Influence of participation of student councils in conflict resolution in management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools, Nyeri county, Kenya.
Eustace Murage Muthui1, George M. Muthaa2, Barchok K. Hillary3 & David K. Wamukuru4
1,2,3 Department of Education, Chuka University, Meru- Kenya
4Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Management, Egerton University,Kenya
Email: emmuthoi@yahoo.com
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of students’ council’s participation in conflict resolution on management in boys’ and girls’ public boarding secondary schools. The study adopted the descriptive survey and correlation research designs. The study was conducted in 12 boys’ and 12 girls’ public boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County that were identified using purposive sampling technique. A sample of 384 respondents was used. Data was collected using questionnaires. Data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that participation of student council in conflicts resolution had statistically significant influence on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. The study concluded that a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution enhances school management by a factor of 0.887. The study recommended that there is need to enhance guidance and counselling among students, organize forums to train student councils on conflict resolution strategies and promote moral behaviour and characters in order to be trusted in resolving conflicts among students
Keyword: School management; Students Council; Conflict resolution; Secondary School
Introduction
The student council policy was embraced by secondary schools management because it was expected to address issues that made students and teachers unhappy about prefects (Indimuli, 2012). Therefore, the student councils were implemented with enthusiasm that by the beginning of 2012, 77% of schools had transited from the prefects to student councils leadership (Tirop, 2012). The establishment of student councils created democratic space among the students that was credited for the relative peace that was marked by decline in student unrest from a high prevalence of 7.4% in 2008 to 0.4% in 2011 in secondary schools in Kenya (Tirop, 2012). However, in year 2013, cases of student unrests rose to 0.49% of the number of secondary schools in Kenya. The only difference with student unrests in 2014 compared to those in 2008 were that they were accompanied with arson attacks (Republic of Kenya, 2014). In 2015 the situation was worse as 51 boys and 12 girls’ public boarding secondary schools which constituted about 1% of schools in Kenya were affected by student unrests (Masese, 2015). In 2016 the situation of student unrests had deteriorated from that of 2015. In total, 126 secondary schools which was rated 1.9 % of all secondary schools in Kenya were affected (MOE, 2016). According to Ouma and Muide (2016) nationally, student unrests had affected 98 boys and 28 girls’ secondary school resulting to suspension of studies for about 6000 students in the affected schools. This show more cases of student unrest among boys schools compared to the girls’ schools.
The student unrests continued to be a matter of concern to education stakeholders despite the fact that there were elected student councils in those schools whose responsibility included prevention of student unrests to enhance management of secondary schools as per the expectations of the MOE when the student councils were introduced (Ndungu & Kwasira, 2015). Student unrests often caught the school administration unaware despite fact that student council were expected to have known and presented the student grievances and negotiated a compromise in good time (Abuya & Muhia, 2016).
In 2016, student unrests were recorded in five public boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County as at 30th July where three were in boys and two were in girls’ public boarding secondary schools (Ouma & Muide, 2016). It is inquisitive whether the prevalence of fewer student unrests in girls’ public boarding secondary school compared to the boys’ schools is as a result of well-established and effective student councils in girls than in the boys’ schools. This study sought to fill the literature gap by conducting a comparative study on the participation of student councils in public boys and girls public boarding secondary schools. The study aimed at determining the influence of student council participation in conflict resolution on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools.
Literature Review
Student Leadership in School Management
According to Leithwood, et al, 2004), student leadership is the exercise of power by a few students over the other students by setting up targets, giving direction, establishing interpersonal influence and motivation geared towards accomplishment of planned goals for the benefit of the whole school. The student leadership in secondary school management is involved in planning, organizing, directing and controlling student activities to conform to the school routine (Keogh & Whyte, 2005). According to Huddleston (2007) student leadership provides a unique opportunity for students to acquire and practice management skills in welfare, boarding, accommodation, sports, health, environment and academics depending on the establishment of their school. School management borrows heavily from Likert’s Management Systems that were developed after 30 years of extensive research on how good leadership would improve efficiency in an organization. Likert’s research covered various firms and organizations, including schools and universities, and involving head teacher, teachers and students. The Likert’s findings revealed that leaders us a combination of authoritative, benevolent, consultative and participative styles of management to achieve their institutional goals.
