Dynamics of Conflict Management Strategies as A Predictor to Secondary School Climate in the North West Region of Cameroon

Abstract

This research was aimed at evaluating the extent to which principals’ conflict management strategies predict secondary school climate in the North West Region of Cameroon. The study had six objectives, five research questions and five hypotheses. Related literature was reviewed theoretically, conceptually and empirically. The survey research design was used in this study which involved the use of predetermined sets of questions generally in form of questionnaires. The purposive sampling technique, simple random sampling technique and the accidental sampling technique were used. The sample of this study was made up of 80 Principals and 331teachers both male and female, from government, mission and private secondary schools of general education. The instruments used for data collection were the questionnaire for quantitative data collection and interview guide and focus group discussion for qualitative data collection. Analysis of statistical data was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0 with results presented on tables and figures. Multiple regression analyses was used to measure the association between the variables, without distinction between the independent and dependent variables. The bivariate correlation was used to evaluate the degree of relationship between all the variables of this study at 0.01 level of significance. The researcher used the bivariate regression to evaluate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables to predict the score of the dependent variable from the independent variables. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between conflict management by collaboration and secondary school climate (r =0.747), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by accommodation and secondary school climate (r =0.795), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by compromise and secondary school climate (r =0.696), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by competition and secondary school climate (r =0.336), there is a significant relationship between conflict management by avoidance and secondary school climate (r =0.215). From the results of the findings, the researcher recommends that principals and other school heads and administrators should receive adequate training on conflict management.