How do teachers and students deal with conflict? An analysis of conflict resolution strategies and goals

Abstract

The public concern about school violence paints a threatening picture of students and overall relations at school, particularly in Secondary Education. However, from a constructive conflict resolution perspective as well as from student-voicing points of view, an analysis free of adult bias seems crucial to ensure the proper management of school conflicts. Hence, research has been conducted, applying situational questionnaires to 1768 pupils and 211 teachers from 16 Spanish Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) schools in the Canary Islands and Asturias to better understand conflict resolution strategies and goals. Results showed that students are more frequently inclined to choose an Integrative and Discomfort-Avoiding coping style, advocating for Long-term goals, whereas their teachers primarily opted for coercive techniques (verbal and emotional abuse) and Short-term goals. The study concluded that students presented more constructive solutions to conflicts than teachers, underlining the need to educate teachers in these matters to improve their management of conflicts and become models for constructively addressing conflicts in the classroom.