In school management according to Modaff, et al. (2008) there are consultative student leader has substantial but not complete confidence with his/her ideas. As a result the general decisions are made by the student leader and then sought the opinions of the students, and makes the finally decision. The student develops positive attitudes toward the school management and the student leaders when they are consulted. If the students feel that enough consultation has not taken place, they may publicly resist orders from the student leaders and the school administration and that becomes conflict which requires quick intervention in terms of decisions for normalcy to be restored in the institution. Communication flows from top to the bottom of the hierarchy. The student leader consults through relevant channels, with students on matters they would like to bring to the attention of the school administration. The school management usually delegates tasks to control students at lower levels which is done in terms of supervision and perceived as a way of maintaining the set standard.
Student councils in school management were expected to promote peace through participation in conflict resolution. Therefore the re-emergence of devastating student unrests in public boarding secondary schools in 2015 and 2016 show that there was a gap in implementation of the policy on participation of student council in school management. This study therefore, investigated the influence of student councils participation in conflict resolution to enhance effective management of public boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County.
Participation of Student Councils in Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is the processes of facilitating peaceful ending of differences and restoring respect among people (Welsh & Black, 2011). According to Kerzner (1998) conflict is part of social change which is inevitable in schools and has the potential to destroy teamwork and therefore if they are not resolved effectively, real and legitimate differences between teachers, students and school administration would get out of control, and result in an irretrievable breakdown in communication, resulting to unrest and destruction of property.
According to Gebretensay (2002) conflict in secondary schools is manifestation of hostility and antagonism where it is expected to be harmonious but caused by the fact that two people are different from one another (inter-personal). There are also conflicts that are psychological and involves the ones thoughts, values, principles and emotions (intra-personal). Also common is the intra-group conflict that develops among individuals in a team and expressed in incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals and (inter-group) conflict that takes place when there are misunderstanding among different teams in a school.
In developed countries such as the USA the student councils face challenges in their effort to enhance school management. According to Leithwood, et al (2004) student councils face challenges emanating from conflict in conducting democratic student elections due to interference from students, teachers and the school administration. The conflicts emanating from failure of the student councils to conduct democratic elections make student leadership a weak entity for directly representing the students in school, community and national activities.
Besides, Oku, Emenalo and Okeke (2008) identified five types of conflict which include role conflict where a person conforms to two or more contradictory sets of roles at the same time. There is also personality conflict where what a person by principle want does not match what the counterpart wants. In such a scenario a democratic student leader finds himself operating with an autocratic principal. In school there is also a role personality conflict that exists where a student council role expectation is at variance with his or her academic need disposition. In addition there is cognitive conflict which is on play when there are differences in perspectives resulting to emergence of new approaches of solving problems (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, 2009). Finally there is the affective conflict where student leader emotions are directed against other students’ interests leading to anger, bitterness, goal displacement and outright conflict in school management.
According to Woods and Cribbs (2001) in USA and India the student council has conflict resolution councils whose responsibility is to offer peer mentorship, personal support and encouragement to fellow students who are struggling with the challenges of secondary school life. In Britain student conflict resolution councils were formed to give students opportunities to dialogue on specific issues of conflict with teachers outside the class and helped eliminate student conflict associated with bullying (Botti, 2010). Oluand and Abosede (2003) conducted a study in Nigeria that concluded that the most common types of conflicts in schools occur between the students on one hand and the school authorities on the other while other forms of conflict include interpersonal among staff and as well as the students in different classes. The studies conducted in South Africa by Mabena (2002) concluded that student councils participation in school management has more influence when the student leaders are free from the ridicule of the school administration, teachers and students. Studies conducted in Nigeria by Otegbulu (2014) established that training the student councils on guidance and counselling is one of the sure ways of enhancing their impact in conflicts resolution among students for realization of effective school management.
In Kenya, conflicts between students and the management in secondary school are caused by misunderstanding among the students and teachers (MOE, 2010). The MOE (2010) recommended that conflict resolutions in schools should be interest based where courteous and non-confrontational approach that focus on issues rather than individuals, and listening carefully to each student’s point of view is followed. In secondary schools conflict issues should be addressed in open forums where the students are supposed to openly express themselves in either English or Kiswahili which are the official languages to accommodate individual differences of students from diverse ethnic backgrounds (MOE, 2013). When people listen and explore the causes of conflict and possible solutions carefully, the conflict can be resolved thus promoting condusive learning environment in the school.
