Conflict management and resolution in Secondary Schools in KwaZulu
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Date
1993
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Abstract
This research has looked into the methods which teachers and principals use to handle student-student, student-principal and student-teacher conflicts in KwaZulu secondary schools.
It has revealed that teachers tend to use authoritarian and power based methods to manage conflicts with students. Authoritarian methods rely on coercive and position power to force students to comply. They include punishment and force of different kinds. The research has shown that authoritarian and power based methods of managing conflict in schools tend to have short term benefits only.
The study has also found that some principals use competitive and authoritarian methods to manage conflicts which involve students. However, there is a definite effort by some principals to employ problem solving methods such as negotiation to solve conflicts with students. Where problem solving methods were used, positive relationships were enhanced. In some cases new ways of doing things at school were developed.
The* extent to which other methods like avoidance and accommodation are used to deal with conflict was highlighted. The outcomes of these in schools were also shown.
The research also indicated that the socio-economic and political history of education for Blacks in South Africa and KwaZulu, has created a great potential for conflict in schools. It was shown that schools in KwaZulu are in a situation where education does not adequately fulfill needs of students. As a result a lot of frustration occurs and students displace their feelings by resorting to socially disapproved means like violence.
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Other variables such as clash of values between teachers and students, misperceptions especially by students and lack of student involvement in decision making also contribute to conflict.
According to the observations of principals, students also deal with conflict in aggressive and competitive ways. They demand whatever they believe they are deprived of; they become violent or resistant to school authority.
Further, the study concluded that some teachers and principals increase the potential for conflicts in schools through defective management styles and negative interaction with students. The latter, namely negative interaction with students, was seen to be either part of estranged student-teacher or student-principal relationships or, in some cases, a result of poor communication and interpersonal skills of teachers or principals.
All three parties (namely teachers, students and principals) cloud issues on conflicts by mixing them with emotions and by operating from certain belief systems. Such emotions as uncontrolled anger and resultant violence or beliefs that students cannot or may not participate in decisions at school, often worsened conflicts.
The research discerned that a principal's or teacher's approach to managing conflicts tends to influence the outcomes.
Description
Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Subject Educational Management in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 1993.
Keywords
School management and organization, Conflict management and resolution