The influence of the sense of belonging to school on learners’ loneliness in single gender and co-educational schools in the world and Kenya in particular is not clearly known and documented. Available literature indicates that the learners’ sense of belonging to school significantly impacts on their loneliness. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of the sense of belonging to school on learners’ loneliness in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County in Kenya. The study was guided by the following specific objectives, which were to; Compare the levels of loneliness among learners in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County and assess power of sense of belonging to school in determining the loneliness levels among learners in single gender and co-educational schools in Murang’a County. The study adopted the cross-sectional survey research design. The Krejecie & Morgan Table was used to select a sample of 435 participants from a target population of 12,400 form two learners from single gender and co-educational secondary schools in the County. Data was collected using two standardized measurement instruments; the Perth aloneness-loneliness scale (PALs) while sense of belonging to school was measured using five statements in a five point Likert scale developed for the study. Administration of the questionnaire was done during normal school days by trained research assistants. Data was analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The findings of the study indicated that low sense of belonging to school for girls in co-educational institutions was correlated to high levels of loneliness. From the findings of the study, it is concluded that there is need to strengthen the psychosocial support systems for learners in co-educational schools through mentorship, guidance, coaching and counselling to facilitate appropriate adjustments of the learners in the schools so as to promote their learning outcomes.
Influence of Teacher-Student Relationships on Learners' Loneliness in Single Gender and Coeducational Schools in Murang'a County, Kenya 1. Introduction There are concerns expressed by stakeholders in education regarding the influence of the teacher-student relationship on the loneliness levels among learners in schools in the world and Kenya in particular. Loneliness is believed to greatly impact on the school outcomes of the learners in schools especially in Murang'a in Kenya. Public schools in Kenya can either be of coeducational or single gender. The school can also be a boarding or a day school. Boarding schools are characterized by restriction of movement in and out of school for students except during open days when parents and guardians can visit the students. The schools are manned by teachers and students' time is programmed with little time for self-directed and socialization activities. Major chunk of time is taken by academics. The boarding facilities are more likely to be outstretched and congested. Diet is usually repeatedly monotonous. Where the school is of coeducational, facilities like fields, halls, transport, classrooms are shared. Only the sleeping areas are strictly for the designed gender. Students in Kenya spend more than 75% of their time in school, making the school environment impact on growth and development of the students longer than other social environments. Recent occurrence of indiscipline and burning of schools could be linked to school gender contexts as the behavior is largely observed in boys' boarding schools. it is suspected that boarding schools have undesirable level of loneliness. 2. Empirical Literature Loneliness is unpleasant emotion arising from awareness of social deficiency. It is the perceived difference between desired and the present level of quantity and quality of relationships. Loneliness is not synonymous with solitude,
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