The main reason why students are in a school is to excel in their academic performance (Kamuri, 2014). Failure of a school to shine in academic performance especially national examinations has also caused conflicts, getters, desperation and low self-esteem among student leaders (Republic of Kenya, 2014). According to Tirop (2012) after results for national examinations are released the students’ councils raise issues with the teachers whose subjects are being performed poorly and would challenge the school administration to promise that results will improve and as a result improve in school management.
The student councils are designed with a justice and conflict resolution secretary who is a student with s a thorough understanding of the school rules and regulations which are emphasized in every student forum. The justice officer in the student council uses the school rules to arbitrate cases of conflict between the school management and the students. The justice officer should also assist in the distribution of duties to the student by the student leaders to ensure that they are fairly distributed. In the event of conflicts involving the students, the student council should play its conflict resolution role for peace to prevail in school (Otieno, 2010).
There are rare situations where there are unresolved conflicts between some student leaders and the fellow students Indimuli (2012). If the school administration does not work to resolve such a conflict, the student leaders affected may face hostility from fellow students that at times turns tragic to claim innocent lives in brutal or arson attacks at school. At a worst case scenario such a situation may escalate to a full scale student unrest and completely put the school management off the balance. An emerging cause of conflicts in school management is worship of the students and how it is managed in the school. In the student council structure worship is managed by the directorate of student welfare. Since it is not possible for all students’ faiths to worship separately, many schools have organized for four worship groups which have separate leadership structure from the student council. These are often the Catholics; Christian Union (CU); Sevens Day Adventists and Muslims (SDA). The school administration should monitor the spiritual groups’ activities through patrons and leaders students to check on any emerging conflict between the religious groups in schools. Inadequate management of students’ religious conflicts were responsible for the 2015, student unrest in St. Phillips High School Siakago and Kegonge (Masese, 2015).
It important that secondary school establish a conflict resolution corner where conflicts issues are discussed and in case an offender is found and is remorseful, one is forgiven and cautioned, (Kimuri, 2014). The justice and conflict resolution wing of the student councils should initiate regular dialogue with the school management on all issues affecting the students besides confirming to all the facts and listens before passing judgment which helps to build effective teams and earn respect from all students (Otieno, 2010). Student councils justice wing should also listen settle disputes and reach a compromise with the students without necessarily involving the school management. However, all difficult issues should be presented to the school management. The student councils must behave responsibly while resolving conflicts and observe tolerance with the students to win their trust and confidence and enable them to avert student unrests in secondary schools and by so doing enhance school management (Gesito, 2005).
Studies conducted by Kinyua (2015) established that student leaders may at times find themselves in awkward situations when their interests are in conflict with that of the school administration. When such a conflict is not resolved amicably the student council members may seek sympathy from their fellow students and incite them against the school administration. If such a conflict is not resolved in time and the situation escalates to a student unrest the student leaders may passively or actively participating in student mass indiscipline.
The student councils have a duty of peer mentoring and counseling of students to enable them develop a positive attitude towards their school and orients new student to school rules and regulations to enable them settle down as fast as possible for their studies (Murage, 2014). On conflict resolution, the student councils should participate in interactive and consultative meetings (barazas) with teachers, students and MOE officials from schools, counties, regions and nationally meet to discuss emerging issues affecting students are addressed with unity of purpose being to reduce student unrests (UNICEF, 2011).
According to Giulia (2010), mediation based on the idea of peer counseling, active listening and facilitation of communication make student leaders talk about conflicts and finding their own solutions to management of conflicts. In that regard peer mediation is used as a preventive method to solve smaller conflicts before they turn to larger ones between the students and the school management. That creates a solution-oriented atmosphere where conflicts are seen as a part of everyday life and their resolution as a positive challenge more than a difficult and unpleasant task. However, according to Ndiritu (2011) student councils lack adequate peer mentorship, guidance and counseling skills. Such skills would be necessary to enable the student councils help fellow students to tone down their activism when there are issues which may results to student unrests and instead directs their energies to pursuance of academic and non-academic dreams thus managing conflict among students and the school administration which inclusively enhance school management.
