The Teaching Profession according to Communication Styles while Solving Conflict Situations

Zuzana Kolenova,Zuzana Halakova*

doi:10.12973/ijem.5.4.535

Abstract

<p style="text-align:justify">An essential qualification requirement of the teachers´ profession is to handle the conflict situations effectively focusing on cultivation healthy kinds of relationship with other participants of the educational process, keeping discipline, communicative and good teaching atmosphere. In this contribution, we compare styles used in solving the conflict situations insight teaching profession objectively. Slovak elementary school teachers (N = 22) and secondary grammar school teachers (N = 42) were ask to complete a questionnaire consisting of 25 questions with 5 types of solving the conflict situations at school (avoiding, fighting, compromising, accommodating, collaborating). The occurrence and the use of different teachers´ approaches to solving the conflict situation were compared and analyzed. The Likert scaling and the method verified by professor Northouse were used for data evaluation. It is of high importance to pay attention to the dominant style (or the absent one) of solving the conflict situations in the teacher-student, teacher-teacher or teacher-superior interactions and to explore the differences of applying them.</p>

Highlights

Nowadays, the problem of the conflict solving and its techniques, as well as the strategies how to handle them is a very hot and research required topic
We compared results of teachers working at elementary school and those teaching at secondary grammar school
According to the evaluation of the Likert scales (Table 7), the elementary school teachers use the styles of conflict situation solution in the following descending order: compromise, collaboration, accommodation, avoiding and fighting

Summary

Introduction

The problem of the conflict solving and its techniques, as well as the strategies how to handle them is a very hot and research required topic. It is a part of teaching profession as well. Teachers face them almost every day, they are exposed to human interaction daily. They are trying to solve problems and conflicts in the best way they are able to and according to their psychological, pedagogical and educational knowledge. Default settings for successful handling a conflict are mental strength, patience, self-control, social feeling, tolerance of frustration, self-confidence, good estimation, feeling and courage for risk, emotional stability, ability to recognize others’ behaviour, reliability, honesty and tolerance of others’ mistakes (Kohoutek, 2009)

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Conclusion