Teachers’ professionalism and student discipline: a case of secondary schools in Arua municipality

Abstract

Student discipline is a major concern in secondary schools in Arua Municipality. The purpose of the study was to establish the relationship between Teachers’ Professionalism and Students’ Discipline in secondary schools in Arua Municipality. The objectives of the study include: to establish a relationship between teacher communication and student discipline, to establish a relationship between teacher commitment and student discipline, to establish a relationship between teacher conduct and student discipline, to establish the relationship between the management of school environment and student discipline. The research was conducted in Arua Municipality. The research used a Cross section survey design which was suitable for collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. Questionnaires, Interviews, Focus Group Discussions and Non-Participatory Observation were used to collect the needed data. The study was conducted in ten selected secondary schools. A pilot study was conducted in three schools which were not included in the final study. Reliability of the instruments was also done through the most common internal consistency measure known as Cronbach’s alpha which indicates the extent to which a set of test items can be treated as measuring a single latent variable. Findings indicated that lack of confidentiality among teachers, absence of fences, poor leadership styles were some of the major causes of student discipline. The study also found that the aspects of teacher professionalism like teacher communication, commitment, conduct and management of school environment have significant relationship with the student discipline in secondary schools. The study concluded that teachers should adhere to teachers’ Code of Conduct in order to avoid cases of students’ discipline in secondary schools. The study recommends that more sensitization be carried out to educate the students on the effects of indiscipline in secondary schools.