From the foregoing discussion it is clear that the student councils participation in conflict resolution play a critical role in influencing management of schools. However, there is no empirical study that has been done to establish the influence of the participation student councils in conflict resolution on the management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. This researcher therefore identified that gap in knowledge that is left thereof. It is the endeavor of the researcher in this study to establish the influence of student councils in conflict resolution on the management of girls’ and boys’ public boarding secondary schools.
Theoretical Framework
Contingency Theory
According to (Dubrin, 2007) the contingency theory emphasizes the importance of the leadership keeping situation under control. However, matching the situation with the leader may create problems, because the amount of control the leader exercises varies from time to time. For example, if a relationship-oriented leader finds a good leader-follower situation for exercising control, it is almost certain that the leader would attempt to make the situation less favorable. As a result, the set goals may not be accomplished by a leader who has made the situation less favorable Virkus (2009). That is in agreement with assertion that good relationship between the leader and followers is important for making it easy for the leader to have influence and exercise control over the situation for achievement of the set goals of the organization. According to Virkus 2009 the contingency theory also explains that the difference in the participation of the student council in the management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools emanate from lack of motivation, poor task structures of the student council where the tasks for the students has not been clearly specified and which is central to task accomplishment. The contingency theory also explains that the conflicts in both public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools are as a result of the internal climate / culture of the school lacking cohesive and harmonious co-existence.
The study adopted the conceptual framework as shown below.
Independent Variables
|
|
Intervening Variables
|
|
Dependent Variables |
Figure 1: Participation of student councils in schools Management
This study adopted the descriptive survey research design. This design was appropriate in establishing, comparing and describing the relationships and the influence among the variables of the study (Kathuri & Pals, 1993) and (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2013). The design allowed descriptions and comparison of the current status of the participation of student councils in conflict resolution, to enhance management of public boys and girls in boarding secondary schools.
The study was conducted in the Nyeri County which neighbors Laikipia, Meru, Kirinyaga, Muranga and Nyandarua counties (Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), 2012). Nyeri County has six sub-counties which include Nyeri Town, Tetu, Mukurweini, Othaya, Mathira and Kieni with a total of 71 public boarding secondary schools. The county has a total of 28 boys’ and 43 girls’ public boarding secondary schools which the researcher needed to conduct a descriptive survey between boys and girls secondary schools (Republic of Kenya, 2013). Nyeri County had also been affected by persistent and devastating student unrests over the years mainly affecting boarding public secondary schools (MOE, 2008; 2015).
Samples Size and Sampling Procedures
Sampling is the process of selecting a representative group from the target population to participate in the study for generalization of results (Mugenda & Mugenda (2013). A sample size of 384 respondents was drawn from a target population of 10,388 target population in 71 boys’ and girls’ public boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County as recommended by Kathuri and Pals (1993). The study used systematic random sampling to select 72 Form 3 boys and 72 Form three girls from their entry in the class registers to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select a total of 192 student council members comprising of 96 boys and 96 girls from 12 boys’ and 12 girls’ secondary schools. Purposive sampling was used to select one Form 3 class teacher and one deputy principal in each of the 24 schools. Purposive sampling was chosen because it allowed the researcher to reach the respondents that had the required information with respect to the objectives of study.
Table 1: Summary of the Sample Size
|
Target Population (N) |
Sample Size (n) |
|
|
Form 3 boys |
3386 |
72 |
|
Form 3 girls |
3948 |
72 |
|
Student Council- Boys |
532 |
96 |
|
Student Council- Girls |
533 |
96 |
|
Class Teachers |
1917 |
24 |
|
Deputy Principals |
71 |
24 |
|
Total |
10388 |
384 |
The research instruments that were used to collect data to establish the influence of student councils participation in conflict resolution to management of public boys and girls boarding secondary schools were questionnaires.
