ABSTRACT

The study examined secondary school principals' conflict management strategies as they relate to teachers' job performance in Abia state, Nigeria. Five research questions and five hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Literature was reviewed based on the variables of the study. The population of the study consisted of 3875 teachers and 214 principals in Abia state Government owned secondary schools. This population was made up of 2735 female teachers and 1140 male teachers. Random sampling technique was used to select a population of 270 teachers and 30 principals who formed the subjects for this study. Female teachers used for the study were 180 while the male teachers were 90. Correlation design was adopted. The instruments used for data collection were two sets of questiormaire namely, Secondary School Principals Conflict Management Strategies Questionnaire (SSPCMSQ) and Teachers Job performance Questionnaire (TJPQ). t-test was used to answer the Research Questions whereas Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to analyze the hypotheses. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study disclosed that the way principals manage conflicts relates with teachers job performance in the aspect of classroom management, maintenance of discipline, student academic achievement, assessment and evaluation. Finally recommendations were made, which includes that secondary school principals in Abia state should adopt the identified good strategies in conflict management that support and encourage teachers' job performance.