Teachers' Patterns of Management of Conflicts With Students: A Study in Five European Countries.

Maria Clelia Zurlo,Davide Marocco,Elena Dell’Aquila,Federica Vallone

doi:10.5964/ejop.v16i1.1955

Maria Clelia Zurlo, Davide Marocco + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v16i1.1955

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Abstract

The present study proposed an application of the Rahim’ Model of Conflict Management, and aimed to explore the styles of handling interpersonal conflicts with students adopted by teachers from five European countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Austria), identifying specific patterns and evaluating potential differences according to teachers' Gender, Age, Working Seniority and Country of belonging. Overall, 589 secondary school teachers completed a questionnaire consisting of Socio-demographic characteristics and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II, Form B). Non-hierarchical k-means cluster analysis was employed to derive patterns of conflict management, identifying four patterns labelled as Multi-strategic and Engaged, Multi-strategic and Solution-Oriented, Control-Oriented and Avoidant, and Mediating. Significant differences between countries were found in the numbers of teachers grouped across the four patterns. Findings identified stable and meaningful patterns for evaluating teachers' styles of management of interpersonal conflicts with students and for promoting teachers’ effectiveness in conflict management in the European school context.

Highlights

The present study proposed an application of the Rahim’ Model of Conflict Management, and aimed to explore the styles of handling interpersonal conflicts with students adopted by teachers from five European countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Austria), identifying specific patterns and evaluating potential differences according to teachers' Gender, Age, Working Seniority and Country of belonging
National online surveys were organized in five European countries (i.e., Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, and Austria) as part of the ACCORD Project (Attain Cultural Integration through COnflict Resolution skill Development; www.accord-project.eu) aiming to explore the styles of handling interpersonal conflicts adopted by secondary school teachers within teacher-student interactions
The present study aimed to test the hypothesis of the presence of different combinations of styles of handling conflicts adopted by teachers from five European Countries within teacher-student interactions and to identify specific patterns of conflict management, exploring potential differences according to Gender, Age, Working Seniority and Country of belonging

Summary

Introduction

The present study proposed an application of the Rahim’ Model of Conflict Management, and aimed to explore the styles of handling interpersonal conflicts with students adopted by teachers from five European countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Austria), identifying specific patterns and evaluating potential differences according to teachers' Gender, Age, Working Seniority and Country of belonging. Findings identified stable and meaningful patterns for evaluating teachers' styles of management of interpersonal conflicts with students and for promoting teachers’ effectiveness in conflict management in the European school context. Nowadays, conflict resolution management represents one of the main challenges for teachers since conflicts with students from the new generation have become increasingly complex, and deriving from misunderstandings and disapproving behaviours during class, and from perceived differences in

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