The Role of School Heads’ Guidance and Counselling Practices for Enhancing Students’ Discipline in Public Secondary Schools in Mvomero District, Tanzania

Student discipline remains an important concern in public secondary schools, yet the contribution of school heads’ guidance and counselling practices is insufficiently documented in Mvomero District, Tanzania. The study aimed to examine the role of school heads’ guidance and counselling practices in enhancing students’ discipline in public secondary schools in Mvomero District. Transformational Leadership Theory was employed, and the study was guided by a transformational research philosophy that allows the integration of qualitative and quantitative approaches. A total of 185 respondents were selected from 10 schools to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select heads of school, and simple random sampling was used to select students. The sample was distributed among key educational stakeholders to ensure representation in thematic and descriptive analyses. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis, while quantitative data were analysed using SPSS version 20. The study found that heads of school used guidance and counselling practices to address students’ disciplinary challenges by facilitating reconciliation among students, promoting peer counselling, and seeking to understand students’ personal and social problems before making decisions concerning disciplinary matters. The study concludes that schools should make appropriate use of guidance and counselling services by seeking regular professional support and allocating dedicated resources to counselling offices. It recommends that school heads strengthen these services by involving school stakeholders in participatory decision-making concerning disciplinary matters and encouraging students to develop a sense of responsibility and appropriate behaviour.