Beyond Knowledge: The Influence of Teachers' Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills on Discipline Management in Rural Secondary Schools

This study examined the influence of teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, and skills on discipline management in rural secondary schools in Sabah, Malaysia. Effective discipline management remains an important aspect of school administration, particularly within rural educational settings where teachers often encounter diverse behavioural and contextual challenges. Guided by the Professional Competence Continuum Model, the study employed a quantitative non-experimental cross-sectional correlational survey design. Data were collected from 317 teachers selected from 19 rural secondary schools in the Interior Division of Sabah using a multistage sampling procedure. The research instrument measured four constructs, namely teachers’ attitudes, teachers’ knowledge, teachers’ skills, and discipline management. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis through IBM SPSS Statistics Version 30. The findings revealed that teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, skills, and discipline management were all at high levels. Correlation analysis indicated significant positive relationships between teachers’ attitudes, knowledge, skills, and discipline management. However, multiple regression analysis showed that only teachers’ attitudes (β = .289, p < .001) and teachers’ skills (β = .311, p < .001) significantly predicted discipline management, whereas teachers’ knowledge did not demonstrate a significant predictive effect (β = .062, p = .391). Teachers’ skills emerged as the strongest predictor of discipline management. The findings demonstrate that disciplinary knowledge alone does not independently predict discipline management effectiveness when considered alongside teachers' attitudes and practical disciplinary skills. Instead, teachers' attitudes and practical disciplinary skills emerged as the primary competency dimensions influencing effective discipline management in rural secondary schools. This study contributes to the literature on teacher competence and discipline management by providing empirical evidence from underrepresented rural secondary schools and offers important implications for competency-based teacher professional development and educational policy.

Teacher Competence; Discipline Management; Teachers' Attitudes

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