EXAMINING HOW THE FAMILY-SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AFFECTS LEARNERS' DISCIPLINE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANDARA CONSTITUENCY, MURANG'A COUNTY
Abstract
Purpose of the Study: This study examined how Family-School Environment Affects Learners' Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Kandara Constituency, Murang'a County. Family school partnerships are critical factors influencing learners' discipline in every country. In Kenya, school family partnership began way back in the 1980s through the Parent-Teacher Association to enable both the school and the family to partner for the wellbeing of learners. The study adopted Joyce Epstein's family-school partnership theory.
Statement of the Problem: Despite the ministry's effort to improve students' discipline, this effort has been frustrated in public secondary schools due to: a lack of parent involvement in school, home and family backgrounds and the role of media and politics. For example, in Kandara Constituency, the discipline of students in public secondary schools is deteriorating and it is not clear whether this has been due to negligence in school-home partnership in the upbringing of students.
Methodology: The study adopted a descriptive research design using a mixed-method approach. A convergent parallel mixed-method approach was adopted for the study. The targeted population included public secondary schools, principals, teachers, parents, county directors, and students of the Kandara constituency. Purposive sampling selected ten public secondary schools, ten principals, ten parents, and one County director. Simple random sampling was used to select 30 out of 188 teachers.120 out of 1200 students were sampled using proportionate sampling. The questionnaire and the interview guide were used as primary data instruments. Instrument reliability was tested using the pre-test method. The retest was done after a time interval of two weeks. Scores from both periods were correlated using a Pearson product-moment formula to identify any present variations. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Qualitative data derived from the interview guide, focus groups and open-ended items were thematically analyzed, coded and recorded into narratives and direct quotations to aid the findings of the quantitative data that was collected using questionnaire items. Quantitative data presentation was done using bar graphs and tables.
Result: The study established that a conducive family school environment influenced learner behaviour in public secondary school.
Conclusion: It was concluded that schools partnering with families were satisfactory variables in influencing the discipline of learners in public secondary schools.
Recommendation: The study recommended that similar studies be carried out in the other counties to offer comprehensive discipline attention to enable the educational stakeholders to promote partnership geared toward shaping learners' behaviour in public secondary schools.
Keywords: Family, School-Environment, Learners-Discipline, Public secondary schools
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