Teachers’ Attitudes towards Behaviour Patterns in Social Conflicts in Primorsko-Goranska County in Croatia

Abstract

The aim of the empirical research is to determine primary school teachers’ attitudes towards behaviour patterns in social conflict. A primary school teacher is the role model for his/her pupils, so in the context of the theory of hidden curriculum, the purpose of the study is determining a better understanding of teacher’s needs for further conflict resolution training. AScale of Attitudes toward social conflicts was applied to a stratified sample of 155 teachers in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Croatia, measuring three patterns of behaviour: avoidance/adaptation, cooperation, and winning. According to the results, the teachers most frequently have positive attitudes toward a pattern of cooperation, and most seldom towarda pattern of winning. Winning is negatively correlated with cooperation, and positively correlated with avoidance/adaptation. The authors recommended systematic social skills training necessary for managing conflict for a specific group of teachers. The authors believe these findings could raise interest and awareness for further studies in the field of conflict studiesin education.