CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the study
Learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties in Kenya especially in Kuresoi
district, Temoyetta zone have suffered from misunderstanding from their parents,
teachers and the entire community at large.
Lack of knowledge and understanding by these care takers or people responsible for
their nurturing have caused them a lot of agony through their educational settings hence
dropping out.

Immediately these learners themselves drop out of school, they engage themselves in
unbecoming behaviours and other anti-social behaviours like prostitution, early
marriages, theft, among the few I could list. The families and the society at large has
suffered due to such problems caused by these learners.

This has far reaching effects on the millennium development goals of the government and
the world conference on education for all as contained in Jomtien declaration in 1990.

The introduction of the inclusive setting in our regular schools should be emphasized
so as to assist the parents, teachers and the whole society in handling decently these
leavers with emotional and behavioural difficulties so as to stop or reduce the rate of
dropping.

Among the strategies which governments and the internal society have employed to curb
and solve this menace include;
The universal declaration on human rights (1948)
The convention on the rights of the child. (1948)
Childrens act (cap 586 of the laws of Kenya)

Through the research done in these learners in Temoyetta zone, teachers attitudes
towards them is negative. This is because most teachers have no skills of handling and
even identifying these cases amongst their learners.

Secondly, the parents are also demanding a lot from these learners. This has given the
learners a lot of pressure from academic tasks. The other factor causing these dropouts as
was found through this research is the mode of disciplining learners is not child friendly
hence causing them drop out of school. Such facilities like guidance and counseling are
missing in most of the schools.
The above issues has necessitated for the research to be done in Kuresoi district in
Nakuru County.

1.2 Statement of the problem

It is a matter of concern to investigate the numerous causes of dropouts of learners with
emotional and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta zone of Kuresoi division.
The drop outs occur because of the learning environment which is not conducive. This
issues are not adequately solved because of lack of enough trained teachers in special
needs education, the societies lack of sensitization of the plight of the learners with
emotional and behavioural difficulties and large number of learners in schools due to the
introduction of free primary education.

This issue amongst others has necessitated the researcher to carry out a study on the
causes of drop outs of learners with behavioural and emotional difficulty.

1.3 The purpose of the study

The researcher intends to find out the main causes of dropouts of learners with emotional
and behavioural difficulties. Its impact towards them and others and how to curb this
problem and assist them continue with their education.

1.4 Objectives of the study

The researcher intends to;
i.

Find out the teachers attitudes towards learners with emotional and behavioural
difficulties in Temoyetta zone.

ii.

Find out the mode of discipline used on learners with behavioural and emotional
difficulties in Temoyetta zone.

iii.

Investigate the effect or impact of guidance and counseling services in schools

for learners with behavioural and emotional difficulties in Temoyetta zone.

iv.

Find out the peer influence on learners with behavioural and emotional
difficulties in Temoyetta zone.

v.

Find out the academic issues affecting learners with behavioural and emotional
difficulties in Temoyetta zone.

1.5 Research questions

i.

What were the teachers attitudes on learners with behavioural and emotional
difficulties in Temoyetta zone?

ii.

What was the mode of discipline used on learners with behavioural and
emotional difficulties in Temoyetta zone?

iii.

What were the effects or impacts of guidance and counseling services in schools
on learners with behavioural and emotional difficulties in Temoyetta zone?

iv.

What were the peer influences towards learners with behavioural and emotional
difficulties in Temoyetta zone?

v.

What were the academic issues affecting learners with behavioural and
emotional difficulties in Temoyetta zone?

1.6 Significance of the Study

It is speculated that the findings of this study will significantly help the teachers, parents
and the society at large in addressing the issues affecting the drop out rates among the
learners with behavioural and emotional difficulties in Temoyetta zone.
These combined efforts will help them realize their academic dreams in Education.

This research will also assist institutions and communities in the management of issues
rising from learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties. This study at the same
time will remove the notion that learners with emotional and behavioural difficulty are
rude in school and are non-performers in academic tasks.

