Strategies Adopted by School Management in Containing Conflicts in Public Primary Schools in Lamu County

Abstract

Conflicts appear to be a constant component in today's educational institutions, and they are becoming a part of academic life. Schools frequently appear to be a hotbed of conflict, and they can also be a reflection of broader societal issues. Individual members of a school must be able to work in a conflict-free environment for it to be effective. The overall goal of the study was to look into the impact of school management practices on conflict resolution in Lamu County's public elementary schools. The study attempted to determine the impact of school management's competing strategy, collaborating strategy, and compromising approach on conflict resolution in Lamu County's public primary schools. The research was founded and based on the dual concern theory and max conflict theory. Target population for this study included 68 public primary schools of Lamu County with 4 respondents each, and therefore targeted a population of 272 respondents comprising of the school’s head teachers, Deputy Head teachers, senior teachers and Chairmen of Boards of Management respectively. The sample size was 80 respondents randomly selected from the 68 schools in both Lamu East and Lamu West Sub-Counties. Using SPSS software version 23, the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentages, means, and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (t-test). The study used a descriptive survey design in which data was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Piloting of the study questionnaires was done in 7 schools randomly selected which did not take part in the real research. Information about the number of schools is as recorded by the MoEST and the TSC County offices. This excludes the schools prone to frequent attacks by the Al-Shabaab militia from both sub counties. In general, it is intended that the findings of this research study would aid in better understanding of school management's conflict-resolution tactics. According to the findings, school administrations have been harmed by a lack of conflict management knowledge, as most administrators addressed conflict by trial and error because there were no particular protocols and methods for dealing with conflicts. It is therefore recommended that no one strategy is enough in conflict containment hence the study recommends that school management to consider a blend of two or more strategies in containing conflict to enhance effective conflict containment. It further recommended that it is from the source of conflict where the best strategy shall be employed in containing the nature of conflict. It is therefore necessary to identify causes of conflict in an institution and subsequently suggest the best strategy to put in place.