Computations were made for the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Descriptive statistics namely frequencies, percentages and measures of central tendency especially the mean and standard deviation were used to describe the characteristics of the collected data. To establish the influence of the participation of student council in conflict resolution on schools management and also test the hypothesized influence, correlation and regression analysis were used. The regression equation to estimate effective management of public boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County was stated as:
Y=β0+β1X1+e
Where Y= School Management; X1=Conflict resolution; β0=Constant
β1=Regression coefficient of conflict resolution
e=Error term (identically, independent and normally distributed with a mean of zero (0) and variance of one (1). The independent sample t-test was chosen for this study because it was a comparison between means of variables in boys’ and girls’ schools. The results were presented using percentages distribution tables.
Results and Discussions
The Response Rate
The study had 358 respondents, who included the student council members, Form three students, and Form three class teachers and deputy principals of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. Results of the response rate are shown in Table 2
Table 2: Response Rate
|
Respondent |
Sample Size |
Response |
Response Rate |
|
Form 3 Students |
144 |
126 |
87.5 |
|
Student Council |
192 |
186 |
96.9 |
|
Class Teachers |
24 |
22 |
91.7 |
|
D/Principals |
24 |
24 |
100.0 |
|
Total |
384 |
358 |
93.2 |
The results shown in Table 2 indicate that data was successfully collected from 358 respondents from the 6 sub-counties in Nyeri County which contributed to 93.2% response rate. The results indicated that deputy principals had the highest response rate of 100% which may have been contributed by the fact that the deputy principals are school administrators responsible of protecting the school image by responding to public expectations. They were followed by the student council members 96.7 %, then the class teachers 91.7% and last were Form three students with 87.5%.
School Management
There was an item in the questionnaire on the participation of student council in the management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary school. Different sets of questions anchored on a five point Likert-type scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5= Strongly Agree were used to measure the participation of student councils. The findings are displayed in Table 3.
Table 3: Descriptive Statistics on School Management
|
Student council Participation in management |
BOYS |
GIRLS |
||||
|
N |
Mean |
SD |
N |
Mean |
SD |
|
|
S C has participated in the management of students activities |
176 |
2.05 |
1.255 |
180 |
2.00 |
1.088 |
|
Student councils have enhanced fairness in allocation of duties |
178 |
2.04 |
1.266 |
180 |
2.63 |
1.694 |
|
Student councils participate in decision making |
178 |
2.33 |
1.300 |
180 |
2.77 |
1.554 |
|
Student councils have helped the school management to make good decisions |
178 |
2.13 |
1.241 |
180 |
2.27 |
1.222 |
|
Student councils has helped to resolve student conflicts |
178 |
2.01 |
1.110 |
180 |
2.28 |
1.320 |
|
The student councils have helped to reduce classes, ethnic and houses conflict |
178 |
2.02 |
1.125 |
180 |
2.29 |
1.339 |
|
Creation of student councils has helped to reduce student unrests |
178 |
2.13 |
1.223 |
180 |
2.10 |
1.242 |
|
Student councils communicate to the school administration about students |
178 |
1.85 |
1.189 |
180 |
1.89 |
1.162 |
|
The student council communicate to the students about school administration |
178 |
2.20 |
1.404 |
178 |
2.39 |
1.455 |
|
Overall Mean score |
|
2.09 |
1.235 |
|
2.29 |
1.342 |
The results in Table 3 indicate that the respondents, on average had a low rating on aspects of participation of student councils in school management with an overall mean score of 2.09 and 2.29 (2=disagree) for boys’ and girls’ school respectively. This implies that student councils do not participate adequately in management in public boarding secondary schools. The student councils had 1.455 rating in communication with the school administration where students had 1.89 mean score for boys’ and 1.85 girls’ schools respectively. Similarly, student councils participation in conflict resolution had moderate mean score for girls’ school with a mean of 2.77.
Participation of Student Councils in Conflict Resolution
There was an item in the questionnaire which sought to establish the influence of student council participation in conflict resolution to enhance school management in public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary school. The study sought to establish the rate of participation of student councils in conflict resolutions to enhance management of boys’ and girls’ public boarding secondary schools. A Likert scale items were used measured the participation of student councils in conflict resolutions. The pertinent results are presented in Table 4.
