African Educational Research Journal - Vol. 11(1) - Full Length Research Paper - Correlation between school administrators’ solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies

Oct 15, 2026

This correlational survey examines whether school administrators’ solution-focused approach is associated with their preferences for conflict management strategies. The study uses a quantitative design with a sample of 248 school administrators, applying non-parametric tests, Spearman correlation, and descriptive statistics. Results indicate significant group differences by gender, age, and seniority, while correlations between solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies include both positive and negative relationships across the examined variables.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Conflict in organizations and educational settings

Models and strategies of conflict management

Research aim and method

African Educational Research Journal Vol. 11(1), pp. 64-73, March 2023 DOI: 10. 30918/AERJ.111.23.012 ISSN: 2354-2160 Full Length Research Paper The correlation between school administrators’solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies Gizem Günçavdi-Alabay Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Bursa Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Accepted 3 March, 2023 | ABSTRACT
This study aimed to determine whether there was a correlation between school administrators’ solutionfocused approach and their preferences for conflict management strategies. The research design of this study was the correlational survey, which is one of the quantitative research designs. The sample of this study included 248 school administrators, non-parametric tests and correlation analysis were used to analyze the data together with descriptive statistics. The results showed that there was a significant difference among groups of school administrators in terms of the variable of gender, age and seniority. The data relating to the solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies were analyzed and presented separately in detail. In terms of examining the correlations between solution-focused approach and conflict management strategies preferred by school administrators, Spearman’s correlation analysis was conducted and the results showed that there were both positive and negative relationships among those variables.
Keywords: Solution-focused approach, conflict, conflict management strategies, school administrators. | | --- | | E-mail: [gizemguncavdi@uludag.edu.tr](gizemguncavdi@uludag.edu.tr). | INTRODUCTION Post-modern theories, which have been influential in management science in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, have begun to focus on the psychological needs of employees by emphasizing the human dimension of the organization. Thanks to this changing perspective, managers are expected to be aware of the differences between employees and their strategies, skills and approaches on how to manage the conflicts that these differences may cause. It is known that managers who do not attach importance to the individual differences of their employees cause a decrease in the efficiency of the organization, problems in communication between employees and managers, unfair recruitment and promotions, and as a result, the emergence of experiences that will lead to intra-organizational conflicts (Hubbard, 2004) . Conflict could be defined as the process that results in tension between members of a group due to existing or perceived differences (De Dreu and Weingart, 2003) . Similarly, Robbins (1978) defined conflict as a disagreement between two or more parties for various reasons. It is known that there are various reasons for the emergence of conflicts. Moore (1996) grouped the causes of conflict into 5 different groups. These reasons were conflicts of values based on reasons such as different ideologies or religious beliefs, relationship conflicts based on inadequate communication, conflicts based on the misinterpretation of data due to disagreements on some issues, conflicts of interest based on competition for psychological needs, and conflicts structured on the unjust distribution of the organization's resources or unjust power. It is possible to say that conflicts occur in all organizations, albeit in different dimensions. Educational organizations, of which source and output are human, are among the organizations where conflicts were experienced (Nural et al. , 2012) . Nikolaou (2018) stated that conflicts in educational organizations may arise due Günçavdi-Alabay 65 to factors related to both the organizational structure and the individual differences of all stakeholders. Fraser and Hertzel (1990: as cited in Nikolaou, 2018) stated that conflicts in schools could be experienced between teachers, students and parents, and especially school administrators should have the social s

FAQs

What was the purpose of the study?

The study aimed to determine whether a correlation exists between school administrators’ solution-focused approach and their preferences for conflict management strategies.

How were the data analyzed?

A correlational survey design was used, with non-parametric tests, correlation analysis, descriptive statistics, and Spearman’s correlation analysis to examine relationships between variables.

What did the study find about group differences?

Significant differences were found among groups of school administrators regarding gender, age, and seniority for the examined variables.

Did solution-focused approach relate to conflict management strategies positively or negatively?

Spearman’s correlation results showed both positive and negative relationships between the solution-focused approach and the conflict management strategies preferred by school administrators.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by eBook King