Principals’ Administrative Approach To Managing Conflicts Among Staff Of Public Secondary Schools

This study was carried out to examine the principals’ administrative approach to managing conflicts among staff of public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA, Rivers State. The study was specifically set to identify the factors responsible for conflict in public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA, examine the effects of conflicts which arises  in public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA, and find out the strategies adopted by principals for effective  conflict management in public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprise of principals and teachers in selected secondary school in Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State. In determining the sample size, the researcher conveniently selected 119 respondents while 110 were received and 100 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using mean scores, while the hypotheses was tested using Chi-square statistical tool. The result of the findings reveals that the factors responsible for conflict in public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA includes: violation of collective agreement, poor communication skills, background diversity, and condition of employment. Furthermore, the study showed that the strategies adopted by principals for effective  conflict management in public secondary schools in Obio Akpor LGA includes: avoidance conflict management strategy, collaborative conflict management strategy, collective bargaining conflict management strategy, and compromise conflict management strategy. The study recommends that Principals and teachers should try to keep communication channels open between them. Where communication flows freely,it is easier to detect conflict before it erupts into unsafe proportions. Furthermore, open communication is one way to safeguard trust and clarify misperceptions, even during conflicts. However, both principals and teachers need to develop schools as communities and strive for a climate of team spirit with students. To mention but a few.