Title: Perspective of Educators on Leaderships’ Handling of Conflict in Schools in the Phoenix Circuit

Biography:

Deshini Pillay is working at Trenance Park Primary School, South Africa.

Abstract

This study focused on the perspectives of educators on leaderships’ handling of conflict in schools in the Phoenix Circuit.  The purpose of this study was to investigate secondary and primary school educators’ perspectives of prevailing leadership styles when resolving conflicts within the school context. Conflict management by leadership is important as it reflects on the type of leadership skills used in an institution. The role of a leader in an organization is vital as it impacts significantly on the institution at large. A leader is accountable for everything that transpires at the institution. In light of the aforementioned, the school principal should be seen as a fundamental agent of transformation, creating a space for deliberation and dialogue. School leaders need to work closely with their educators, hence there needs to be collaboration amongst them. Inappropriate leadership styles have a tremendous impact on the culture of teaching and learning and the performance of learners. Moreover, the morale of educators is affected. The researcher conducted the study in the Phoenix Circuit as this area had many documented cases of unresolved conflict (SADTU Member Welfare Case File 2014). The members (SADTU Member Case File 2014) put forward a motion that within Phoenix, there were conflicts between leaders and educators in various schools that required urgent intervention from the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) Phoenix Branch. Owing to the many unresolved cases of conflict in the Phoenix Circuit from 2013, the researcher found that this warranted investigation. The members (SADTU Member Case Files 2014) stated that cases of unresolved conflict in schools was a cause for concern as there were grievances from educators regarding conflict management at their schools. SADTU is the largest teacher union in South Africa, representing 70% of the teaching force. Hence the researcher purposively selected SADTU and furthermore, the researcher is an executive member of the Phoenix Branch of SADTU.