APPRAISAL OF PRINCIPALS’ CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE.

Abstract

This study investigated the extent of effectiveness of conflict management strategies used by secondary school principals’ in Anambra State. It adopted a descriptive survey design. One research question guided the study. The population of the study comprised 106 principals and 2669 teachers in Onitsha, Aguata and Otuocha education zones. An instrument constructed by the researcher, titled: “Appraisal of Principals’ Conflict Management Strategy Questionnaires” (APCMSQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts, two experts from Educational Management Unit and one expert from measurement and evaluation unit, all from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam. The reliability was established using a test-re-test method, it yielded 0.74 correlations, coefficient using Cronbach Alpha method. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The result of data analysis revealed that strategies like forcing, avoidance and silence are used by secondary school principals’ in managing conflict and that they are ineffective. Based on these findings, some recommendations were made which include: government organizing periodic seminars, conferences and workshops and principals improving their communication skills to enable them provide feedback as at when due.