Social Comparisons and Decisions Making Among Teacher-Members of Secondary School Disciplinary Panels

Educational institutions continue to adopt group decision making to address student related behaviours. However, incidences of student behaviour problems continue to rise in schools. The present study explored social comparisons and Decisions making among teacher-members of secondary school disciplinary panels. A multiple case study research design was adopted in this study. The sample size comprised 10 teachers. Data was collected using interviews and analysed thematically. The findings reported lateral, upward and downward social comparisons among the teachers which resulted in cautious shifts in decisions on offending students with behavioural problems. Implications have been discussed. There is need for designing a training manual in group decision making for teachers in schools.