Principals’ Conflict Management Styles and the Existence of Latent Conflicts among School Teachers in Perak

Gaya Pengurusan Konflik Pengetua dan Kewujudan Konflik Terpendam Di Sekolah Menengah, Perak

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the existence of latent conflicts among secondary school teachers in Perak. This study also reviewed the practice of conflict management styles of principals and the relationship between conflict management styles of principals and the existence of latent conflicts among teachers. A total 50 teachers comprising 21 males and 29 females from a secondary school were involved in this study. From 58 questionnaires distributed to them, only 50 (86.21%) were usable. The questionnaire consisted 42 items which includes three demographic factors, 16 items on latent conflicts adapted from conflict model by Pondy (1976) and 22 items of conflict management styles were adapted from the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode instrument (T-KCMI). Data was analyzed using descriptive s and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics include frequency, percentage and mean, while inferential statistics include Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis H and Spearman Rho tests were used to determine the relationship between teachers’ conflict and principal’s conflict management styles and the existence of teachers’ latent conflicts.  The results show that latent conflict exists among the teachers. The findings show that females had higher latent conflict than male teachers. The main conflict management styles used by principals were ‘controlling’ styles. This was followed by the ‘compromise’, ‘adjustment’ and ‘integrative’ styles. The most ‘dislike’ style was avoiding styles. The study also shows that only the ‘controlling’ style has a weak relationship with the existence of teacher’s latent conflicts. This study suggests that school principals need to know how to manage conflict effectively and be open in dealing with conflicts in schools.