Toto, Esther Kirangari2015-01-212015-01-212014http://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/12031Master of Education [Administration], 70p. May, 2014The purpose of this study was to find out effectiveness of guidance and counseling in managing students’ discipline in public secondary schools in Kandara District, Murang’a County. The study was guided by the following objectives; to establish the extent to which teamwork among teachers influence successful management of discipline in public secondary schools in Kandara District; to find out the influence of scope of guidance and counseling in the management of discipline in public secondary schools; to establish the effectiveness of guidance and counseling in the management of discipline in public secondary schools; to establish the influence of the attitude of counselors towards guidance and counseling in the management of discipline in public secondary schools; and to find out the influence of counselee level of participation in guidance and counseling in the management of students discipline in public secondary schools in Kandara District. The study was guided by the theory of Albert Bandura (1977) who viewed learning by observing others as the role model. This study adopted a descriptive survey design to target 50 secondary schools, 50 head teachers, 50 heads of guidance and counseling department and 12,500 students from the public secondary schools in Kandara District. To get the sample size, purposive sampling was used to select 44 principals and 44 teacher counselors while simple random sampling was used to select 375 students. Data was collected using three questionnaires; teachers, students and head teachers. Pilot study was done in the neighboring Gatanga district prior to visiting the schools for actual data collection. Data was analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 18.0. Data collected was both quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and means. On the other hand, qualitative data was arranged thematically in line with research objectives. Results were then presented using tables, pie charts and bar graphs. The study established that although teamwork was practiced in most schools, a significant proportion of respondents indicated that discipline matters were rarely discussed during departmental and staff meetings. This clearly shows that teamwork was not fully implemented in schools in Kandara district and hence this could be one of the major factors hindering effectiveness of the guidance and counseling in managing discipline in schools. Regarding the scope of the programme in schools, the study found out that group and peer counseling were offered in schools. The study also established that class teachers, dorm masters, deputy principals and principals were regularly involved in guidance and counseling. In relation to counselors’ attitude, the study concluded that teacher counselors had positive attitude towards guidance and counseling. However, the study established that principals and teachers had not done much to make this programme very effective and as such schools in Kandara district were still experiencing disciplinary problems such as stealing, destruction of properties and noisemaking. More so, the study concluded that most of the students were not willing to seek guidance and counseling when faced with problems.The study recommends that: Parents, community and sponsors should be sensitized by the Ministry of Education and principals on their roles on students discipline management in schools in order to curb disciplinary problems experienced in public secondary schools in Kandara district; schools should sensitize the students on the importance of guidance and counseling in the management of their discipline; effective guidance and counseling programs should be put in place as essential part of schools by the school administrators to promote students’ discipline; among other recommendationsenThesis