Table 4: Participation of Student Councils in Conflict Resolution
|
|
Boys |
Girls |
||||
|
Conflict Resolution |
N |
Mean |
SD |
N |
Mean |
SD |
|
Participate in open forums (baraza) |
178 |
3.28 |
1.55 |
180 |
3.33 |
1.68 |
|
They emphasize obedience of school rules |
178 |
4.30 |
1.01 |
180 |
4.33 |
1.02 |
|
They allocate duties to students fairly |
178 |
4.18 |
1.27 |
180 |
3.36 |
1.68 |
|
They perform peer mentoring to student |
178 |
3.76 |
1.29 |
180 |
3.39 |
1.35 |
|
Conduct peer counselling of students |
178 |
3.69 |
1.26 |
180 |
3.60 |
1.42 |
|
Aware of individual differences |
176 |
3.58 |
1.41 |
180 |
3.51 |
1.40 |
|
Listening to student |
178 |
3.67 |
1.36 |
180 |
3.38 |
1.44 |
|
Tolerance with one another |
178 |
3.85 |
1.21 |
180 |
3.78 |
1.27 |
|
Express themselves in English or Kiswahili |
178 |
4.13 |
1.23 |
180 |
4.23 |
1.21 |
|
Ensuring all students have items they need |
178 |
3.11 |
1.47 |
180 |
3.03 |
1.39 |
|
Emphasize the school vision the students |
178 |
3.67 |
1.30 |
180 |
3.29 |
1.50 |
|
Emphasize forgiveness to students |
178 |
3.45 |
1.41 |
180 |
3.43 |
1.47 |
|
Cooperating the student council |
178 |
3.96 |
1.21 |
180 |
4.23 |
1.01 |
|
Control their emotions and behavior |
178 |
3.64 |
1.28 |
180 |
3.50 |
1.45 |
|
Orient all new students to the school |
178 |
4.13 |
1.19 |
180 |
4.20 |
1.16 |
|
Present difficult issues to administration |
178 |
4.38 |
0.92 |
180 |
4.20 |
1.10 |
|
Mean Score |
|
3.80 |
1.27 |
|
3.67 |
1.35 |
The results in Table 4 suggest that the respondents, on average indicated high agreement with aspects of participation of student councils in conflict resolutions with an overall mean score of 3.80 and 3.67 for boys’ and girls’ school respectively. Most notably is that student councils express themselves in English or Kiswahili had high mean score for girls, school than boys’ school with a mean of 4.23 and 4.13 respectively. Similarly, they present difficult issues to school administration had highest score (mean score 4.38, SD=0.92 and mean score=4.20, SD=1.10) for boys’ school than girls’ school respectively. This result shows that participation of student councils in conflict resolutions was more evident in boys’ than in girls’ public boarding secondary schools.
Tests for Equality of Means on Conflict Resolution
The study sought to establish whether there is significant mean difference between participation of student councils in conflict resolution in public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. The results are displayed in Table 5.
Table 5: A t-Test Group Statistics in Conflict Resolution
|
Variable |
School Type |
N |
Mean |
SD |
SE |
Mean Diff. |
t-value |
P-value |
|
Conflict Resolution |
Boy |
178 |
3.80 |
0.88 |
0.07 |
-0.13 |
-1.02 |
0.31 |
|
Girl |
180 |
3.67 |
0.87 |
0.06 |
The results in Table 5 show a t-test on participation of student council in conflict resolution on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools was The results are t-value=-1.02; P-value=0.31>0.05 at 5% significance level. This implies that the participation of student councils in conflict resolution on management is the same in both boys’ and girls’ public boarding secondary schools. Thus, there is insignificant mean difference between the participation of student councils in conflict resolution in management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools.
Regression Analyses on Conflict Resolution
To determine the influence of student councils participation in conflict resolution and management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools, a simple regression analysis was conducted. The results are summarized in Table 6.
