Growing Acts of Indiscipline in Ghanaian Schools: Perception of Students and Teachers at Abuakwa South Municipality

Indiscipline in schools has attracted the attention of many people and has eventually become the focus of discussions on many platforms. The purpose of the study was to find out the perceptions of teachers and students at the Abuakwa South Municipality of Ghana on student indiscipline behaviours. The study employed the descriptive survey and the approach was concurrent mixed method, involving bothquantitative and qualitative paradigms. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to obtaina sample size of five hundred and thirty (530) respondents. The main instruments used for the study were questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. Data was analysed using inferential statistics and content analysis. Findings from the study revealed that; there was no perceptual difference between students and teachers views on acts that constitute disciplinary behaviours. Additional, there were differences in thestudents and teachers perceptions of the influences of peer pressure on students’ disciplinary behaviours. Itwas recommended among others that peer counselling sessions should be organized periodically among students for them to be aware of acceptable behaviours in the school system and how they can maintain desirable behaviours

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BIOLOGY PRACTICAL LESSONS IN SELECTED WELL-ENDOWED AND LESS-ENDOWED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN GHANA

The teaching and learning of biology in the Senior High Schools has of late not been very effective since the practical aspect of the subject is seemingly neglected by many teachers. The main objective of this study was to investigate and compare how biology practical lessons were conducted in some well-endowed and less-endowed Senior High Schools in Ghana. The main instruments used for gathering the data for the study were questionnaires, document analysis and informal observation of some biology lessons. This enabled the Researchers to capture as closely as possible, the real picture of what happened during the observed lessons. The sampled population for the study consisted of 408 students and 24 biology teachers from twelve selected Senior High Schools in the Eastern and Central Regions of Ghana. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. The research findings showed that the time allotted to practical lessons in biology varied from one school to another, as 35.8% of students from well-endowed schools complained of insufficiency of time as against 78.9% of students from less-endowed schools. The study also found that the teaching strategies employed in the two categories of Senior High Schools were not different. However, students from the selected well-endowed schools tend to have a greater advantage than their counterparts from the less-endowed schools, as they were exposed to less lecture method 7.4% compared to 27.9% from the low-endowment schools. To ensure efficiency in the teaching of the practical aspect of biology in the Senior High Schools, the study recommends that the government and all other stakeholders in education must supply laboratories in all Senior High Schools with the necessary equipment, materials and chemicals to enable students to develop the necessary skills, attitudes, and interest in science.  Article visualizations

The Effects of Indiscipline on Academic Performance of Junior High School Students in the Fanteakwa District of Ghana

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of indiscipline on the academic performance of Junior High School Students (JHS) in the Fanteakwa District of Ghana. During the study, three hundred and sixty (360) participants made up students, headteachers and teachers were sampled. The students were sampled using random simple sampling technique while the headteachers and teachers were sampled purposively. The instruments used to gather all the necessary information about the problem was questionnaire. The study revealed that Indiscipline starts with the home because they are the children’s first teachers. It was also found that the effects of indiscipline on academic performance included; students’ inability to concentrate in class, loss of materials taught due to absenteeism and increase in rate of school drop-out. In order to minimize indiscipline behaviours, the study recommends that; discipline in the society should begin at the home. The home and the school must therefore interact and co-operate in instilling discipline. Also, providing a hearing process for students to present their side of the story and establishing an appeal processes to increase students and parents’ perception of fairness. Key words: Indiscipline, Student, Performance, Junior High School, Behaviour, Moral deca

THE INFLUENCE OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL HEADS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF EAST AKIM MUNICIPAL, GHANA

Knowing the leadership styles of heads of Senior High Schools (SHS) helps to improve quality educational delivery. The aim of this paper was to assess the leadership styles of heads of Senior High Schools and its influence on academic performance. The concurrent triangulatory mixed method, involving both qualitative and quantitative was adopted for the study. Data was collected from a total of 460 respondents using a 24-item questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide. The qualitative data were analysed thematically while the qualitative data was processed using Statistical Package for Social Science Students (SPSS version 22.0). The results show that most of the respondents (72.1%) agreed their heads style of leadership was democratic. In addition, it was revealed that involvement of teachers and students in decision making, collaborating with subordinates as well as provision educational resources were the top most factors leading to increased students’ performance. It was also found that only democratic leadership style had significant relationship with students’ academic performance (p=0.003). The study recommends periodic organization of capacity building workshops to enhance the skills of heads on how to collaborate and involve subordinates more in decision making.  Article visualizations