School Leadership Preparation for Discipline and Behaviour Management: A Comparative Analysis of Homa Bay County, Kenya, and Saskatchewan, Canada

Abstract

School leaders occupy a central role in shaping effective teaching, learning, and overall school improvement, yet the complexity of today’s school environments requires leaders with advanced competencies in student discipline and behaviour management, competencies that are not always systematically developed within leadership preparation programmes. This study examined how school leaders in Homa Bay County, Kenya, and Saskatchewan Province, Canada, are prepared for the management of student discipline and behaviour, and how their respective policy environments influence these responsibilities. Although the broader study pursued several objectives, this paper focuses specifically on the approaches to leadership preparation for discipline and behaviour management in both regions. A systematic document review was conducted, drawing from 242 documents, of which 106 met the inclusion criteria. The final data set included national policies, education acts and regulations, school-board guidelines, ministerial circulars, professional development frameworks, leadership training curricula, academic publications, and empirical studies published between 1978 and 2024. Thematic content analysis was used to identify patterns in policy emphasis, leadership preparation, and school-level practices. The findings reveal significant divergence in leadership preparation pathways. In Kenya, school leaders are typically appointed without structured pre-service training, leaving many to rely on experience, trial-and-error, and post-appointment courses that offer limited grounding in behaviour management or restorative approaches. This contributes to gaps in leadership capacity when responding to complex disciplinary issues. In contrast, Saskatchewan requires pre-appointment preparation for school leaders, with programmes grounded in instructional leadership, inclusive education, behaviour management, and restorative practice. While these approaches have strengthened school climate and leadership competence, the evidence is largely descriptive and not causal. The study recommends that Kenya, through the Kenya Education Management Institute, strengthens leadership preparation by integrating structured pre-appointment training, adopting proactive and evidence-informed behaviour-management frameworks, and decentralizing aspects of disciplinary decision-making to enhance responsiveness at school level. These reforms hold strong potential for improving leadership capability, strengthening school climates, and fostering a more sustainable and inclusive education ecosystem.