EXPLORING THE EFFICIENCY OF SCHOOL RULE IMPLEMENTATIONS IN

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT BEHAVIOR

A Research
Presented to
The Senior High School – HUMSS
PROFESSIONAL ACADEMY OF THE PHILIPPINES
South Poblacion, Naga, Cebu

In Partial Fulfillment
of Practical Research I

Researchers:

Eliza Catalo

Mark Vince Estemada

Lejdenzver Lepriso

Maristela Manubag

Jira Mae Mapa

Lysel Mejia

Richard Max Melton

Jane Racal

Jizza mae Suhot

Exploring the efficiency of school rule implementations in 30 Grade 11 HUMSS

Senior High School students’ behavior. Students are vital stakeholders and the most

valuable resources in school. It is absolutely necessary to direct students to exhibit

acceptable attitude and behavior within and outside the school. In an attempt to achieve an

organized and peaceful school environment and maintain law and order, school

management specifies rules and regulations to guide the activities of members of the

educational institution.

Student’s discipline is a prerequisite to almost everything a school has to offer

students (McGregory, 2006). Seifert and Vornberg further link discipline with both the culture and

climate of the school thus according to them in order for a satisfactory climate to exist within

a school, a certain level of discipline must exist. In schools where discipline is a serious

problem, for example, where students bully others, parents can transfer their children to

„better‟ schools. Since the well behaved students usually perform well their transfer can

affect the overall performance of that school. However punishment can aggravate

behaviour instead of curbing it (Rigby, 2000).

The problem of indiscipline in schools is a global issue of great concern,

traversing political, economic, geographical, racial and even gender boundaries (Kajubi,

2007). There is a growing concern regarding indiscipline in schools within the United Arab

Emirates where teaching methods were blamed for the children’s indiscipline (Mukharjee,

2005). The parents were getting anxious and frustrated as they complained of the rising
incidents of indiscipline and violence in schools. The concern was not only on the risk of

destruction of property and injury to persons but also the poor academic performance

associated with the growing trend of indiscipline.

According to India Parenting online Ltd (2007) the standards of discipline were

reported to be deteriorating in senior high school. The study pointed out that there was need to

find a lasting solution to the problem of indiscipline. The solution to the issue of

indiscipline would make students‟ education and schooling experience more productive.

Cases of indiscipline have also been noted in England. There was a case in one school where

a student happened to be carrying a gun in direct contravention of school rules which

prohibits carrying of any form of weapon to school. He used it to shoot a fellow student. The

government then planned a crackdown on school indiscipline by giving schools powers to

search pupils for weapons (British Broadcasting Corporation, 2004).

The schools in Botswana had their image marred by acts of student indiscipline.

Some students died and others became blind after they broke into the school science

laboratory and consumed toxic amounts of methanol and ethanol. A survey on a number of

previous provincial schools also pointed out that indiscipline had caused deterioration in

academic performance (McGregory, 2006).There has also been a variety of reactions to the

rising incidences of indiscipline and unrests in schools in Kenya. Various views have been

expressed regarding the cause of the indiscipline and possible solutions to the problems

have been proposed. Corporal punishment in Kenyan schools was banned through a Kenya

Gazette notice on March 13, 2001 by then.

generated a lot of heat regarding discipline in schools, it's the issue of the cane. There have

been proposals by parents that they be allowed to cane their children to enhance discipline at

secondary school in Coast province (Kiprop, 2007). This ban has been blamed for the

increase in indiscipline, and naturally, there have been calls to rethink the decision. Kiprop is

of the view that parents have a big role to play in instilling discipline into their children in and

out of school.

This is because a student more often than not reflects the same behaviour at

school. However, these views are not in agreement with organizations such as the Kenya

Human Rights Commission (KHRC) . This Act has further been elaborated in a manual for

Heads of Secondary School in professional Academy of the Philippines administrators are

directed to exercise the prescribed methods to the benefit of the student, teacher, parent,

government and the whole country at large. This is imperative because discipline is the

foundation of schools. In fact educators and government authorities recognize discipline as

a precursor of success in all school curricular and co-curricmajorular activities.

Along with academic performance, school discipline ranks as one of the

concerns voiced by the public about schools and the school system in countries worldwide.

