Causes of conflicts between teachers and school administrators in schools according to the teachers’ pеrspective

Abstract

Conflict is a condition that defines a social life. Conflicts and disagreements can arise as a result of differences in values, beliefs, personalities, goals and perceptions of individuals. In an educational organization it is common to have conflicts between teachers and administrators for various reasons. However, it is essential for both parties to cooperate, interact and work together in order to prevent or resolve conflict situations that have arisen.

The purpose of the study is to try to determine the causes of conflicts between teachers and school administrators according to the teachers' perceptions. The participants of the research consisted of 30 schools from the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, including Kazakh, Russian and Kazakh-Russian mixed schools all over the city, and 432 teachers who worked in these schools during the academic year 2019-2020. The data were collected using “Personal Information Form” and the “Reasons of Conflict Questionnaire”. The arithmetic means and standard deviation of the organizational conflict questionnaire determined the results of the study. The results of the study revealed, according to the teachers’ perspective the items that “mostly” causes conflicts in schools are the following: “Too much paperwork”, “The administrator keeps teachers under constant and tight control”, “The administrator interferences in teacher's private life”, “The administrator punishes failure rather than rewarding success”, “Differences in perception”, “The administrator is too distant from teachers”, “The administrator pretends to consult teachers when he/she makes the decision”, “The administrator looks down on teachers”, “The administrator neglects his/her responsibilities due to professional incompetence”, “The administrator’s favoritism policy”, “The parties have different views on the management methods”, “The administrator trusts only close people to him/her at school”, “The administrator always uses only written communication type”. As a result, it was concluded that Ust-Kamenogorsk has an unsatisfactory school environment which must be eliminated.