This document discusses a study on the conflict resolution strategies used by public secondary school administrators in Region XII, Philippines and how these strategies relate to school development. The study found that administrators predominantly use collaboration, problem solving, smoothing, and compromising strategies to resolve conflicts. It also found the extent of school development in the region to be moderate. Certain conflict resolution strategies like competition, litigation and mediation were found to correlate with improvements in curriculum, staff, resources, learning environment and community building. The personal attributes of administrators did not affect their choice of strategies. Administrators' top concerns included lack of knowledge about different conflict resolution approaches and conducting preliminary investigations. The document recommends intensive seminars on conflict resolution and integrating related coursework into graduate

1. ADMINISTRATORS’ CONFLICT
RESOLUTION STRATEGIES AND
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT IN REGION
XII
ERNIE C. CERADO
SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY
ACCESS, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City
1
NATIONAL RESEARCH CONFERENCE
PUNTA VILLA, ILOILO CITY
OCTOBER 29-31, 2013

2. INTRODUCTIO
N
Schools have managers judged with
the responsibility of maintaining
stability in order to achieve
organizational goals.
They are the school administrators
who are tasked with the overall
management of the school.
2

3.  Nevertheless, conflicts in the country’s
public secondary schools are on the rise
in the recent years. This is mainly due to
unresolved conflicts between the
students, teachers, and the school
administrators. These have had negative
impacts on the academic standards and
performance of the school and the
students (DepEd, 2010).
CONT…
3

4. Pendharkar (1995) reveals that schools
with greater number of unsolved conflicts
performed poorly compared to those
schools with lesser conflicts. Thus,
knowledge of conflict resolution strategies
by the school administrators is perceived
to enhance learning, thereby improving the
academic performance of the students.
CONT…
4

5. On the other hand, Martires (2000)
stresses out that if a manager wants
to keep his team or organization work
effectively, then he should have the
skills in solving conflicts. Once he has
understanding of the different styles, a
manager can make use of them to
think about the most appropriate
approach for the conflict to resolve.
CONT…
5

6. It was on these premises, however,
that the researcher thought of
undertaking this study among public
secondary school administrators in
Region XII.
CONT…
6

7. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This study is anchored on the theories of
Thomas and Kilmann (1970), and
Martires and Fule (2000) on conflict
resolution. Accordingly, conflict may be
resolved through accommodation,
avoidance, collaboration, competition,
compromising, litigation, mediation,
problem solving, smoothing, and use of
authority.
7

8. Likewise, school development as a
concept was coined from the Basic
Education Assistance for Mindanao
(BEAM) School-Based Management
Framework which covers curriculum,
staff, resources, learning environment,
community building, and students’
academic development.
CONT…
8

9. CONT…
 In this study, the school administrators’ CRS
was presumed to have influence over
school development. Moreover, it was also
predicted that the way school heads
respond to conflicts may also be a factor of
his personal circumstances like age,
gender, highest educational attainment,
length of administrative service, and
religion.
9

10. FIGURE 1. RESEARCH PARADIGM
SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS’
PERSONAL FACTORS
Age
Gender
Highest Educational
Attainment
Length of Administrative
Service
Religion
CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
STRATEGIES
Accommodation
Avoidance
Collaboration
Competitive
Compromising
Litigation
Mediation
Problem Solving
Smoothing
Use of Authority
SCHOOL
DEVELOPMENT
Curriculum
Development
Staff Development
Resource Development
Learning Environment
Development
Community-Building
Development
Students’ Academic
Development
Antecedent Variable Independent Variable Dependent Variable 10

11. The primary objective of the study was
to assess and relate the conflict
resolution strategies of public
secondary school administrators with
school development in the Department
of Education (DepEd) Region XII.
General
Objective
11

12. 1. To describe the profile of the public
secondary school administrators in
terms of age, gender, highest
educational attainment, length of
administrative experience, and
religion.
In particular, it sought to answer the
following objectives:
12

13. 2. To describe the respondents’ assessment on the
the conflict resolution strategies of public
secondary school administrators along with:
2.1 accommodation;
2.2 avoidance;
2.3 collaboration;
2.4 competitive;
2.5 compromising;
2.6 litigation;
2.7 mediation;
2.8 problem solving;
2.9 smoothing; and
2.10 use of authority?
13

14. 3. To determine the difference between the
assessments of administrators themselves and
the teachers on the conflict resolution strategies
4. To assess school development in Region XII
along with curriculum, staff, resources, learning
environment, community-building, and
students’ academics achievement
14

