Moderating effect of teachers support on the relationship between conflict management strategies and teachers’ productivity in secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Conflict management in schools is a crucial aspect of creating a positive and productive learning environment for students, teachers, and staff. Effective conflict management helps in preventing and resolving disputes, enhancing communication, and maintaining a harmonious atmosphere. Effective conflict management is vital for creating a positive learning environment where all stakeholders can thrive. Most institutions have employed different strategies in management of conflicts. Among the strategies include negotiation, mediation, collaboration and avoidance. This study examined the extent to which teacher support systems moderates the relationship between the conflict management strategies and teachers’ productivity in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. The study was anchored on conflict theory propounded by Karl Marx and adopted correlational research design with a target of 156 principals and 1783 teachers from 156 public secondary schools. A sample size of 427 respondents comprising of principals and teachers was drawn from the population. The study employed purposive sampling, stratified and simple random sampling approaches. Data was collected using questionnaires and analyzed using Multiple Regression Analysis. The results of regression analysis showed that negotiation, mediation, collaboration and avoidance combined had significant positive relationship with teacher productivity. The four independent variables explained 47.1% of the variance on teacher productivity. The Teachers’ support explained only 58% (R2 = 0.580) of the variance on teacher productivity thus contributing an additional R2 of 0.109 (10.9%) which was significant. The paper concluded that teachers support systems positively improves teacher productivity in public secondary schools and thus it was recommended that to get the best results in the resolution of workplace disputes, the management or administrators of secondary schools should enhance.