These concerns are echoed in frequent and often dramatic media reports of disruptive

students, student riots, bullying and violence in classrooms and playgrounds across

Professional Academy of the Philippines. There is a continuing and growing perception that
behaviour problems are endemic in schools, that teachers are struggling to maintain order,

and that school authorities are unable to guarantee the safety of students (Mutua, 2004).

Because of its relationship with student academic performance and moral maturity, school

discipline is often viewed as a national concern that is becoming more serious by the day for

all societies (Mwangi, 2003). Practicing teachers, educationists, parents and students

across the globe must increasingly get concerned with discipline-related problems in

schools. In its management efforts, many educationists and researchers have sought to

identify the most efficacious methods of enhancing school discipline. The use of rewards

and punishments, stemming especially from the psychological research works of

Shawcross (2009), have been used by many school educators, although in varying degrees,

in managing students‟ behaviour. Of these methods, the use of corporal punishment has

gained much debate, especially on its efficacy and its consequences to students (Adams,

2003)

The methods of managing student discipline that are alleged to be highly breached

are suspension and expulsion (Njoku, 2000). The Ministry of Education states that a student

may be suspended from attendance at a school by the head teacher of the school or a

teacher acting in that capacity, if his language or behaviour is habitually or continually such as

to endanger the maintenance of a proper standard of moral and social conduct in the

school, or if any single act or series of acts subversive of discipline is committed (Education

Act, 2009).

On expulsions, the Education Act (2009) states that it is only the Director of
Education who is authorized to expel students from schools after considering his age,

progress and the report of the Board of Governors in detail. The Education Act gives authority

to the Board of Governors to: make administrative rules appertaining to the discipline of

students and prescribe appropriate punishment other than corporal punishment, for a breach

of, or non-adherence to, such rules. With this provision, very many types of methods of

managing discipline in schools are reported being used. Whereas some methods have been

alleged to be effective in managing student discipline in some schools, in some, they

have been a cause of indiscipline (Rono, 2006).

In spite of the policies and the various Sessional papers that the Government has

set up to ensure quality education, learning institutions in professional Academy of the

Philippines have been plagued with cases of students‟ unrest and indiscipline. Students‟

unrest and indiscipline undermine quality education thereby their academic performance.

The government has responded to the unrest in schools in various ways. Concerned

stakeholders have aired their views regarding possible causes and also prescribed a number

of solutions to the problem. The government has set up committees and commissions to

investigate the causes of the problem of unrest in schools and various recommendations

have been made.

For example, The Shitanda Report (2000) on unrest and indiscipline in senior

high school in professional Academy of the Philippines noted that the problem had not

been restricted to public senior high school but that the public universities had also

experienced their fair share of student unrest and indiscipline.

rules aimed at regulating students conduct and enhancing discipline. The rules operate in

different contexts but students are expected to adhere to them generally. There are

academic as well as non-academic rules. Academic rules include examination rules, time

management as well as classroom rules academic rules refer to rules relating to boarding

and good grooming. Since most students at secondary level lack self-drive, it is the

effectiveness of these rules that leads to enhancement in discipline. Incidences of

indiscipline have negative effects on academic performance. Rarely will you hear of a school

known for indiscipline mentioned among the top performing schools when results are

released. On the other hand, schools which are known to perform excellently are equally

known for being some of the most disciplined schools.

The maintenance of discipline in a school depends on how effective the set rules

and regulations governing are. Students should be aware of the consequences of breach of

these rules and teachers should ensure that these are enforced to the letter. Determining

rules and consequences, teaching them to students and outlining the benefits of working

within them, is a critical up-front investment. If there is a doubt about expectations for

behaviour in the classroom, students may develop their own patterns of behaviour. As a wise

teacher once said, if you don’t have a plan for your students, they will have a plan for you

(Sithole, 2008).

This study was carried out in Naga Division. Indiscipline has been a problem in the
country, Naga division has not been spared either hence the focus of this study. Like other

districts in professional Academy of the Philippine ,there have been cases of student

indiscipline in some senior high schools in this area where students were involved in strikes

causing massive damage to school property. A student loitering in the streets during school

days is also a common phenomenon in this area. The question therefore begs us to wonder

whether the existing school rules are effective in enhancing discipline among the students. A

brief description of Kangundo division is necessary in order to understand the context

within which the study will be carried out.

