CONFLICT MANAGEMENT SKILLS AS CORRELATE OF TEACHING PARTNERSHIP IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study examined conflict management skills as correlate of teaching partnership in public secondary
schools in Anambra State. Two research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested
at .05 level significance. The study adopted correlational research design. The population of the study
comprised 5133 teachers in 266 public secondary schools in the six Education Zones in Anambra State.
A sample of 513 teachers was used for the study. Multi-stage sampling technique was used for the
study. The instruments for data collection were a researcher-structured questionnaire titled: Conflict
Management Skills Questionnaire (CMSQ) and Teaching Partnership Questionnaire (TPQ). The
instruments were content validated while the construct validation was ascertained using Principle
Component Analysis Approach. The reliability of the instruments was determined using Cronbach
Alpha Coefficient method which gave coefficient values of 0.82 for effective communication skills,
0.78 for active listening skills and 0.81 for teaching partnership respectively. Simple regression analysis
was used for data analysis. The study revealed that effective communication skills (r = 0.682; P < 0.000)
and active listening skills (r = 0.675; P < 0.000) have positive and significant relationship with teaching
partnership in public secondary schools in Anambra State. The study concluded that there exists
relationship between conflict management skills and teaching partnership in public secondary schools
in Anambra State. Based on the findings, the study recommended among others that school
administrators should tackle the issues of improper conflict management skills adopted in the school
system in order to prompt good teaching partnership.