The Principal's Role in Dealing with Conflict

Principals must deal with conflict on a daily basis. They handle conflict between teachers, students, their fellow administrators, parents and sometimes even community members  . There are a wide variety of strategies that can be employed to handle conflicts depending on the nature of the conflict, the severity of the conflict and the amount of knowledge they have about the conflict.

Conflict is inevitable, but the key to being an effective leader is how you handle the conflict.  It is important for principals to deal swiftly and effectively with conflict. If there is not a solution or at least an effort to come up with a solution then the conflict will continue to grow. It can also create other conflicts and exacerbate the problem. Fixing the conflict is generally the best choice for the principal.  If a principal chooses the flight option then the situation generally becomes worse. If a principal chooses the fight option then teachers may become antagonistic toward the principal as well as other teachers and this can result in an unproductive and hostile environment that is not conducive to student learning.

I have found a very useful tool in resolving conflict is listening.  Often the parties involved don’t’ feel like they were heard and often the conflict revolves around a miscommunication that can more easily be resolved by hearing each of the parties out.