Student perception of their participation in decision-making: A case study of Dormaa Secondary School

Abstract

This case study of student perception of their participation in decision-making in Dormaa Secondary School was prompted by an observation that the student leaders or prefects of the school do not sometimes perform their prefectorial duties as expected. The study explored the perceptions of students of their participation in decision-making, the actual and desired areas of student participation in decisionmaking, the degree of student satisfaction with their involvement in decision-making, as well as problems that student leaders or prefects face in their leadership roles. The sample for the study was made up of 320 second and third year students randomly selected from 16 classrooms. The views of the headmaster were also sought to balance the responses of the students. Background information on 30 selected teachers was also obtained from official records to find out the roles that they play to support the headmaster in the administration of the school. A questionnaire made up of 37 items was used to get responses from the students. A forty-three item interview guide was also used to interview the headmaster. The main findings are that: 1.The students have a good understanding of what participation in school decision-making is. 2. The students are actually involved in decision-making in many areas of the life of the school. These are at the class level, house level and student representative council level, and at the level of a number of school committees. 3. The male students are not satisfied with the degree of their involvement in school decision-making, but the females are satisfied. 4. The student leaders face two major problems as a result of their leadership roles in the school. These are increased workload and conflicts with their classmates. The problems did not show any gender differences among the students. 5. Some of the student leaders do not participate actively in decision-making because it robs them of their time for normal classes and private studies, which adversely affect their academic work. The issue of increased workload was also another reason for which some of the students showed low participation in decision-making. These reasons did not differ by gender among the students. On the basis of the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made for practice: 1. That the school authorities should establish a system of consultation with the students on issues that affect them. 2. That opportunities for exchange of ideas, such as open forum, should be regularly organised for the students. 3. The school authorities should encourage and strengthen the following centers which involve students in decision-making: class level, house level, SRC and school committees. 4.That the school authorities should establish a system of getting feedback from the students to ensure that the entire student body is aware of the activities of the SRC and various school committees.