CORRELATE OF AGE INFLUENCE ON STUDENT’S LOCUS OF CONTROL AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA
CORRELATE OF AGE INFLUENCE ON STUDENT’S LOCUS OF CONTROL AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS NAIROBI COUNTY, KENYA
Margaret Murugi Njiru - Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology, Maasai Mara University, Kenya.
Dr. Mwaura Kimani - School of Education, Maasai Mara University, Kenya.
Dr. Boniface Ngaruiya - School of Education, University of Nairobi, Kenya.
ABSTRACT
Young people are considered as the cogwheels of development in any society. Therefore, educators and parents wish that students, who will ultimately be the future leaders and professionals, prosper academically. Nationally there has been a decline in academic achievement in secondary schools as indicated by the available statistics and Nairobi City County has not been left behind. Research indicates that attitude is considered as an important determinant of student’s achievement in an education setting. It is therefore necessary that learning institutions establish and clarify the cause of good academic achievement. This study sought to examine whether variation in age influences locus of control and attitude towards academic achievement in public secondary school Nairobi County Kenya. The study was grounded on the functionalist theory by Katz (1960). The study employed correlational research design. The target population was 6460 form three secondary school’s students from Nairobi City County. Stratified random sampling was used to divide the schools into three strata namely boys boarding, girls boarding and mixed day schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 7 public schools; 2 boys boarding, 3 girls boarding and 2 mixed day schools. Simple random sampling was used to select 385 form three students (208 boys and 167 girls) through proportionate allocation. The research instruments comprised of Rotter’s locus of control scale -internal versus external (I-E) scale control, and academic attitude scale. The tools were administered after piloting to establish their suitability. Data was analyzed using both descriptive (percentages and mean) and inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance and t-test). The findings showed that age negatively correlates with both attitude and locus of control scale scores, but these relationships were very weak and not significant at 0.05 level of significant. Policy recommendations were made with regard to creation of awareness and sensitization on the relationship between locus of control and attitudes towards academic achievement in learners. Further research was made in relation to inclusion of other variables such as culture, social economic status so that it is clear whether disparity in these variables affect the locus of control and attitudes towards academic achievement in learners.
