Effect of Alternative Methods to Corporal Punishment on Student Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Mombasa County, Kenya

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of alternative methods to corporal punishment on student discipline in public secondary schools in Mombasa county of Kenya. The specific objectives were: To establish the effects of guidance and counselling on students' discipline in Mombasa county secondary schools, to establish the effects of suspension on students' discipline in Mombasa county secondary schools, to establish the effects of learner inclusion in decision-making on students' discipline in Mombasa county secondary schools and to establish the effects of the withdrawal of privileges on students' discipline in Mombasa county secondary schools. The study was built on restorative practices in the education model. The design for the study used a descriptive cross-sectional survey. Information was obtained through questionnaires and interviews with 206 participants. In addition, the researchers used a census study since data was gathered from all the 32 public secondary schools in Mombasa county. In light of this, 18 principals, 32 deputy principals, and 32 guidance and counselling teachers from the 32 public secondary schools, in addition to a sample of 124 students, assisted in providing the necessary data. The analysis was done using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of the descriptive aspect were summarized through mean, frequencies, and standard deviation. The inferential analysis was done using multiple regression analysis. In addition, content analysis was used to analyse data from the interview schedule. It was concluded that alternative methods to corporal punishment had minimal effect on the discipline of students and were less effective in managing learner discipline.