Population with senior high school education stands at 22.1 %. The division has

56 senior high school and an enrolment rate of 32% for both boys and girls. The senior

high school going age group comprises about 9% of the total population. The senior high

school dropout rate is estimated to be 4.7% (KNBS, 2009 Census). Many children drop

out of primary and secondary school mainly due to inability to afford cost of education

and the limited number of schools (Commission for Revenue Allocation, 2012).
II. Literature Review

This study is based on McGregor’s theory X and Y which is an alternative to the

classical organization theory of Max Weber. Theory X and Theory Y was an idea devised

by Douglas McGregor in his 1960 book “The Human Side of Enterprise”. It encapsulated

a fundamental distinction between management styles and has formed the basis for

much subsequent writing on the subject. Theory X is an authoritarian style where the

emphasis is on “productivity, on the concept of a fair day's work, on the evils of feather-

bedding and restriction of output, on rewards for performance. It reflects an underlying

belief that management must counteract an inherent human tendency to avoid work”

(Shawcross, 2009).

Theory Y is a participative style of management which assumes that people have

a desire to and should be able to contribute to the decision making process, they will

organize themselves and will take responsibility if they are trusted to do so, poor

performance is most probably due to boring, repetitive and tedious work or poor

management and that they enjoy work, seek satisfaction from work and have many

different and complex needs. It is management's main task in such a system to

maximize that commitment (Okumbe, 2008).

Theory X assumes that individuals are lazy, do not like work and are primarily

motivated by money, they need to be closely supervised and controlled or they will

underperform, they do not care and are not interested in the needs of the business, they

lack ambition and that they have no desire or ability to assist in the decision making

process or to take on any responsibility. They always have a ready-made excuse for

failure - the innate limitations of all human resources (Shawcross, 2009). Theory Y,

however, assumes that individuals go to work of their own accord, because work is the
only way in which they have a chance of satisfying their (high-level) need for

achievement and self-respect. People will work without prodding; it has been their fate

since Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden.

Theory Y gives management no easy excuses for failure. It challenges them “to

innovate, to discover new ways of organizing and directing human effort, even though

we recognize that the perfect organization, like the perfect vacuum, is practically out of

reach”. McGregor urged companies to adopt Theory Y. Only it, he believed, could

motivate human beings to the highest levels of achievement. Theory X merely satisfied

their lower-level physical needs and could not hope to be as productive. “Man is a

wanting animal,” wrote McGregor, “as soon as one of his needs is satisfied another

appears in its place.”

Theory Y in its extreme form does not work well. All individuals, however

independent and mature, need some form of structure around them and some direction

from others. Theory Y can also be criticized for its “inhumanity” to the weak, and to

those not capable of a high level of self-motivation. According to Theory Y, People don't

hate work. It's as natural as rest or play.They don't have to be forced or threatened. If

they commit themselves to mutual objectives, they'll drive themselves more effectively

than you can drive them. But they'll commit themselves only to the extent they can see

ways of satisfying their ego and development needs.

In this study, the application of theory X views a school as an organization

composed of different categories of people namely teachers, students and non-teaching

staff. All these groups of people need discipline as a means of achieving the desired

organizational goals and objectives through setting rules and regulations and once
broken to be followed by prescribed punishments. Theory Y on the other hand views a

school as an organization with a head teacher able to apply leadership skills so as to

gain willing cooperation from teachers, students and non-teaching staff through the use

of rules and regulations set by management. In application of MacGregor’s theory to

this study, the main variables are school rules and regulations for efficient management

and administration of punishments to students who do not abide by school rules and

regulations and time management that refers to the effective utilization of time

allocated to individual activities in an education institution. These activities include both

classroom and outdoor work such as sports, gardening and cleaning work or house

work.

