Influence of peer counseling on students’ behavior change in secondary schools in Nakuru Municipality, Kenya

Abstract

Peer counselling has become an important and integral part of secondary schools in Kenya owing to the dynamism of education and the many problems facing secondary school students. The need for peer counsellors is one that cannot be overlooked owing to the fact that the teacher counsellor is either one or non-existent in most schools. While researchers, educationists and other concerned parties have come to recognise the role of peers as primary socialisation agents among adolescents, they have not seriously questioned the role played by peer counsellors in influencing behaviour change in secondary schools. This study examined the influence of peer counselling on the behaviour change of secondary school students in Nakuru Municipality. The study adopted the ex-post-facto research design. Twelve schools with a total population of 7338 students were identified as having active peer counselling programmes. A sample of 12 teacher counsellors, 32 peer counsellors and 132 students who had consulted peer counsellors was chosen using stratified and purposive sampling techniques from 9 public and 3 private secondary schools. The pilot study was done for the purpose of establishing the validity and reliability of the instruments. The teacher counsellors’, peer counsellors’ and students’ questionnaires content and face validity were established by experts from the Department of Psychology. Reliability was tested using the Cronbach’s Alpha and was established at 0.822, 0.802 and 0.851 respectively. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 for Windows was used in data analysis. Frequencies and percentages were used to describe the data. The influence of the independent variables on the dependent variable was determined by testing the relationship using the Pearson Product Correlations Coefficient. The results of the study revealed that the training and resources for Peer Counselling were inadequate. The results also revealed that Peer Counselling influences students’ academic performance however it does not influence their social and emotional behaviour. The study recommended training of peer counsellors and allocation of adequate funds and resources to school peer counselling programmes.