Causes, effects and management of conflict among educators in the Mafikeng District

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes, effects and management of conflict among school based educators. The dissertation acknowledge the existence of conflict in every human interaction. Conflict in organizations should be managed systematically. An appropriate approach in conflict management should aim at enhancing the benefits of conflict. The study aimed at determining whether site-managers possess the essential skill of managing healthy conflict while defusing unhealthy conflict. The institution of effective management of conflict techniques and guidelines is essential in a number of practical ways for preventing, managing and resolving workplace conflict, because the long term effects of unresolved conflict may impact negatively on an organization. The subjects of the study were 44 educators and one circuit manager based at the Area Project Office. Questionnaires and interviews were used to evaluate the perceptions in areas such as:- Conflict in the workplace, causes and effects of conflict and conflict management. The Research findings revealed that there is a lack of a conflict management system in schools. The absence of a conflict management system result in an array of problems related to conflict. Other findings include:- the management style of site-managers contributing to conflict management, lack of communication between stakeholders in the schooling system and a deficiency in Conflict management skills.