Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of head teachers’
administrative practices on the management of students’ discipline in public
secondary schools in Machakos Sub County. The study objectives were to: investigate
the influence of head teachers use of students’ council, parental involvement,
Guidance and Counselling and Life Skills Education on management of students’
discipline. The study was guided by situational theory of leadership which is
characterized leadership in terms of task behavior and relationship behavior. The
study used a descriptive survey design. The target population comprised of head
teachers, teachers and students. The sample size comprised of 421 respondents. Data
was collected using questionnaires. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical
Package of Social Sciences software programme version 22. Inferential analysis was
done using chi square statistics at the .05 level of significance. The study established
that head teachers used a variety of administrative practices to manage students’
discipline. Use of students’ council, parents and Guidance and Counseling were
highly rated compared to Life Skills Education. The study further established that the
use of students council influenced management of discipline significantly
(ℵ^2(𝑑�3)) = 25.542; � < .05). Further, use of parental involvement influenced
management of discipline significantly (ℵ^2(𝑑�3)) = 21.902; � < .05). Moreover,
the use of guidance and counseling influenced the management of discipline
significantly (ℵ^2(𝑑�3)) = 23. .182; � < .05) and lastly the use of life skills
education influenced the management of school discipline significantly
(ℵ^2(𝑑�3)) = 28.846; � < .05). The study concluded that use of life skills
education, students’ council, guidance and counselling as well as parental
involvement are influence management of students’ discipline in secondary schools.
The study recommends that the Kenya National Examination Council should start
examining Life Skills Education since it is an important subject in managing
discipline and molding social emotional skills of learners, training .and retraining of
teachers to be at par with emerging social challenges and establishment of a reward
system to compensate disciplined schools. These study findings are beneficial to head
teachers and other stakeholders in education regarding how they manage discipline
related issues in schools.
