Globolization and discipline in kenyan secondary schools: issues and challenges for school management in Butere/Mumias district
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Date
2011-08-11
Authors
Ayiela, Electine Kisiang'ani
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Abstract
The fundamental focus of this study was to explore the extent to which globalization characterized by the overwhelming power of the Western-controlled information super highway called the internet, and consummated by the hegemonizing tendencies of the Euro-American social-political and economic structures-has influenced the school system in Kenya. It investigated how school managers are handling the new development This study attempted to interrogate the impact of globalization on the management of secondary schools in Kenya. It investigated the disciplinary problems of the youthful teachers and students and explored the issues and challenges which school managers face in maintaining discipline in school. The study sampled 12 of the 62 public secondary schools in the Butere- Mumias District representing 19 of the total number of schools in the district. Besides, in every sampled school only 19% of the targeted population of students was involved. The research employed the descriptive survey strategy to harness data. Since the targeted schools, were identified from the four compass zones with each compass quadrant of the district supplying three secondary schools, the study sample was considered a good representation of the district and a significant reflection of what might be happening across the country. Through various methodological devices which took into consideration gender and hierarchical balancing in those schools, the data collected was seen to be objective. The study utilized such tools as the questionnaire method, the oral interview practice, the Focus Group Discussions (FGD) and supplemented all these with secondary data from local libraries. The final data was rigorously analyzed through the prism of Michel Foucault's theoretical disenchantment with modernity. The study established that global mass culture has profoundly shaped the general behaviour of youthful teachers and students in the schools under review. Attributable to the intimidating consequences of globalization was the growing tendency among the students and the youthful teachers to disobey authority and question the usefulness of the school curriculum, routine and rules. In an attempt to restore the integrity of the traditional school, school managers have often clashed with the youthful teachers and students. Consequently, due to contemporary globalization; most schools in Butere- Mumias have serious displinary problems. The study recommends that school managers, in this region, should involve all stakeholders in finding a lasting solution to the crisis of discipline in the schools. Not only should the school managers accommodate the global cultural values which have become irresistible among the youth, they should also demand a fresh redefinition of the school during these post-modern times. Foucault notes that because it is filled with rigidity and discipline, modernity is both oppressive and untenable. This study considers the modern school as a rigid but oppressive disciplinary device that requires urgent reform.
Butere-Mumias District has since been split into 3 districts namely Butere, Matungu and Mumias
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