Conflict management techniques and teacher job satisfaction in selected secondary schools in Uriri and nyatike sub counties, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate conflict management techniques and teacher job satisfaction in selected secondary schools in Uriri and Nyatike Sub-Counties, Kenya. The objectives of the study were to: establish types of conflicts that commonly arise in secondary schools, find out the sources of conflicts that commonly arise in secondary schools in Uriri and Nyatike Sub Counties, determine the conflict management techniques used by principals to deal with conflicts and determine the relationship between conflict management techniques and teacher job satisfaction. The 2 sub counties had 87 public secondary schools. The study was conducted using descriptive survey design which can be used to describe aspects of population which include opinions, attitudes and beliefs. Proportionate and stratified sampling were used to decide on the sample sizes based on percentages and to improve representativeness. Purposive sampling was also used to capture the 3 schools that were adversely affected by conflicts. Saturated sampling was also used with principals and senior teachers. In spite of there being many aspects of school management, the study only focused on conflict management. The sample consisted of: 392 teachers which was 20%, 29 principals which was 30% and 29 senior teachers which also was 30%. The main data collection instruments were questionnaires and focus group discussions. Content and face validity were determined by expert judgment. The instruments were prepared and forwarded to experts in Educational Management at Rongo University for careful scrutiny, their comments and corrections were used to improve the final draft. Pearson‟s r for reliability of piloted data was +0.81 for principals and +0.83 for teachers. The results showed that the questionnaires were reliable for research. From the research instruments, the researcher sought to elicit information about types and sources of conflicts that commonly arise in public secondary schools, the conflict management techniques used by principals to deal with conflicts and to investigate the relationship between conflict management techniques in and teacher job satisfaction. The research yielded both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) in form of frequencies and percentages, while qualitative data from open ended questions was analyzed using inferential statistics according to themes in the research questions. The findings showed that there were more relationship-related conflicts than task-related conflicts in schools. Major sources of conflicts included: distribution of scarce resources, poor communication skills on the part of principals, administrative issues, incompetence of principals or teachers and indiscipline of students. It was also revealed that principals use eclectic approach to conflict management. Integrating and obliging techniques had a strong positive relationship with teacher job satisfaction, while dominating and avoiding techniques had no significant relationship with teacher job satisfaction. The study concluded that conflict management techniques contributed to 52.5% of teacher job satisfaction, the remaining 47.5% was accounted for by other variables which were not part of this study. It was recommended that principals be trained in conflict management before they are allowed to take over management of schools. The study proved to be significant for the following reasons: it adds to the existing knowledge in the area of conflict management, it may be useful in developing guidelines for principals and other stakeholders to enable them manage schools effectively, it may help the Ministry of Education to formulate training materials for school managers to enable them manage conflicts effectively and it may enable teachers and educators to improve and to manage conflicts in schools more effectively and efficiently.