Conflict Resolution Mechanism in Public Senior High School in Ghana and Its Impact on School Administration: A Case Study of Schools Greater Accra Metropolis

This article looks at resolution of conflict embarked upon by the school administration in the Senior High Schools in the Greater Accra Metropolis, Ghana. The article looks at resolution of conflict from a different perspective thus, discussing and analyzing the root cause and source of school conflict in the administration of schools. The researcher obtained information by the use of quantitative and qualitative techniques to bring to bear the variable under study. This study used descriptive research designs to enable the researcher to work efficiently. The sample for the study comprised the head teacher, representatives of Board of Governors, teachers, students and education officers to investigate the understanding, perception and impact of conflicts resolution mechanism in their respective schools. The research instrument included a questionnaire and an interview schedule, which were administered to respondents. The researcher used qualitative and quantitative research designs and these were analyzed using SPSS, percentages and pie charts were used to present the data. The results of the analysis revealed that teachers tend to use authoritarian and power based methods to resolve conflicts with students. Authoritarian methods rely on coercive and position power to force-students to comply. They included punishment and force of different kinds. The research also shows that authoritarian and power based methods of resolving conflict in Senior High Schools tend to have short term benefits only. The research again found that some school managers use competitive and authoritarian methods to resolve conflicts which involve students. However, there is a definite effort by some managers to employ problem solving methods such as mediation and negotiation to resolve conflicts with students. Where problem solving methods were used, positive relationships were enhanced. In some cases, new ways of doing things in the schools were developed. The extent to which other methods like avoidance and accommodation are used to deal with conflict was highlighted. The outcomes of these in schools were also shown. The research further indicated that, culture, socio-economic and political history of education has created a great potential for conflict in the Senior High schools in Ghana. It was again indicated that schools in Ghana are in a situation where education does not adequately fulfill needs of students. As a result a lot of frustration occurs and students displace their feelings by resorting to socially disapproved phenomena like bully, barbarism and other forms of violence. Other variables such as clash of values between teachers and students, misperceptions especially by students and lack of student involvement in decision making also contribute to conflict. Observations made by School managers indicated that, students also deal with conflict in aggressive and competitive ways. They demand whatever they believe they are deprived of; they become violent or resistant to school authority. Further, the study concluded that some teachers and school managers increase the potential for conflicts in schools through defective resolution styles and negative interaction with students. The latter, namely negative interaction with students was seen to be either part of estranged student-teacher or student-manager relationships or, in some cases, a result of poor communication and interpersonal skills of teachers or managers.