School Interventions and their Effectiveness on Curbing Students’ Bullying among Public Secondary School Learners in Machakos County, Kenya
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Date
2024-08
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Prevalence of bullying in secondary schools has been evident as most schools continue to record cases of learners getting mistreated by their peers while in school, despite the interventions put in place to curb bullying. This therefore raises the question on whether these interventions are effective in curbing bullying. It is on this merit that the study sought to establish the effectiveness of school interventions on curbing bullying among students in public secondary schools in Machakos County, Kenya. The study specifically sought to establish the effectiveness of disciplinary interventions, restorative interventions, anti-bullying program interventions and
supportive interventions in eradicating students’ bullying. The study was based on social learning theory which expounds on what drives one’s behaviour such as bullying. The study used a descriptive survey research design. A population of 116,053 respondents comprising of 351 principals, 351 deputy principals, 351 teachers in charge of guidance and counseling and 115,000 students were targeted. Using a 10% threshold, 36 schools were selected. Stratified random sampling was used to select the 36 schools while purposive sampling was used to select principals,
deputy principals and teachers in charge of guidance and counseling from the 36 schools. A sampling formula was used to sample 225 students who were selected using proportionate random sampling from each of the 36 schools. The total sample
size for the study was therefore 333 respondents. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from deputy principals, teachers in charge of guidance and counseling and the students, while an interview guide was used to collect data from school principals. The questionnaire was pilot-tested to ensure its
comprehensiveness and accuracy in obtaining the expected information. Validity and reliability tests were also carried out. The data was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The findings revealed that students’ bullying
among secondary schools in Machakos County was prevalent despite the interventions. It was further revealed that suspensions and punishments were upheld in most schools as disciplinary interventions, although they were found not to
effectively eradicate bullying (β = 1.038; P= 0.000<0.05). Moreover, guidance and counseling, arbitration and expert appraisals were found not to be effectively utilized in most of the schools, thus their ineffectiveness in eradicating bullying (β = 0.358; P= 0.000<0.05). The findings further revealed that extra-school, intra-school and classroom-based programmes were inadequately embraced in most of the schools, despite learners proposing these as essential interventions to curb bullying (β =
0.674; P= 0.000<0.05). The findings revealed that most school did not adequately uphold parents’ involvement, individual and collective support to curb bullying, thus the method was not effective on curbing students’ bullying (β = 0.581; P=
0.000<0.05). The study concluded that bullying among students in public secondary schools in Machakos County was prevalent due to the ineffectiveness of the interventions as they were inadequately implemented. It is therefore recommended
that there is need for the school principals and other decision-makers to keenly implement the school interventions so as to effectively curb students’ bullying among secondary schools in Machakos County.
Description
Supervisor:
1.Mukirae Njihia.
2.Susan Mutune
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Requirement of the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Research, Evaluation and Assessment) in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning of Kenyatta University August 2024.