strategies on student discipline in public secondary schools.