15. 5. To relate the school administrator’s conflict
resolution strategies and school development
6. To determine the effect of the administrators’
personal factors to their conflict resolution
strategies
7. To find out the issues and concerns of public
secondary school administrators regarding
conflict resolution strategies
15

16. RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
16

17. RESEARCH DESIGN
 This study is descriptive in general and
correlational in particular since:
FOREMOST, it assessed the conflict
resolution strategies of public
secondary school administrators and
school development in the nine (9)
divisions of DepEd Region XII.
SECONDLY, it considered describing the
existing relationships between said
variables. For this inquiry, this is the most
fitting design suggested by Sevilla et al
(1992). 17

18. LOCALE OF THE
STUDY
The survey covered the 9 school
and city divisions in Region XII,
namely; South Cotabato, Cotabato,
Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani,
Tacurong City, Cotabato City,
Kidapawan City, Koronadal City,
and General Santos City.
Map of Region
XII
18

19. THE
RESPONDENTS
The respondents of the study
included sixty (60) public
secondary school administrators
and four hundred fifty-seven (457)
randomly selected teachers; those
whose length of service in their
present school assignment was
not less than three years.
19

20. DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENTS
 A researcher-made survey instrument was used in
assessing CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
of secondary school principals. Each item in the
tool was rated based on the following scale:
Rating --- Verbal Description
5 --- Highly Effective
4 --- Very Effective
3 --- Effective
2 --- Fairly Effective
1 --- Less Effective
20

21. CONT…
 On the other hand, the respondents rated
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT indicators using the
following scale:
Rating --- Verbal Description
5 --- Most Evident
4 --- Moderately Evident
3 --- Evident
2 --- Less Evident
1 --- Least Evident
21

22. STATISTICAL TREATMENT
Both descriptive and inferential statistics were
used in data analysis to include percentage,
weighted mean, t-test, F-test, Pearson r,
and ranking.
In most computations, the use of Microsoft
Excel software was maximized. All hypothesis
tests were performed at .05 level of
significance.
22

23. RESULTS AND
DISCUSSIONS
23

24. PROFILE OF THE SECONDARY
SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN
REGION XII
24

25. FIGURE 3. THE AGE
PROFILE OF THE
SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
Nearly 40%
or 4 out of 10
secondary
school
administrators
in Region XII
are 40 to 49
years old.
32% or
about 3 out of
10 school
heads are 50-
59 years old.
22%
38%
32%
8%
less than
30
30-39 40-49 50-59 60 years
old &
above
0
5
10
15
20
25
25

26. FIGURE 4. THE GENDER
PROFILE OF THE
SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
Majority of
the
secondary
school
administrato
rs is male.
Female
45%
Male
55%
26

27. FIGURE 5. BAR GRAPH OF THE HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL
ATTAINMENT OF THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
50% or 5 out
of 10
secondary
school
administrators
in the region
have
completed a
Master’s
degree
33%
50%
8% 8%
with MA units MA Graduate with PhD/EdD
Units
PhD/EdD
Graduate
27

28. FIGURE 6. BAR GRAPH OF THE LENGTH OF
ADMINISTRATIVE EXPERIENCE OF THE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
Typically, or
43% of the
school
administrators
have
administrative
experience of 10
to19 years.
37%
43%
20%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
less than 10 years
10-19
20-29
30-39
28

29. FIGURE 7. THE RELIGION PROFILE OF THE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
Majority or
70% of the
secondary
school
administrators
are Roman
Catholic.
PROTESTAN
T,
12%
ISLAM,
18%
ROMAN
CATHOLI
C, 70%
29

30. CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
OF SECONDARY SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
30

31. FIGURE 8. BAR GRAPH OF THE RESPONDENTS’ ASSESSMENT ON THE
CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
15%
0%
83%
5%
68%
7%
52%
80%
72%
47%
Accomodation
Avoidance
Collaboration
Competition
Compromising
Litigation
Mediation
Problem Solving
Smoothing
Use of Authority
Mostly of the secondary school principals are employing
collaboration, problem solving, smoothing and compromising
strategies in resolving conflicts in school.
31

32. RESPONDENTS’ ASSESSMENT ON
CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
32

33. TABLE 1. THE RESPONDENTS’ ASSESSMENT ON
CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES OF THE SCHOOL
ADMINISTRATORS
Respondents Means Interpretation
Teachers 3.74 Very Effective
School Administrators 3.56 Effective
Overall Mean 3.65 Very Effective
Generally, the assessment of teachers and
administrators towards the latter’s conflict resolution
strategies is very effective. 33

