ABSTRACT

This study determined the influence of discipline on academic achievement of students in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. The variables considered were time management, administration of school rules and regulations and teaching methods as they relate to school discipline and academic achievement of students. A structured questionnaire was used and administered to 450 students both in the private and public secondary schools in the urban in Uyo Local Government Area. Four research questions and four hypotheses were formulated and tested to aid in the investigation. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used in testing the hypotheses. The findings show that lack of time management, administration of punishment school rules and regulations as well as improper teaching methods severely affect school discipline and student academic achievement. The result of this study will have important implications on parents, teachers, educational planners and administrators for effective secondary schools in the state and the nation at large.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This study is about school discipline and academic achievement of students. A case study of secondary school students in Uyo Local Government Area. Precisely, it focuses on how much does students’ discipline affects their academic achievement.

1.1.      Background of the Study

Student motivation and engagement play an important role in learning and academic achievement. Closely related to motivation is self-discipline, the ability of students to monitor and control their own behaviour. Students who are highly self-disciplined may be able to better focus on long-term goals and make better choices related to academic engagement. The concept of self-discipline focuses on students’ own ability to engage in or refrain from engaging in a particular behaviour, rather than reliance on external motivations, rewards or punishments.

According to Duckworth and Seligman (2005), the key to establishing good discipline at school lies in learners accepting the teachers’ authority to manage their behaviour and their progress in learning. Learning activities cannot take place effectively in a classroom of thirty learners or more unless one is given authority to control, manage and direct what is going on as, when and how appropriate. Much of the authority as an educator is derived from the status he has in that role and the respect and esteem for educators generally held in society and the one particularly conveyed to learners by their parents and other sources of influence. In order to exercise managerial control, learners’ behaviour needs to be guided by the school rules and regulations. Such school rules may be explicitly stated by the educators or simply inferred from educators’ actions. This means that all schools should draw up a code of conduct and implement it.

Clearly, learners need order in the classroom if the activities which take place are to facilitate effective learning. The most important point to bear in mind in considering discipline is that creating the necessary order is more to do with the skills involved in effective teaching in general than it is to do with how one deals with learner behaviour itself. If the learning activities are well-planned and prepared; if the presentation elicits and maintains learners’ attention, interest and involvement and if the activities are challenging and offer realistic opportunities for success, then the necessary order and discipline will be established.

Most learners’ misbehavior is quite trivial. The types of learners’ misbehavior most frequently cited by educators are:

(i)           excessive talk,

(ii)          being noisy (i.e. shouting at another),

(iii)        not paying attention to the teachers,

(iv)        not getting on with work required

(v)         being out of their seats without a good cause

(vi)        hindering other learners and

(vii)      arriving late for lessons.

(viii)     destroying school’s property

Nevertheless, a well managed lesson coupled with a relationship based on mutual respect and rapport will do much to minimize students’ misbehavior in schools. This will be influenced by the teacher’s behaviour and expectations as well as the expectations learners bring with them and the prevailing ethics in the school.

1.2.      Statement of the Problem

Uyo Local Government Area is the administrative headquarters of Akwa Ibom State and there have been reported cases of students’ misbehavior and indiscipline which adversely affected their academic achievement in secondary schools. The problem at hand is that, some students perform poorly while others perform excellently. The truth behind this scenario is that the well-disciplined students would do better than their more impulsive peers. In other words, students’ self-discipline would influence their academic behaviour and achievement. It should also be noted that the effect of discipline on academic achievement  would be majorly influenced by classroom management and the school climate. To this end, the research is instituted to examine school discipline and academic achievement of students. A case study of secondary school students in Uyo Local Government Area.

1.3.      The Purpose of the Study

The specific aims of the study are to establish the following:

(i)           To examine how time management will affect the academic achievement of students.

(ii)          To examine administration of punishment and its effects on students’ academic achievement

(iii)        To examine administration of school rules and regulations, and their impact on students’ academic achievement.

(iv)        To examine teaching methods and how they help to instill school discipline and academic achievement of students.

1.4.      Significance of the Study

The significance of this research finding will help parents to inculcate discipline in their children. It will help teachers to correct misbehavior of students in schools. It will also help educationists and government in making policies that will promote morality, exercise social control, and restore credibility and discipline in schools.

1.5.      Research Questions

In order to undertake this study, the following questions were formulated:

i)             Does time management really have impact on academic achievement of students?

ii)            Does the administration of punishment affect the academic achievement of students?

iii)          Does the administration of school rules and regulations influence the academic achievement of students?

iv)          Does teaching methods instill discipline and aid academic achievement of students?.

1.6.      Research hypotheses

In order to answer the research questions, the following null hypotheses were tested. These include:

i)             There is no significant relationship between time management and students’ academic achievement.

ii)            There is no significant relationship between administration of punishment and students’ academic achievement.

iii)          There is no significant relationship between administration of school rules and regulations, and students’ academic achievement.

iv)          There is no significant relationship between teaching methods and students’ academic achievement.

1.7.      Assumption of the Study

The following assumptions were postulated in carrying out this research study:

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