COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES UTILISED BY WOMEN PRINCIPALS IN MANAGING WORKPLACE CONFLICT IN THE KENYAN SCHOOL CONTEXT

Abstract

Despite several conflicts experienced in secondary schools in Kenya, very minimal research has been conducted to investigate potential causes of unrests in schools related to inappropriate communication by school principals. Furthermore, it is normally assumed that women have better communication strategies and that their schools experience less conflict. However, a review of relevant literature shows that the manner in which women principals utilise communication to manage workplace conflicts has not been established through research, especially, in the Kenyan school context. Therefore, this study sought to explore how women principals utilised communication strategies to manage workplace conflicts at secondary school level. The specific research questions were: First, what is the nature of workplace conflicts in secondary schools headed by women principals? Second, what is the nature of communication strategies utilized in schools headed by women principals? Third, how do the women principals utilize communication strategies to manage workplace conflict at secondary school level? Fourth, what challenges do women principals face? This study was informed by relativist-interpretivist paradigm which is consistent with the qualitative approach. The study adopted a case study method in which semi- structured interviews, focused group discussions and document analysis were used to generate data which were then analysed thematically. Forty research participants who were sampled purposively to take part in the study included women principals, the deputy principals, HoDs, Guidance and counselling leaders, the senior teachers as well as prefects from the student council of each study school. All relevant ethical issues were addressed. Findings indicate that first, the nature of workplace conflicts such as need-based, interest-based, data-based and social-based conflicts were unpredictable. Secondly, the nature of communication strategies utilised in schools headed by women principals such as counselling, monologue, dialogue, aggression as well as grapevine-based communication were convoluted and fluid. Thirdly, the women principals‟ utilised unique communication strategies in managing workplace conflicts such as: Nurturing counselling, Mongrel and Machiavellian communication. Lastly, the major challenges faced by women principals included inadequate skills as well as insufficient and undocumented policy guidelines. The contribution this study makes is that communication strategies as utilized by the women principals in real life context has not featured anywhere in communication literature. Therefore, this study recommends that there is need for social science scholars to explore what interpretivist perspective has to offer in order to better understand people‟s unique experiences, their actual practices and needs. The study being multidisciplinary makes contribution to the body of knowledge in communication studies while offering a relevant analysis on the role of communication in managing workplace conflict within school leadership using a gendered approach.This is applicable in the twenty-first century in which effective communication is placed at the center of organizational learning. Hence, there is need for organizational leaders to desist from dichotomy thinking in managing workplace conflicts as the nature of conflicts is convoluted and unpredictable. Therefore, this study proposes a mixed-breed approach referred to as mongrel communication.