View metadata, citation and similarbroughtCORE papers to you at by core.ac.uk provided by UWC Theses and Dissertations GROUP POLARIZATION IN DECISION MAKING: A STUDY OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY PANELS IN RONGO DISTRICT OF KENYA By PETER JAIRO O. ALOKA (B.Ed. Hons, M.Ed.) A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology, in the Faculty of Education at the University of the Western Cape SUPERVISOR: PROFFESOR OLANIYI BOJUWOYE August, 2012 GROUP POLARIZATION IN DECISION MAKING: A STUDY OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOL DISCIPLINARY PANELS IN RONGO DISTRICT OF KENYA PETER JAIRO O. ALOKA KEY WORDS Group, polarization Decision making Behaviour problems Secondary schools Disciplinary panels Rongo district Kenya. ii ABSTRACT Behaviour problems have been on the rise in Kenyan schools for some time now. Various maladaptive behaviours found among school children include bullying, vandalism, stealing, alcohol and drug abuse, truancy, not completing homework assignments and other forms of problem behaviours. These problem behaviours impact negatively on the teaching and learning enterprises of schools as well as on the safety and security of the school environment. As consequence, schools have to develop student behaviour management practices aimed at addressing student problem behaviours. Corporal punishment was a major means by which schools dealt with students’ problem behaviours. However, because of the human rights abuses associated with corporal punishment, the Kenyan Ministry of Education had to abolish corporal punishment in 2001 and instructed schools to evolve more effective student behaviour management practices with strong emphasis on positive student behaviour development. Schools’ student behaviour management practices including policies on student behaviour expectations, school rules and regulations as well as counselling services are all to be coordinated by each School Disciplinary Panel. A School Disciplinary Panel is to be composed of small group of teachers as a way of emphasizing the latter’s roles in student behaviour development and not just student academic or educational development. The central concern of this study was to investigate the Kenyan schools’ behaviour management practices as being implemented by School Disciplinary Panels especially in the latter’s responses to students’ problem behaviours. The study investigated processes of decision making by Kenyan secondary school disciplinary panels for the management of student behaviours and the contribution of this to student behaviour development. Mixed methods research design was adopted for the study. The adoption of both quantitative and qualitative approaches was to ensure the collection of comprehensive iii information for better understanding of the behaviour management practices of Kenyan schools. The population for the study comprised all Kenyan schools with behaviour management practices and School Disciplinary Panels. Rongo District, one of the largest education districts in Kenya was chosen for the study. Ten of the schools in this district were actually involved in the study. The selection of the schools took into consideration the three different types of schools in Kenya (Girls’ Only, Boys’ Only and Co-educational schools) as well as other variables of particular interest to the study. Seventy-eight (78) disciplinary panel members from the ten selected schools were the participants of the study. Data collection was by use of questionnaire method (the Modified Choice Dilemma Questionnaire, MCDQ) and interview protocol. The findings of the study revealed the existence of the phenomenon of group polarization in decision making processes of disciplinary hearings conducted by the School Disciplinary Panels. Study findings also revealed that the nature of information shared during disciplinary hearings, group members’ motivation for approval of others and their concern for their status in the group as well as the personality characteristics of the members of the disciplinary panels (including gender, age, teaching experiences and school affiliation) were the major influences responsible for the existence of group polarization in the disciplinary processes of the Kenyan secondary school disciplinary panels. Since group polarization is about consensus decisions with characteristics of being collective decisions as well as greater support and acceptance for the decisions the conclusion of the study is that good quality decisions of Kenyan secondary school disciplinary panels have great potentials for effective management of student behaviours and for positive behavioural development of students as an important objective of education and or the schools. iv DECLAR ATION I declare that Group polarization in decision making: A study of selected secondary school disciplinary panels in Rongo district of Kenya is my own work, that, it has not been submitted for any degree or examination in any other university, and that, all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by complete references. - - 27/08/2012 PETER JAIRO O. ALOKA DATE v DEDICATION I dedicate this PhD thesis to my parents, mother, Julita Aloka and late dad David Aloka. vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would wish to first and foremost thank God, for having provided me with His grace, enormous strength, finances, good health, blessings and passion to work on the PhD thesis to its completion. It has been very exciting and challenging at the same time. It would not have been possible to finish the journey without the intellectual and emotional support from several people who were helpful to me in one way or another. My sincere, heartfelt gratitude and appreciation goes to the following: My supervisor, Professor OlaniyiBojuwoye, who has been extremely helpful in the supervision process to ensure that the thesis was completed inrecord time. I can proudly say that I have got first class supervision from him. Professor Bojuwoye is such an amazing man, who made me to stay focused and kept encouraging me that it’s possible to successfully finish a doctoral thesis in record time of two years and four months. He was available for consultation and gave me very comprehensive feedback on the chapters. He has been very useful, in stepping up my writing skills very intelligently, and appreciating every little step that I made in the right direction. He kept me in the loop of academia by encouraging me to attend and present at Educational conferences, Faculty and departmental seminars, all of which made me grow intellectually. I am greatly honored to have interacted and supervisedby a professor of such high caliber. May God bless him!!! My lovely wife, Veronica, a truly remarkable woman who ensured that I was firmly grounded in the studies even as she took care of our children, Graca and vii Cerullo, alone. Thank you for the overwhelming sacrifice, patience, love and support during the whole study period. Your support has made me to succeed. The academic staff at the Department of Educational Psychology, Professor Sandy (retired), Professor Molestane, Dr. Stofile, Dr. Moolla, and Mr. Sylvester who gave me critical feedback on various sections of the work at the Departmental Doctoral seminars. The Faculty of Education librarian, Ms. Benita De Wet, for having provided me with adequate orientation on how best to find and utilize relevant resources from the library which helped me in the thesis development. Dr. Neetha, the coordinator of the Faculty of Education Doctoral seminars, for providing the forum where I could present my work and get feedback from academic staff from other departments in the Faculty. Professor Zubeida Desai, Dean Faculty of Education for her encouragement and Professor Lorna Holtman, Director of Post Graduate studies for providing me with a Doctoral grantwhich enabled me to fund my studies. My mentor, Prof. Dan Ojwang, of Wits University, for the great inspiration, motivation, encouragement and support during this academic journey. My dear friends, Dr. Gerald Ouma, Dr. Martin Onani,Andrew and Noel for their encouragement, inspiration, and motivation. My writing buddies who were fellow postgraduate students at the Faculty of Education, Maduekwe, Godfrey, Mironko, Benedicta, Anna, Aangama, Zola, Mercy, Anna, Dianne and Chris. You were truly great inspiration and motivation to me. viii The statisticians, Professor Madsen – a visiting scholar from USA, Mr. Nelius Boshoff – Stellenbosch University and Mr. Bula Clement Basuayi – Statistics department, UWC, who helped me with testing the of the hypotheses for the quantitative data. My mother, Julita Aloka, who has always been a pillar in ensuring that I am able to excel in school work and make greater strides in education. A very dynamic woman who has shown great strength in mothering, despite having been a widow. My elder brother, Jacob, for enormous financial support that enabled me to travel to South Africa. Other brothers, Japheth, Simon, Dan and Dave and sisters, Leah and Priscah for their financial and emotional support. Thank you for having continued to uphold the family principle of hard work and excellence which was instilled in us by our late father. Pastor, Karen Victor, Deaconess Madikizela Amanda, Counselors and the brethren at Christ Embassy church, Cape Town together with Pastors at home church in Kenya namely, Aloo, Angaga, Ezekiel, Amollo, and Awitti, for standing with me in prayers. The late Principal of Mbita High school,