The research as well as going to help the teachers and parents in trying to analyze the
causes and effects of dropouts of learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
This at the same time is going to help them manage issues (causes) hence reducing the
dropout rates and this will enable the learners realize their academic potentials.

1.7 Limitations and delimitation of the study

1.7.1 Limitations of the study
Most parts of Kuresoi division and especially Temoyetta zone are inaccessible due to bad
roads. This is so especially during rainy seasons. This has automatically affected
researchers traveling which could be impossible. Some rivers got flooded and could not
allow one to cross to the next school. Schools in Temoyetta zone were far from one
another. This also made traveling cumbersome hence affecting the researchers findings
by not covering the number of schools intended to cover.
Among the other limiting factors during the study were financial problems, respondents
in cooperativeness and time allocation limitation.

1.8 Operational Definition of Terms

1. Anti-Social: Undesirable behaviours displayed or exhibited by the learners.
2. Counseling: This is a process of advising a learner in overcoming a problem
3. Inclusive

: An educational programme of including learners of diverse needs in a

regular school set-up.

4. Intelligence: This is the power of perceiving learning, knowing and understanding

persons mental abilities.
5. Peer: Children of the same age who does almost same things.
6. Psychologist: This is a specialist of he mind and the central nervous system
7. Sample

: A small group representing a larger population.

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction
This chapter will deal with the Literature concerning teachers attitudes towards learners
with emotional and behavioural difficulties, the mode of discipline used on learners with
emotional and behavioural difficulties, the effects or impacts of guidance and counseling
services in schools for learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties ,peer
influence on learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties ,the academic issues
affecting learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties and the parents,
communities roles or concerns on learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Teachers attitudes towards learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties will be
of great concern. This will be so since they differ on getting a compromising point of
blaming either sides. Teachers could be lacking knowledge and skills of addressing
emotional and behavioural difficulties among the learners. This at the same time could
make the learners develop negatively towards their teachers and develops anti-social
behaviours according to Gallowing and Godwin of 1979.
Teachers should correct learners behaviours in a professional manner (i.e.) utterances on
assembly will affect the learners behaviours.This habit of criticizing learners openly
could lead to development of secondary emotional behavioural difficulties like being
aggressive towards their peers.
Teachers should be able to assist learners so as to avoid motivating such secondary state
of psychological development. According to Buck (1985) psychological arousal on
behaviour and mental experiences varies in intensity and pleasantness.
According to sdorow(1993) learners can express emotions through various ways like
vocal qualities such as rate pitch and loudness to express different types of emotions.
Teachers should therefore familiarize themselves with these expressions so as not to label
learners as deviant and forming a negative attitude on learners with emotional and
behavioural difficulties.
The researcher shall find out from the various schools in Temoyetta zone that most
teachers have negative attitudes towards learners with emotional and behavioural
difficulties. This would help the learners benefit from the educational programmes
offered by the government.

2.1 Peer Influence

The researcher intends to find out the effects of peer influence on learners with emotional
and Behavioural difficulties .Peers would be seen to influence one another either
positively or negatively through the study.
Wadsworth(1978)argues that learners acquire many things in learning not through objects
or other actions but also from other people. Among the things to be confirmed as learnt
through other include, a language values, rules, morality and symbols. In this case
therefore learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties do things not because they
want but due to the influence of their peers. This assumption would be confirmed through
the research.
Learners with Emotional and Behavioural difficulties could fall pray to negative
influences like ganging themselves against administrations, engaging themselves in drag
and substance abuse. This statement is subject to confirmation through the study. The
consequences of the above influences include dropping out of school getting jailed
among the many negative outcomes.
Drug abuse among the emotional and behavioural learners is causing a lot of alarm .Since
most of them most dropped out of school. Drug addicts have suffered from school
programmes as they develop Truancy and loss of interest in school
activities(i.e.)according to(Kithaka 2007).This argument is also a factors of concern
amongst the learners in Temoyetta zone where drugs have found way hence causing drop
outs especially to learners having emotional and behavioural difficulties.
To save learners with emotional and behavioural from this risky menace, records of
statistics, track the learners attendance and truancy rates is to be strictly adhered to
(Kithaka 2007).