Table 6: Regression analysis for Conflict Resolution and School Management
(a) The Goodness – of -Fit
|
Model |
R |
R Square |
Adjusted R Square |
Std. Error of the Estimate |
|
BOYS |
.779b |
.607 |
.605 |
.57854 |
|
GIRLS |
.825b |
.681 |
.679 |
.52849 |
|
COMBINED |
0.802 |
0.643 |
0.642 |
0.55677 |
(b) The Overall Significance of the Model
|
Model |
|
Sum of Squares |
df |
Mean Square |
F |
Sig. |
|
BOYS |
Regression |
90.916 |
1 |
90.916 |
271.626 |
.000c |
|
Residual |
58.909 |
176 |
.335 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
149.825 |
177 |
|
|
|
|
|
GIRLS |
Regression |
105.933 |
1 |
105.933 |
379.277 |
.000c |
|
Residual |
49.716 |
178 |
.279 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
155.648 |
179 |
|
|
|
|
|
COMBINED |
Regression |
198.879 |
1 |
198.879 |
641.558 |
.000c |
|
Residual |
110.358 |
356 |
0.31 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
309.236 |
357 |
|
|
|
(c) The Individual Significance
|
Model |
|
Unstandardized Coefficients |
Standardized Coefficients |
t |
Sig. |
|
|
|
|
B |
S.E |
Beta |
||
|
BOYS |
(Constant) |
.262 |
.119 |
|
2.205 |
.029 |
|
Conflict Resolution |
.816 |
.050 |
.779 |
16.481 |
.000 |
|
|
GIRLS |
(Constant) |
.227 |
.113 |
|
2.007 |
.046 |
|
Conflict Resolution |
.887 |
.046 |
.825 |
19.475 |
.000 |
|
|
COMBINED |
(Constant) |
0.238 |
0.082 |
|
2.889 |
.004 |
|
Conflict Resolution |
0.855 |
0.034 |
0.802 |
25.329 |
.000 |
|
Dependent Variable: School Management
Predictors: (Constant), Conflict Resolution
The results in Table 6 reveal that participation of student councils in conflict resolution had a statistically significant influence on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools at 5% significance level. The results explained 60.7 % (R2 = 0.607) and 68.1 % (R2=0.681) of its variation in management in the boys’ and girls’ public boarding secondary schools respectively.
The F–test statistics was used to assess the overall robustness and significance of the simple regression model. It was established that the regression equation was statistically significant at 5% significance level (F = 271. 626, P- value = 0.000 0.05) for the public boys’ boarding secondary schools and (F = 379. 277, P-value = 0.000
The t- test statistics were also used to determine individual significance of the influence. The study revealed that the participation of student councils in boys boarding secondary schools in conflict resolution was statistically significant (Regression coefficient= 0.816; t-value 16.481; P value = 0.000 0.05) for the public boys boarding secondary schools and (Regression coefficient = 0.887; t- value 19.475; P- value = 0.000 0.05 for public girls boarding secondary schools. The findings indicate that the participation of student councils in conflict resolution enhances management of public boys’ and girls’ secondary schools. Therefore, the hypothesis that there is no statistical significant influence in the participation of student councils in conflict resolution to enhance management of public boys and girls boarding secondary school is not supported by this study.
The following regression equations was used to estimate influence of the student council in the management in public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County for a given measure of change in participation in conflict resolution. The regression equation for the public boys’ boarding secondary schools was as follows:
Y = 0.238+0.816X1.
Where Y = school management, X1=conflict resolution and 0.238 is a constant.
The 0.816 is an estimate of the expected increase in management of public boys’ boarding secondary schools in response to a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution in boys’ boarding secondary schools. The regression coefficient of 0.238 which is a constant indicates the value of school management when participation of student council in conflict resolution in public boys’ boarding secondary schools is at zero while a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution in boys’ schools leads to a 0.816 increase in the management of public boys’ boarding secondary schools. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that participation of student councils in conflict resolution influence significantly the prediction of the management in public boys’ boarding secondary schools. For a given measure of changes in the participation of girls in public boarding secondary schools in conflict resolution:
Y= 0.227 +0.887X1
Where Y = school management; X1=conflict Resolution; 0.227= Constant.
The 0.887 is an estimate of the expected increase in management of public boys boarding secondary schools in response to a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution. The regression coefficient of 0.227 which is a constant indicate the value of management of public boys and girls’ secondary schools when participation of student councils in conflict resolution is at zero, a unit increase in participation of student conflict resolution would lead to 0.887 increase in management of public girls’ boarding secondary schools. On the basis of these findings it is concluded that participation of student councils in conflict resolution influence significantly to the prediction of management of public girls’ boarding secondary schools.
