GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT The main purpose of this study was to investigate into secondary school conflicts and the effectiveness of negotiation and collaboration as conflict resolution strategies in Akwa Ibom State.Two purposes of the study, two research questions and one hypothesis were raised. The study adopted an Ex-post facto correlational survey design method. The population of the study comprised all the public senior secondary school principals and teachers of senior secondary schools in Akwa Ibom state. A sample of 990 principals and teachers participated in the study. Cluster and Simple random sampling techniques were used to draw the sample. The instrument used for the study was titled “Secondary School Conflicts and Effectiveness of the Resolution Strategies Questionnaire (SSC-ERSQ)”. It was recommended that, principals should always adopt the negotiation method of conflict resolution, where both parties involved tries to gain an advantage over the other by the end of the process as negotiation is intended to aim at compromise. Moreover, Principals should always see conflict as a managerial tool which they as school managers could utilize to guide the conflicting parties and to address what essentially are obstacles faced by the school whether as teacher-teacher conflict or principal – teacher conflict. Secondary school principals and teachers should, through collaborative behaviour, pool their creative energies to find innovative answers to conflicting problems. Keywords: Conflict, Negotiation and Collaboration