Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes Toward Disruptive Behaviour and Disciplinary Styles: A Comparative Analysis of England and Nigeria

Abstract

The issue of disruptive behaviour in schools has become a major stress and concern to teachers. However, in order to minimize these behaviours, teachers are utilizing various disciplinary strategies. The aim of this study was to examine students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward disruptive behaviour and disciplinary styles and to compare the views of the participants from Nigeria and England. 285 students and 41 teachers from high school completed the disruptive behaviour and disciplinary styles questionnaires which contain behaviours and intervention methods commonly reported in high schools. These questionnaires measure individual’s attitudes toward behaviour problems and the strategies used to regulate such behaviour. The results depict that there is a relationship between disruptive behaviour and disciplinary styles. Significant difference was found among nationality, gender, student and teacher toward disruptive behaviour and disciplinary styles. Nationality also significantly predicted disruptive behaviour, while aggressive style and relationship based style of discipline predicted juvenile delinquency and school misconduct respectively. In conclusion, the style of discipline adopted in school is associated with students’ judgement of behaviour. The implications of the findings to disciplinary styles that may be most effective at regulating disruptive behaviour are discussed.

Keywords: Disruptive behaviour, disciplinary styles, attitudes, student, teacher.