IMPLEMENTATION OF STUDENT DISCIPLINE POLICY IN PUBLIC AND MISSION SECONDARY SCHOOLS: A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This study is an exploration of the implementation of the student discipline policy in public and mission secondary schools in Malawi. The main research question in the study was ‘how does the implementation of the discipline policy compare between public schools and mission secondary schools? The available studies do not distinguish between what happens in mission and public secondary schools, and yet, it is common knowledge that different school contexts have different experiences when dealing with discipline issues. Data collection and analysis in this study was guided by two theoretical frameworks: Education policy implementation and the three overlapping phases of change process. The study used a qualitative interpretative approach using case study as methodology. The data in the study was collected from two case studies comprising of two public secondary schools as case 1; and two mission secondary schools as case 2. Four methods of data collection were used, namely: in-depth face to face interviews, Key Informant Interviews (KII), Focus group discussions (FGDs) and document analysis. While both the public and the mission secondary schools were guided by the Ministry of Education school discipline policy, the results show the significance of context in supporting the implementation of the discipline policy: The faith based Christian values and church support was found to be important in reducing cases of indiscipline in the mission schools. The results also indicate the need for establishing policy strategies focusing on reforming behaviour and not always using punitive action. Furthermore, the results clearly indicate that successful school discipline policy implementation requires an effective administrative structure, efficient management processes and clear procedures.