TEACHERS’ PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF PRINCIPALS’ ADMINISTRATIVE VARIABLES ON CONFLICT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IMO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the male and female teachers’ perception of principals’ administrative variables on conflict management in public secondary schools in Imo state, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study was 6641 teachers in the 288 Public Secondary Schools in Imo state. The sample for this study was 664 teachers consisting of 239 male and 424 females in 28 public schools in Imo State; selected by sing multi-stage random sampling techniques. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire designed by the researcher titled Influence of Principals’ Administrative Variables on Conflict Management Strategies Questionnaire (IPAVCMSQ). The instrument was face-validated by three experts: two from department of Educational Management and one from Measurement and Evaluation, Department of Science Education, all from College of Education Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The data obtained through the trial testing were used to determine the internal consistency reliability of the items which yielded reliability index of 0.79. The data collected were analyzed using Mean scores and Standard Deviations in order to provide answers to the three research questions, while the null hypotheses were analyzed using t-test statistics at P < 0.05 level of significance which revealed that principal’s qualification and experience influence conflict management strategies in secondary schools, Imo State. Gender has no significant influence on the extent principal’s qualification and experience influence conflict management in Imo State. The study among other things recommended that professional qualification is the requisite knowledge and skills a person has to acquire from training to enable him carry out work proficiently in his occupation; therefore, principals should be appointed based on their professional qualifications.