| dc.description.abstract | This study assessed the influence of secondary school leadership styles on Principals' choice of conflict management strategies in Kitui Central District, Kenya. This was done with a view to determining the extent to which conflict management strategies are chosen in various school leadership styles for application while resolving intra and inter personal conflicts between school administrators, parents, Board of Governors (BOG) Parents Teachers Association (PTA), community, teachers and non-teaching staff and students.
The objectives of the study were the influence of secondary school leadership styles on principals' choice of avoidance, bargaining, smoothing, coercive and problem-solving social skills' conflict management strategies. Reviewed literature was presented from the local perspective in Kitui Central District, as well as from the national-Kenya, continental-Africa and international-worldwide perspectives; according to subheadings: causes of conflicts and school leadership styles; laissez faire school leadership styles on avoidance conflict management strategies, transactional school leadership styles on bargaining conflict management strategies, democratic school leadership styles on smooth conflict management strategies, autocratic school leadership styles on principals choice of coercive conflict management strategies and contingency school leadership styles on principals choice of problem-solving conflict management strategies, with theoretical and conceptual framework at the end of the reviewed literature.
The study adopted ex-post facto design, using survey design to collect data from the selected 25 principals and 25 deputy principals as study participants, for they are assumed to be conversant with leadership styles and the conflict management strategies used in the county. The study population comprised of all 25 Principals from the 25 public secondary schools in Kitui Central District, Kenya. Census sampling technique was used to select the 25 principals and purposive sampling was used to select the 25 deputy principals who are from each of the 25 secondary schools in the district. A questionnaire for principal's was used for collecting data. The questionnaire items were closed-ended to enhance consistency in data elicitation. Some of the questionnaire items were of the form fivepoint likert rating scale within the range of (1-2-3-4-5).
The questionnaire was pre-tested by means of a pilot study where experts were to ascertain validity and spilt-half method was used to establish reliability. A research authorization permit was obtained from the Ministry of Education. All the selected 50 participants were to complete the questionnaire. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical methods like frequency distributions; percentages and averages (mean = J..L values). Statistical tally system was used to generate frequency counts from the responses so as to prepare frequency distributions.
Percentages in the 5-point rating likert scale response out of the total study sample response per item were calculated. In order to uphold their privacy as well as maintaining confidentiality, the selected study participants were asked not to write down their names anywhere on the questionnaire. They were also assured that their identity remained anonymous and the data they filled in would be kept confidential, but used only for the purpose of this study. Informed consent for participation was sought before the administration of the questionnaire by seeking the participant's personal right of choice of participation. Based on the findings and reviewed literature, summary, discussions, conclusions and recommendations of the study were drawn with suggestions for further studies. | en_US |
