Aloka, P. J. O. et al. (2013). Group polarization effect on decisions by selected Kenyan secondary school disciplnary panels. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 23 (2) Abstract:This study investigated social group phenomenon of group polarization effects on disciplinary hearing decisions in selected Kenyan secondary school. The participants were 78 school personnel (females = 42%and males 58%) from ten secondary schools with both unisex (n = 39) and co-educational schools (n = 39). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed. The results suggested group polarization effects in disciplinary hearing decisions, in that there were shifts from pre to post-disciplinary hearing decisions. Persuasive arguments and social comparisons significantly influenced group polarization decisions.

This study explored the perceived challenges of online learning encounter by rural educators in response to COVID-19 pandemic at a selected rural school in South Africa. Within the qualitative approach, a multiple case study was used as a research design. A sample size of six participants (N=6, two males and four females) was drawn from a rural school in a Thabo Mofutsanyana District in the Free State Province. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select participants in this study. The participants had teaching experience ranging from 2 to 7 years. Data were collected through telephone interviews and analysed using thematic analysis. The finding suggested that the Protection Motivation Theory was an insightful framework in responding to the challenges emanating from COVID-19 induced online teaching and learning. Thus, the study revealed that there are various challenges to online learning. These include poor parental involvement in children’s homework, incomplete work and poor performance, insufficient personal protective equipment, poor access to network access, and lack of learning devices. Subsequently, we recommend that stakeholders such as the Department of Education, Department of Basic Education, and School Governing Bodies, among others, should ensure that parents are sensitized about the need for learners to manage the resources at their disposal. Furthermore, the provision of adequate resources such as; Internet connectivity and Information and Communication Technologies learning devices is imperative.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional engagement and academic achievement among secondary school students of Manga Sub County, Nyamira County, Kenya. The study was hinged on the Self Determination theoretical perspective. The concurrent triangulation design of the mixed methods approach was employed. From the target population of 1750 form four students, 35 Principals and 35 Guidance and Counselling teachers, 316 students, 11 Principals and 11 Guidance and counselling teachers, and 11 student leaders were randomly sampled for the study. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the students, while interview schedules were used to collect data from Principals, Guidance and Counselling teachers and student leaders. The face validity of the research instruments was determined by experts from the department of Psychology and Educational Foundations of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology. Reliability was ascertained by the internal consistency method using Cronbach’s alpha, and a reliability coefficient of 0.849 was obtained for the questionnaire. Inferential statistics from quantitative data were analyzed using Pearson’s Product correlation and regression analysis with the aid of the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 22. Qualitative data from interviews were analyzed thematically. The study revealed that there was a statistically significant moderate positive correlation(r=.354, N=312, p<.05) between emotional engagement and academic achievement among the students, with an increase in emotional engagement occasioning an improvement in academic achievement. The study recommended that teacher counsellors should adopt appropriate therapy techniques geared towards the enhancement of emotional engagement of all students in the schools of their jurisdiction in order to boost their chances of doing better in their studies.

The study investigated the influence of gender on teachers' self-efficacy in public secondary schools of Kisumu County, Kenya. Bandura's (1989) Social Cognitive Theory guided the study. The study employed the mixed methods approach within which a concurrent triangulation design was used. The target population was 1790 teachers in 143 public secondary schools from which a sample size of 327 teachers was drawn using stratified random sampling. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used to collect data. Piloting helped to clarify the test items, determine construct validity (r = 0.564 for items expected to have similar responses and r = -0.325 for items expected to have different responses) and establish internal reliability (Cronbach's = 0.9976). Two experts in Educational Psychology established face validity of the data collection instruments. Qualitative data was transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically while quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). The MANOVA results revealed that there was no statistically significant influence of gender on teachers' self-efficacy, but the qualitative results revealed that gender had an influence on self-efficacy of teachers in co-educational and Boys' schools. The study recommended that teacher counsellors be empowered to counsel female teachers on the challenges of teaching in co-educational and Boys' schools.

The study investigated