34. TABLE 2. THE T-TEST ANALYSIS OF THE RESPONDENTS’
ASSESSMENT ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
OF THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS
Respondents Means Computed t Interpretation
Teachers 3.74 3.8878 significant
School Administrators 3.56
ttab( 514,.05) = 1.9719
The perception of the teachers on the conflict
resolution strategies of their school administrators is
relatively higher than that of the latter. 34

35. EXTENT OF SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
IN REGION XII
35

36. TABLE 3. SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT AMONG SECONDARY
SCHOOLS IN REGION XII
Variables Mean Verbal Description
Curriculum Development 3.92 Moderately Evident
Staff Development 3.97 Moderately Evident
Resource Development 3.97 Moderately Evident
Learning Environment 4.05 Moderately Evident
Community-building
development
4.19 Moderately Evident
Overall Mean 4.02 Moderately Evident
Generally, the school development in the region is
moderately evident. 36

37. TABLE 4. STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT AMONG
SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF REGION XII
School Year NAT Results Descriptive Rating
2008 - 2009 46.76 Average Mastery
2009 - 2010 48.70 Average Mastery
2010 - 2011 51.23 Average Mastery
Mean 48.90 Average Mastery
In terms of students’ academic achievement as a
measure of school development, its level reaches to
average mastery. 37

38. RELATIONSHIP OF CONFLICT
RESOLUTION STRATEGIES AND
SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
38

39. TABLE 16. CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS’
CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES AND SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT
Conflict
Resolution
Strategies
Curriculu
m Dev’t
Staff
Dev’t
Resourc
e Dev’t
Learning
Envi. Dev’t
Communit
y-building
Academic
Dev’t
Accommodation -- -- -- -- -- --
Avoidance -- -- -- -- -- --
Collaboration -- -- -- -- -- --
Competition * * * * * --
Compromising -- -- -- -- -- --
Litigation * * * * * --
Mediation * * * * * --
Problem Solving -- -- -- -- -- --
Smoothing -- -- -- -- -- --
Use of Authority -- -- -- -- -- --
* - significant
Only the strategies of competition, litigation and mediation are
significantly associated to developments in curriculum, staff,
resources, learning environment and community-building.
39

40. ADMINISTRATORS’ PERSONAL
FACTORS AND CONFLICT
RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
40

41. TABLE 5. EFFECT OF ADMINISTRATORS’ PERSONAL
FACTORS TO THEIR CONFLICT RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
Variables F-ratio
F-critical
(α.= 05)
Interpretation
Age 0.174211 2.7694 Ns
Gender 0.7175* 2.0017* Ns
Educational
Attainment
1.2398 2.7694 Ns
Administrative
Experience
0.7660 3.1589 Ns
Religious Affiliation 0.1572 3.1589 Ns
* - t-value Ns – not significant
Consistently, all personal factors of school
administrators were found to have no effect on the kind
of conflict resolution strategies that they employed.
41

42. COMMON ISSUES AND CONCERNS
RELATED TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION
STRATEGIES
42

43. TABLE 6. COMMON ISSUES AND CONCERNS OF PUBLIC
SECONDARY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS ON CONFLICT
RESOLUTION STRATEGIES
Issues and Concerns Rank
Lack of adequate/sufficient knowledge on the
different conflict resolution strategies
1
Limited knowledge on the conduct of
preliminary investigation
2
Inadequate knowledge on the rules of
presentation of evidence
3
Attitude of teachers and students on resolution
of conflicts
4
Imposition of penalties on the party that is
found guilty
5
43

44. CONCLUSIONS
The school administrators
predominantly employed the following
conflict resolution strategies:
COLLABORATION, PROBLEM SOLVING,
SMOOTHING, COMPROMISING, AND
MEDIATION.
44

45. CONT…
The extent of development of public
secondary schools in DepEd XII was
substantially observed and sustained
for a longer time while the students’
academic development was on
“average mastery” level only.
45

46. CONT…
Conflict resolution strategies such as
COMPETITION, LITIGATION AND
MEDIATION were associated to
curriculum, staff, resources, learning
environment and community-building
development.
46

47. CONT…
Conflict resolution strategies of the
secondary school administrators were
not affected by personal factors.
The inadequacy of competence on the
different conflict resolution strategies
and the limited knowledge on the
conduct of preliminary investigation
were the top concerns of school
administrators. 47

48. RECOMMENDATIONS
 INTENSIVE SEMINARS for school
administrators on the fundamentals,
processes, and legal considerations of
conflict resolutions and strategies should be
organized in the Division level.
 Courses or subjects in conflict management
should be INTEGRATED IN THE GRADUATE
PROGRAM CURRICULUM for Educational
Management or Administration to prepare
potential school administrators for conflict
management in school.
48

49. 49
Thank you very
much for
listening!