School Leadership Frames and Students’ Discipline in Government Aided Secondary Schools in Bukedea District, Uganda.

Abstract

In Uganda, there have been instances of student indiscipline in secondary schools, despite government efforts to encourage better discipline through training school administrators. This research was to establish how student discipline in government-aided secondary schools in Bukedea area was affected by school leadership frameworks. Four research objectives guided the study: to determine the impact of the political leadership frame; to ascertain the influence of the human resources school leadership frame; to determine the influence of the structural leadership frame; and to explore the role of the symbolic school leadership frame in relation to student discipline in government-aided secondary schools in the Bukedea district. Mixed method research design was adopted in the study. A sample size of 186 respondents was chosen representing the target population of 378. Data was gathered using questionnaires and an interview guide. With SPSS, quantitative data was analyzed and presented using tables, frequencies, linear regressions, and correlations; qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis. The results show that school leadership frames positively influenced student discipline. Structural leadership frame influenced students‘ discipline by 45.5%; Human resources frame influenced students‘ discipline by 41.9%; while symbolic leadership frame influenced students‘ discipline by 42.2% and political leadership frame influenced students‘ discipline by 25.0%. The study conclude that school leaders can effectively manage student discipline by utilizing: structural, symbolic, and human resources leadership frames. It is recommended that schools increase the training offered in the political and symbolic leadership frames. The district and schools update their skills in these four leadership frames.