Students' responses to school management styles at secondary schools in Kericho district, Kenya

Abstract

Kenya witnessed an unprecedented wave of student unrest through secondary schools during the second term of 2008. The situation raised a lot of concern among policy makers, scholars, parents, leaders and education fraternity. Several schools were closed down after untold property was destroyed, students charged with arson, some expelled from schools and one died. Existing literature does not provide conclusive reasons as to why some schools experienced strikes and others do not. The study was conducted to examine the students’ responses to school management styles at secondary schools in Kericho District in Kenya. The study was guided by the McGregor´s Theory X as advanced in 1960 and coined in 1999 by Truss. The study also encompasses Attribution Theory. The study was conducted through survey research in Kericho District, Rift Valley Province. Simple random sampling was used to select a total of 15 schools sampled. Respondents were drawn from form 3 and 4 students whose response was considered representative. Systematic sampling was used to select 10 students from each class. The data was collected by use of questionnaire and analyzed by coding and tabulation with the help of SPSS computer package. The major findings revealed that head teachers talk to students, no feedback from the students, head teachers rarely involve students in decisions affecting them and students have no room to appeal in disciplinary cases. This shows poor management of secondary schools characterized by frequent unrest. The study recommends that the head teachers use democratic style of management. They should enhance collaboration between management and the students, involve them in decisions and give them room to appeal.