The results also indicate that the participation of student councils in conflict resolution had a statistically significant influence on management of public boarding secondary schools as they accounted for 64.3% of the variation in management (R2=0.643). F- Test statistic was used to assess overall significance of the simple regression model. It was found that the regression equation was statistically significant at 5% significance level (F=641.56, P-value=0.000<0.05).
A t-test statistic was used to determine individual significance of the influence. The study revealed that the participation of student councils in conflict resolution is statistically significant (regression coefficient=0.855; t-value=25.329; P-value=0.000<0.05). This implies that the participation of student councils in conflict resolution enhances management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. The hypothesis that there is no statistical significant influence of participation of student councils in conflict resolution on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools is not supported by the current study. The following regression equation was used to estimate the significance of management of public boys and girls boarding secondary schools in Nyeri County for a given measure of changes in the participation of student councils in conflict resolution:
Y=0.238+0.855X1
Where Y = School Management; X1 = Conflict Resolution; 0.238 = constant
0.855 is an estimate of the expected increase in management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools in response to a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution. The regression coefficient of 0.238 under constant indicates the value of management when participation of student councils in conflict resolution is at zero while a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution would lead to a 0.855 increase in management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. On the basis of these findings, the researcher concluded that participation of student councils in conflict resolution contribute significantly to the prediction of management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. This finding is in harmony with a study by Woods and Cribs (2001) who found that student councils’ participation in conflict resolution gives students opportunities to dialogue on specific issues of conflict with students, teachers and school management and where a consensus was reached peace prevailed in the school. That is in agreement with study conducted by Gebretensay (2002) in Ethiopia that established that the major conflict handling styles when dealing with students were competing, avoiding, collaborating, compromising, accommodating and mediation. The study recommended that all issues of conflict should be attended before they escalate to out of control.
Similar studies by Duma (2011), reveals that the student councils are important agents of the school conflict management with teachers and administrators as responsive active partners who have influence on school governance. However studies by Mabena (2002) established that where student councils fail to make significant contribution in conflict resolution in schools, there lies an attitude educators’ display towards students. That also concurs with studies conducted in Britain that established that student conflict resolution councils had helped eliminate that student conflict associated with bullying in England (Botti, 2010). Contributing to conflict resolution in secondary schools a study by Otegbulu (2014) established that conflict portends negative outcomes for the teachers and students. Therefore imperative and appropriate conflict resolution mechanisms have been created in secondary schools so that conflicts are resolved before they escalate into dangerous and destructive levels among the students and teachers. Similar studies by Giulia (2010), established that mediation based on the idea of peer counseling and active listening make students talk about conflicts and their solutions in secondary school. The study also found out that peer mediation is a preventive method that solves smaller conflicts issues before they escalate into serious ones.
Correlation Analysis for Participation in Schools Management
In order to assess the relationships among the independent variable and dependent variable a Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation (r) analysis was conducted. Results of the analysis are presented in Table 7.
Table 7: Correlation Analysis for Variables of Study
|
Variable of study |
|
School Management |
Conflict Resolution |
|
School Management |
Pearson Correlation |
1 |
|
|
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
||
|
|
N |
358 |
|
|
Conflict Resolution |
Pearson Correlation |
.802** |
1 |
|
|
Sig. (2-tailed) |
0.000 |
|
|
|
N |
358 |
358 |
** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 7 show the results of statistically significantly correlation of participation of student council in conflict resolution and management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools which were r=0.802; P=0.000<0.05. The result suggests that conflict resolution is also a major determinant of the management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools.
Participation of student council in conflicts resolution had statistically significant influence on management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools. The study concluded that a unit increase in participation of student councils in conflict resolution improved in school management by a factor of 0.887. Therefore, participation of student council in conflict resolution enhances the management of public boys’ and girls’ boarding secondary schools.
Recommendation
Since participation of student council in conflict resolution enhancing school management in public boys’ and girls’ secondary schools, the study recommended that there is need to enhance guidance and counselling among students, organize forums to train student councils on conflict resolution strategies and promote moral behaviour and characters in order to be trusted in resolving conflicts among students
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