Dynamics of Conflict Management Strategies as A Predictor to Secondary School Climate in the North West Region of Cameroon

  • Cho Browndon Achu Ph.D Fellow, Department of Educational Leadership, Faculty of Education of the University of Bamenda
  • Wanyu Patrick Kongnyuy Associate Professor, Faculty of Education of the University of Bamenda
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/ijie.v4i7.2041
Keywords: Conflict, Predictor, Management strategies, accommodation

Abstract

This research was aimed at evaluating the extent to which principals’ conflict management strategies predict secondary school climate in the North West Region of Cameroon. The study had six objectives, five research questions and five hypotheses. Related literature was reviewed theoretically, conceptually and empirically. The survey research design was used in this study which involved the use of predetermined sets of questions generally in form of questionnaires. The purposive sampling technique, simple random sampling technique and the accidental sampling technique were used. The sample of this study was made up of 80 Principals and 331teachers both male and female, from government, mission and private secondary schools of general education. The instruments used for data collection were the questionnaire for quantitative data collection and interview guide and focus group discussion for qualitative data collection. Analysis of statistical data was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0 with results presented on tables and figures. Multiple regression analyses was used to measure the association between the variables, without distinction between the independent and dependent variables. The bivariate correlation was used to evaluate the degree of relationship between all the variables of this study at 0.01 level of significance. The researcher used the bivariate regression to evaluate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables to predict the score of the dependent variable from the independent variables. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between conflict management by collaboration and secondary school climate (r =0.747), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by accommodation and secondary school climate (r =0.795), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by compromise and secondary school climate (r =0.696), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by competition and secondary school climate (r =0.336), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by avoidance and secondary school climate (r =0.215). From the results of the findings, the researcher recommends that principals and other school heads and administrators should receive adequate training on conflict management.

References

1. Adeyemi, T. O. (2009). Principals’ management of conflicts in public secondary schools in Ondo state, Nigeria: a critical survey. Educational Research and Review. 4(9), P. 418-426.
2. Blake, R.R., & Mouton, J.S. (1964). The managerial grid. Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing.
3. Bush ,T.& Middlewood, D.(2005). Leading and Managing People in Education. London:Sage.
4. Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (2nded.). New Delhi: Prentice Hall.
5. Farrant, J.S. (2003), Principles and Practice of Education. London Longman House of Burnt Hill.
6. Fonkeng, E.G. &Tamanjong E.V. (2009), Secondary School Administration and Principalship. Press Universitairesd’Afrique-Cameroon Follett,
7. M. P. (1941). Dynamic administration. New York: Harper and Row.
8. Forehand, G.A. (1968). The interaction of persons and organizations. In R. Tagiuri & G.H. Litwin (Eds.) Organizational climate: Explorations of a concept (pp. 36-61). Boston, MA: Harvard University.
9. Fiore, D. J. (2004), Introduction to Educational Administration: Standards, Theories and Practice. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
10. Firestone, W.A, & Pennell, J. (1993), Teacher Commitment, Working Conditions and Differential Incentive Policies. Review of Educational Research, 63(4), 489-525.
11. Gettys, J. M. (2003). The effect of school size on school climate in the middle schools of South Carolina. Ph. D. dissertation. University of South Carolina-United States. Retrieved June 3, 2011 from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. (Publication No. 3115110).
12. Getzels, J. W., & Guba, E. G. (1957, Winter). Social behavior and the administrative process. The School Review, 65(4), 423-441. The University of Chicago Press
13. George, D. & Mallery, P. (2003). SPSS for Windows step by step: A simple guide and reference. 11.0 update (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
14. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2004). Primal leadership: Learning to lead with emotional intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
15. Halpin, A., & Croft, D. (1962, August). The organizational climate of schools. (U.S.O.E. Research Project, Contract no. SAE-543-8639).
16. Hanson, E.M. (2003). Educational administration and organizational behavior (5th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
17. Hornby, A.S (2010), Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Oxford University Press.
18. Hoy, W.K., & Miskel, C.G. (2008). Educational administration: Theory, research, and practice (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
19. Kenny, D.A., & Zaccaro, S. J. (1983). An estimate of variance due to traits in leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 678-685. Retrieved January 16, 2013 from EBSCOhost.
20. Kerlinga, F.N. (1973), Foundation of Behavioral Research, Educational and Psychological Inquiry, New York, Holt, Rinehalt and Winston.
21. Kottler, J. P.(1999). What Leaders Really Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
22. Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (1993). Credibility: How leaders gain and lose it, why people demand it. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
23. Lewin, K. (1997). Resolving social conflicts: Selected papers on group dynamics. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
24. Lunenburg, F.C., & Ornstein, A.C. (2008). Education administration: Concepts & practices (5th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Higher Education.
25. Moos, R.H. (1979). Evaluating educational environments: Procedures, measures, findings, and policy implications. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
26. Ndiva, M.F. (2003), Educational Administration Theory and Practice, The Management of Organization and Individuals, Design House, Limbe.
27. Sweeney, J. (1992). School climate: The key to excellence. NASSP Bulletin, 76, 69-73.
28. Tambo, L.I, (2003), Principles’ and Methods of Teaching, Application in Cameroon Schools, ANUCAM Publishers.
29. Tchombe, T.M. (1987), Classroom Events, Methods, Techniques and Psychological Correlates.
30. Yaounde. Vita Press.
31. Thomas, K. W. & Kilmann, R.H. (2004). The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict MODE Instrument. Tuxedo, NY: Xicom.
32. Titanji, P. F. (2017). Understanding educational organisations and leadership. Calabar-Nigeria: University of Calabar Press
Published
2021-07-11
How to Cite
[1]
Achu, C.B. and Kongnyuy, W.P. 2021. Dynamics of Conflict Management Strategies as A Predictor to Secondary School Climate in the North West Region of Cameroon. International Journal on Integrated Education. 4, 7 (Jul. 2021), 12-28. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17605/ijie.v4i7.2041.
Issue
Vol. 4 No. 7 (2021): IJIE
Section
Articles

Copyright (c) 2021 Cho Browndon Achu

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

In submitting the manuscript to the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE), the authors certify that:

  • They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
  • The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
  • That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
  • The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
  • They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
  • They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.

License and Copyright Agreement

Authors who publish with International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) agree to the following terms:

  • Authors retain copyright and grant the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the International Journal on Integrated Education (IJIE) published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or edit it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
  • Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.