Teacher Indiscipline And The Effectiveness Of Disciplinary Measures Employed By Headteachers In Public Secondary Schools In Githunguri, Kiambu County, Kenya

ABSTRACT

Discipline is fundamental to productive performance of any school. Schools need both highly disciplined students and staff. However, many studies have tended to focus on the students‘ discipline at the expense of staff discipline, thus leaving out an equally important segment towards the success of the school. The main concern of this study was to establish forms and causes of indiscipline among teaching staff and the approaches used by headteachers in secondary schools to enhance discipline among the teaching staff. The objectives of the study were; to determine the causes of indiscipline among the teaching staff in Githunguri sub-county; to determine the forms of indiscipline among the teaching staff; to identify the disciplinary measures used by headteachers in maintaining discipline among the teaching staff; to find out the administrative practices applied by the headteachers that may result in indiscipline among teachers. The study was guided by two theories; the Bandura‘s Social Learning and the Dreikurs‘ Social Discipline Model. The study was undertaken in Githunguri sub-county public secondary schools. The research involved 110 respondents; 10 headteachers and 100 members of the teaching staff. Simple random sampling was used in selecting 10 public schools and consequently 10 teachers per school. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. All the information was collected through questionnaires which largely had closed-ended questions with a few open-ended questions. Data collected were analyzed by use of descriptive statistics for quantitative data. Frequency, percentage tables and graphs were used to present the data. The statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data processing and analysis of quantitative data, while content analysis was used in analyzing qualitative data. The study revealed that the common indiscipline cases among the teaching staff were missing classes, failure to come to school and also failure to seek permission from the school administration, absconding duties and refusal to obey seniors. The study found that the major causes of misconduct among teachers were: pressure to perform well, irregular promotion, poor school infrastructure. The study also found that all the headteachers had used verbal warning as disciplinary action against teachers. Other approaches used by the headteachers included; written warning and forming of a disciplinary committee. The study recommended that headteachers should minimize pressure on teachers to perform well and should set up remedial classes in agreement with the teaching staff.