Principals’ Conflict Management Styles in Effective Schools in Kumba I, Kumba II and Kumba III Sub-Divisions of Meme Division Cameroon

Abstract

The topic “Principals’ conflict management styles in effective schools in Kumba I, ІІ and ІІІ Sub-divisions” was coined to determine effective schools (that is, schools that consistently attain equity in quality of students’ learning) in these sub-divisions, determine principals’ professional abilities to resolve conflicts in these schools, find out strategies used by principals in resolving conflicts in effective schools and to determine how principals’ personal characteristics influence conflict management in schools. This was done through both a literature study and an empirical investigation. The researcher used a survey research design with data gathering instruments being the questionnaires and interview guides. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were designed for teachers proportionately selected from seven schools in the three sub-divisions and seven interview guides for the seven principals of the proportionately selected schools. The questionnaires were administered by the researcher himself and were collected on the same days. On the other hand, interviews were conducted with principals of the selected schools. Descriptive statistics were compiled in the form of data analysis. Findings were analyzed to identify effective schools, strategies used by principals in resolving conflicts in these schools, principals’ ability to resolve conflicts in effective schools and principals’ personal characteristics in conflict management in schools. Conclusions drawn from the study showed that, there were no effective schools in Kumba I, ІІ and ІІІ Sub-divisions, but the researcher identified some “leading schools” in these sub-divisions based on their nearness to the cut-off mean score. Data analysis under conflict management focused on how principals of these schools managed conflicts and it was found that the collaborative approach was most preferred. Findings also showed that principal’s personal characteristics like age, gender, marital status and qualification also counts in conflict management. Some recommendations were made for improvement of practice, for example the need to include a course on educational conflict management in university programmes designed for school administrators.