2.2 Discipline in Schools

2.2.1 Unprofessional approach to discipline. Learners with emotional and behavioural
difficulties have suffered from parents teachers and other elders in the society. This are
because they mistakenly correct their behaviours by using caning. The learners emotional
behaviours is taught to be evil and the efforts must be dealt with ruthlessly (Mbiti 1980)

Teachers and parents had an opinion that any learner who displays unbecoming
behaviours are punished without analyzing the underlying causes of their indisciplined
behaviour.
Teachers from Temoyetta zone and others should be trained on the knowledge, skills and
attitudes of handling learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties so as to
minimize the drop out rate cases.

2.2.2 Discipline in Schools

Discipline among learners with emotional and Behavioural difficulties are to be assisted
through the various principles in the character formation and not to instill pain on them.
There are various fundamentals principles on discipline which should be adhered to in
managing discipline among learners with emotional and behavioural which includes;
following discussions, knowing offences and their punishment, have love and should be
administered with dignity according to(Gitonga 2007).
Schools should formulate rules and regulations for schools together with learners with
emotional and behavioural difficulties inorder to own this document.

This is also to avoid repulsion of the rules by these learners. Discipline should be
administered with love for learners to see a sense of adjusting their behavioural
positively.
Dignity in the administration of discipline to learners with emotional and behavioural
difficulties is very important, such cases as making learners kneel infront of class or
making a learner go infront and work on an exercise as a punishment will make a learner
associate the teacher and subject negatively and could cause truancy and later drop out
according to (Gitonga 2007).
Learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta zone in Kuresoi have
drop out of school due to the way schools administer discipline to a greater extend.
Teachers within the zone should be advise to adopt other disciplining mechanism inorder
to curb this alarming rate of dropouts.

2.3 Guidance and Counseling Services

Guidance and counseling is a continuous process of assisting learners with emotional and
behavioural difficulties come out of their problem. Teachers guidance and counseling
should be equipped with knowledge, skills and attitudes of assisting learners with
emotional and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta zone in Kuresoi.
Farrant(1988) states that the guidance and counseling teachers should talk to the learners
politely and remind them not to overstep the suggested alternative ways. Teachers
handling learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta zone Kuresoi
have to be trained on the basic communication skills like space, mode of dressing and
touch among others. The process of guidance and counseling learners should undergo the
following stages like exploration, understanding and lastly the action stage (Ministry of
Science and technology, 2004)
The above stages if followed by teachers in Temoyetta zone Kuresoi would not only
assist learners adjust their behaviours but also will help them grow holistically and will
be well adjusted in the society.

2.4 Academic Issues

Learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties may not produce the desired
outcomes due to behaviour related academic issues that hinders them from achieving the
desired goals. Some of these academic related issues affecting learners include; Truancy
academic failures, anxiety and even depressions.

The use of tests by teachers to assess the academic standards and achievements of their
learners might not work well with learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties
since this is so with regular settings but not in an inclusive setting. This does not provide
a good measure for the learners intellectual abilities and their future educational needs
(Galloway and Goodwin 1979).
From the above argument teachers from Temoyetta zone should look for better methods
of helping learners with emotional and behavioural difficulties know their levels of
abilities hence making the learning environment child friendly in achieving education for
all by 2015.According to Margalit and Zak(1984)learners with emotional and

behavioural difficulties have higher levels of anxiety than their peers without any
disability. Teachers therefore should familiarize(train) on how to identify the symptoms
of learners with these difficulties in order to arrest the situations before it gets out of hard
(dropping out).
Teachers therefore play a crucial role to assist learners who experience emotional and
behavioural distress as a result of their learning difficulties. They do these by employing
teaching strategies like using multi-sensory teaching methods. They could also guide and
advise learners with emotional and behavioural problems inorder to improve their
academic performance. All issues and related problems affecting learners with emotional
and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta zone should be addressed with urgency inorder
to avoid loosing bright and promising learners in future.

