PRINCIPALS’ CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AS A CORRELATE OF PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

This study examined principals’ conflict management strategies and personnel administration in secondary schools in Anambra State. Three specific purposes, three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Correlational design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 266 principals in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The entire population was used for the study; hence the census technique was adopted for the study. Structured rating scale “Principals’ Conflict Management Strategies Rating Scale (PCMSRS) and Personnel Administration Rating Scale (PARS)” were used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts in Faculty of Education. Average internal consistency co-efficient of 0.87 and 0.79 was obtained for PCMSRS and PARS respectively using Cronbach Alpha analysis. The researcher administered the instrument to the respondents with the help of four research assistants. Data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The p-value was used to determine the significance of relationship at a significance level of 0.05 (5%). The findings revealed that there is positive relationship between principals’ conflict management strategies (collaboration, compromise, & negotiation) and personnel administration in secondary schools in Anambra State. From the results of the hypotheses, significant relationship was established in all the variables of the study. The study concluded that utilizing collaboration, compromise, and negotiation conflict management strategies promote transparent communication; create room for flexibility; and promote the identification of shared interests for the establishment of peace within the school. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that principals should try as much as possible to use collaboration conflict management strategy to control conflicts because it encourages open communication between conflicting parties in the school. Teachers should also be encouraged to compromise and negotiate to ensure provision for shifting grounds between conflicting parties.

Principals, Conflict Management, Conflict Management Strategies, Personnel Administration,

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