III. Problem and Goals

The study focuses on the effectiveness of rules and regulations in enhancing

discipline towards the Senior High School students in the Professional Academy of the

Philippines. The researcher has been wondering whether the existing rules are effective

in enhancing discipline among students in private school in professional Academy of

the Philippines. The effectiveness of school rule implementation has a direct impact on

shaping students' behavior. Despite the existence of well-crafted school rules, many

institutions face challenges in ensuring compliance and fostering positive behavioral

outcomes. The study was conducted through the selected Senior High School Students

in the Professional Academy of the Philippines time frame covered by the research is

from the month of December 2024 until March 2025.

This study seeks to provide actionable insights that schools can use to create an

environment where rules guide students not just towards compliance but towards self-
 discipline and respect for community values. The elements of school rules that were

considered included conduct within the classroom, examination rules, general rules and

rules guiding interactions between and among the students. The respondents is

composed of 30 Grade 11 HUMSS students from the Professional Academy of the

Philippines. These are the key stakeholders in far as student discipline in schools is

concerned. They were randomly selected through stratified sampling wherein the

population had been divided into subgroups (group/strata).

Research Questions

This study sought to answer the following questions:

i. To what extent are students involved in the formulation of school rules and

regulations in Professional Academy of the Philippines?

ii. How effective are the current school rules in promoting discipline and positive

behavior among students?

iii. What issues arise from t h e school rules and regulations in Professional

Academy of the Philippines ?

iv. How do students' attitudes toward school rules influence their adherence to

them?

v. What impact do school rules have on students' academic performance and

personal development

Methodology

Thematic analysis will be employed to analyze the data collected from interviews

and focus groups. This systematic approach is used to identify, analyze, and report
patterns (themes) within data. It is widely used in social sciences and humanities to

interpret rich and complex data sets, making sense of participant experiences,

perspectives, and meanings. Thematic analysis will be employed to identify recurring

patterns and themes in the interview and focus group data.

The researchers provided informed consent to them, informing them of the

objectives and procedures of the study. Benefits, potential risks, and issues on

confidentiality were read and explained to them so that they could choose to withdraw

from the said survey. Respect and dignity of the respondents were still the main concerns

of the researcher; hence the respondents were given the freedom to participate or not in

the said study. Data gathering employed only one set of survey questionnaires for the

Senior High School students in the Professional Academy of the Philippines. These sets

were developed by the researchers with the approval of the advisory committee.

The scoring technique for the gathered data is based on the Likert scale. 5-

Strongly Agree, 4- Agree, 3- Neutral, 2- Disagree, and 1- Strongly Disagree were the scores

and descriptions used.

V. Timeline

The research project will be conducted over 4 months and will involve:

# Preparation (1 months): Secure approval, establish partnerships, develop research

#Data Collection (1 months): Recruit participants, collect data through surveys, focus
groups, and document analysis.
 # Data Analysis and Interpretation (2 months): Analyze data, draw conclusions, and
develop recommendations.

# Follow-Up and Evaluation (Ongoing): Monitor the implementation of recommendations

References

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://psycnet.apa.

org/record/2006-06991-

002&ved=2ahUKEwjuuv30462KAxUxqFYBHZx9DiAQFnoECBgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2hSgEFRTcV

SI76t_9jcVwR

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.acade

mia.edu/40141446/Effectiveness_of_School_Rules_and_Regulations_to_the_Students&ved=2a

hUKEwiK6bPE4q2KAxV28DQHHYE9NlMQFnoECAgQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1mHWVD4pDtz9BthOJ

sSkeO

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.resear

chgate.net/publication/319938177_Influence_of_School_Physical_Facilities_on_Students_Disc

ipline_in_Public_Secondary_Schools_in_Makueni_County_Kenya&ved=2ahUKEwjIzaqs462KAxV

SulYBHXf8AdEQFnoECBUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0aazzmY3sEH9Kao8ftXnVz
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://educationlib

rary.org/theory-x-and-theory-y-douglas-

mcgregor/&ved=2ahUKEwjc_oDC5a2KAxV41TQHHVicMnoQFnoECBEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3nQp

6s4nKOK1TwW65sGg_K

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Right_of_Children_to_Free_and_Compulsory_Education_Act,_2009&ved=2ahUKEwjKjc

Wn5q2KAxWvslYBHZM4FX4QFnoECC4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1UyQlU0hhEMucSuzwxEcpH