| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of secondary school head teachers' leadership styles on students' attitudes towards guidance and counselling services. The study aimed at identifying the various leadership styles used by secondary schools heJld teachers in discharging guidance and counselling services in Mombasa district; to establish challenges faced by secondary school head teachers in discharging guidance and counselling services in Mombasa district; to analyse the perceptions of students towards guidance and counselling and make recommendation as pertains secondary school head teachers leadership styles in guidance and counselling of their students. There are various leadership styles used by educational administrators which include autocratic, democratic leadership, laissez-faire and charismatic leadership styles.
Descriptive survey design was used. It is a method of collecting information by administering a questionnaire to a sample of individuals. The study targeted 17 public secondary schools. The sample size was all the 17 secondary schools, all the head teachers (1.1), 17 teacher counsellors and 313 form 2 and 3 students. Data was collected through questionnaires using three sets of questionnaires; one meant for the head teachers, teacher counsellors and students. The data was organized into frequency distribution to help condense all the data in order to bring out the information required.
The major findings of the study were that all the head teachers agreeing that they expected teachers to follow strict rules then when it comes to counselling, the teacher counsellors are supposed to offer counselling services to their students as required of them. Hence, from these findings it is clear that the headteacher leadership styles do not have an effect on guidance and counselling. Although students are not ready to take their emotional problems to counsellors, guidance and counselling offered in their school helps them cope with school problems. This shows that counselling has not been embraced in all spheres of student's personal lives. Hence career guidance would help the students to discover the right approach for tackling examinations.
The major conclusions of the study included that it does not matter the type of leadership that is used by the head teachers for guidance and counselling to be offered to students. This is because leadership involves getting the job done with the help of others. The teacher counsellor should let the students know that they can use the guidance and counselling office to solve their problems. This will help the students' behaviours change and encourage them to seek for counselling. Guiding and counselling office can be used by both the headteacher and the teachers to guide students in various problems. Since the type of leadership style the head teacher use does not affect the way guidance and counselling is offered. The head teacher should guide the school community in order to achieve their goals which include improving the perception of students about guidance and counselling. The head teacher and the teacher counsellor should create awareness among all members of the school community of the presence of 'guidance and counselling office. | en_US |
