This study assessed the implementation of guidance and counseling services by heads of schools on the management of professional misconduct among public secondary school teachers in Mara region, Tanzania. The reviewed literature indicated that they is high rate of teachers’ professional misconduct and the application of guidance and counseling in managing teachers’ professional misconduct, and there was a need of assessing the implementation of guidance and counseling and find the way it can be properly used to manage teachers’ misbehaviours in the school environment. The study was guided by Transformation Leadership Theory which guides the HOSs to use different strategies in managing of teachers including guidance and counseling. This mixed method study adopted the convergent mixed research design whereby quantitative and qualitative data sets were collected simultaneously. The target population involved students, teachers, heads of schools and the District TSC Officers. Stratified, simple random and purposeful sampling techniques were used to determine the study sample that consisted of 468 respondents. Questionnaires, interview guides, interview schedule, and document analysis guide were used to collect the required information. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and inferentially using Chi-square technique. Tables, narrations and direct quotations were used to present the study findings. The study concluded that guidance and counseling was not properly implemented due to lack of guidance and counseling committee and lack of professionals dealing with teachers’ misconduct. However, the findings also indicated that there was a significant relationship between the application of guidance and counseling strategy and teachers’ professional misconduct management. The study recommended that the government should provide a specific policy that will give the guidelines for the formation guidance and counseling committee specific for teachers. Also, the government should employ teacher-counselors whom are knowledgeable and skillful with guidance and counseling parameters.
Keywords: guidance and counseling services, teachers’ professional misconduct transformational leadership theory and heads of schools (HOSs).