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction
This chapter discusses the research design used, the population and its sample, the
instruments used while collecting the data and its sample used the population and its
sample the instruments used while collecting the data and its procedures as well as its
analysis.

3.1 Research Approach

The researcher here will use quantitative approaches in the collection of the data. The
respondents analyzes the questionnaires presented during the research and gives their
feedback.

3.2 Research Design

The researcher will use both the case study and survey design to generate data. The above
researcher two design will enable he researcher to generate detailed information and
better understanding of the problem under investigation

3.3 Target Population

The researcher targets approximately twenty teachers in a sample of ten schools out of
the fifteen schools. This will enable the researcher collect data and analyzed for better
resolutions.

3.4 Sample Size

The researcher selected the ten schools out of the fifteen schools in Temoyetta zone in
Kuresoi. The schools to be researched on represent all the school in the zone.

3.5 Sampled Procedure

The selected schools would be picked through a fair balloting procedure. This is where
folded papers bearing the names of fifteen schools will be picked which is going to avoid
biasness.

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3. 6 Research Instruments
The main instrument to be used is questionnaires. This would be distributes to the
sampled schools for answering .The researcher would give clear instructions on the
procedure of filing the questionnaire .The research shall assure the respondents of the
confidentiality of the information.

3.7 Procedures of Data Collected

The research will collect and fill the questionnaires through the respondents selected after
a week. This would then be analyzed by the researcher after the collections of all the
questionnaires.

3.8 Data Analysis

After the collection of the raw data from the respondents, the researcher will analyse and
tabulate the results. These techniques will definitely give fair results on the drop out cases
among the learner with emotional and behavioural difficulties in Temoyetta Zone,
Kuresoi district.

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REFEREES

Galloway,M.D and Goodwin. D (1979).Educating slow-learning and maladjusted

children: Intergration and segregation, Newyork America, Longman publishers.

Gitonga ,M(2007).Teachers Image: Education policies Vol 13,14.

Mbiti, M.D(1980).Foundations of school administration, Nairobi Oxford; University

press.

Sdorow M.L, (1993) Psychology (2nd Ed) Oxford England, Brown and Bench Mark
publishers.

WadsworthJ.B(1978)Piaget for classroom teachers Longman, Newyork and London.

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TIME FRAME
2010

December

Identification and approval of research title by KISE

Lectures

2011

January to February

Literature search and development of literature review

2011

March

Development of research design and instruments on

proposal

2011

April session

Approval and correction of research proposal

2011

May

Collecting of data in schools

2011

June/July

Interpretation and analyzing of data and report writing

2011

August session

Approval of research project chapter four and five then

corrected proposal of chapter 1,2 and 3

2011

September /October

Final draft development and typing of SSP

2011

November/December

Final draft development and typing of SSP

session

Submission of SSP to KISE lecturer for marking

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BUDGET
This is showing the cost of items required and the cost of the activities to be involved
during the research.
ITEM

AMOUNT

CTS

Equipment and stationery

1000

00

Travel expenditures

3000

00

Miscellaneous expense

1500

00

Total

5500

00

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QUESTIONNAIRE
Kindly fill this questionnaire to enable me acquire information of emotional and
behavioural difficulties on learners (Tick appropriately).
45
NB//
(i) THIS QUESTIONNAIRE will only used for research purposes.
(ii)The respondent is not allowed to identify himself/herself.
1. How is the teachers attitude towards learners with emotional and behavioural
difficulties?

Good

Bad

2. Do teachers like teaching learners with emotional and Behavioural difficulties?

Yes

No

3. Do you administer discipline to learners with EBD?

Yes

No

4. How is their behaviour after administering the discipline?

Good

Bad

Worse

5. Do you have guidance and counseling session in your school?

Yes

No

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6. How effective are the guidance and counseling services to learners with emotional and
behavioural difficulties?

Average

Good

Excellent

7. How influencing are peers on learners with Emotional and Behavioural difficulties

Positive

Negative

8. How is their relationship with these peers?

Good

Bad

Average

9. What are their attitudes towards exams (EBD learners)?

Positive

Negative

10. How is their performance in the exams?

Below average

Average

Good

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