The Study of Strategies of Conflict Behavior of Teachers and the Psychological Atmosphere in the Teaching Staff

Rostovtseva Marina Viktorovna Doctor of Philosophy Professor, Siberian Federal University 660030, Russia, Krasnoyarskii Krai oblast', g. Krasnoyarsk, ul. Vil'skogo, 18a, kv. 58 marin-0880@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Dulinets Tat'yana Grigor'evna PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor, Department of Developmental Psychology and Counseling, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660028, Russia tadulinec@yandex.ru Other publications by this author     Trofimova Valentina Viktorovna Assistant, Department of Information Technologies for Education and Lifelong Education, Siberian Federal University 79 Svobodny str., Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia VVtrofimova@sfu-kras.ru Other publications by this author     Polomoshnova Anna Valentinovna Student, Department of Information Technologies for Education and Continuing Education, Siberian Federal University 660074, Russia, Krasnoyarsk, Borisova str., 1 ani.net881@yandex.ru

Desyatova Irina Sergeevna Student, Department of Information Technologies for Education and Continuing Education, Siberian Federal University 662501, Russia, Krasnoyarsk Krai region, Sosnovoborsk, Leninsky Komsomol str., 26 desyatova_1989@list.ru

The relevance of the research is determined by the intensive transformations of the social sphere in general and the education system in particular. The increasing tension of labor entails an increase in the number of social conflicts in educational organizations between all subjects of educational relations. In case of conflict situations, the main responsibility for their settlement falls on teachers. Their principled position, ethical attitude to others, pedagogical tact, constructive behavior, dedication are very important here, which correlates with a high level of proficiency in pedagogical culture. At the same time, according to the research of L.A. Zakharchuk, the most characteristic for the education system are interpersonal conflicts that arise about achieving the goals of professional activity, as well as when role-based relationships are violated.

Currently, the problem of conflict management has been worked out quite extensively at the theoretical level.

In the foreign studies of K. Levin, K. Lorenz, A. Smith and others, conflict theories have been developed and it is shown that conflict is a multilevel social phenomenon unfolding in groups and determining group dynamics.  

The works of Iurchevici I. G., Rahim M.A., Magner N.R., Rands M., Levinger G., Mellinger G.D. ^{[12, 13, 14]} study the factors of teachers' conflict behavior and their dependence on personal characteristics: empathy, introversion/extroversion, the level of communicative control in communication, etc.

In the works of Russian scientists, pedagogical conflict is studied deeply and thoroughly with an emphasis on its social nature. Thus, the works of I.A. Bogacheva ^[1], N.S. Yezhkova ^[4], T.T. Kerimov ^[6] study the causes of conflicts in the teaching staff and ways to resolve them.

In the works  Vaseva O.X, Romanova P. Yu ^[2], Denisova E.V., Naumova T.V. ^[3], Rostovtseva M.V. ^[9], etc. a theoretical understanding of the essence, structure and dynamics of the conflict is attached.

Other Russian researchers study the conflict from the point of view of creating psychological and pedagogical conditions for conflict management in the teaching staff ^{[5, 7, 8]}

Pedagogical activity involves communication with a large number of people belonging to different age categories and having different social status, which inevitably leads to conflicts ^[10].

The educational organization not only implements the educational process, but also carries out group interaction of completely different people. In the course of such interactions, disagreements arise, which the participants seek to resolve in various ways. The pedagogical sphere is an important social institution aimed at the formation of personality. Therefore, favorable socio-psychological conditions are extremely important here ^[11].

At the same time, to date, there are isolated works on the classification of conflicts, the characterization of their causes, as well as individual theoretical and practical recommendations for the introduction of mediation practices for conflict resolution in the school environment. Despite the fact that conflicts in the education system are a natural phenomenon, it has causal relationships, significantly affects the behavior of participants in the educational process, it is difficult to find scientifically based recommendations in the literature on the prevention of conflicts in a school educational organization.

In our study, we relied on the position of T.T. Kerimov that one of the main causes of conflicts in the teaching staff is the activity-oriented professional orientation of teachers, due, among other things, to their choice of specific behavioral strategies in a conflict situation.

The subject of the study is the influence of the choice of conflict behavior strategies on the psychological atmosphere of the teaching staff.

The purpose of the work: to study the influence of strategies of conflict behavior of teachers on the psychological atmosphere of the teaching staff

A sample of the study. This study involved 25 people from the teaching staff of the secondary school (21 women and 4 men). Of these, 19 people have higher education, 6 have specialized secondary education. The highest qualification category has 9 people, the first – 10 people, without a category – 6 people. The age composition of the study participants: 18-25 years – 5 people; 26-35 years – 10 people; 36-45 years – 5 people; 46-55 years – 2 people; 55 years and older – 3 people.

Research methods: methodology for assessing the psychological atmosphere in a team (according to A. F. Fiedler); strategies of behavior in conflict by K. Thomas.

As a result of the application of the methodology for assessing the psychological atmosphere in the team (according to A. F. Fiedler), an average profile was obtained that characterizes the psychological atmosphere in the team (Table 1).

Table 1

Profile of the psychological atmosphere in the teaching staff, %

According to Table 1, members of the teaching staff evaluate the psychological climate in the group differently.

Thus, both high and low scores were recorded on the "friendliness – hostility" scale, but the majority of respondents (48%) noted an average level of friendliness in the team. On the scale of "agreement – disagreement", mainly average scores were obtained (32%). No negative ratings were registered for this indicator.

On the "satisfaction – dissatisfaction" scale, 64% of respondents leaned towards the average rating. At the same time, neither high nor low ratings were obtained.

According to the productivity – unproductivity scale, respondents tend to either the highest (52%) or average (48%) estimates. There were no negative ratings on this scale. The "warmth – coldness" indicators were also divided among respondents according to average estimates: 40% rated 3, 16% rated 4, 28% rated 5, 16% rated 6.

On the scale of "cooperation – inconsistency", many negative ratings were received in comparison with other scales. Thus, 16% of respondents are inclined to extreme degrees of inconsistency of the team. On the scale of "mutual support – malevolence", the highest ratings were mainly received. According to the "passion – indifference" scale, the majority of respondents also tend to average and high ratings.

On the "entertaining – boredom" scale, 16% noted extremely low ratings, but still many tend to average.

On the scale of "success – failure", 60% rated 3, 20% rated 4, 12% rated 6, 4% of respondents rated 2 and 7.

Based on the data obtained, we can conclude that, in general, a favorable psychological atmosphere has developed in this teaching staff. But according to some indicators, such as cooperation, entertainment, success, low ratings were obtained. This suggests that there are teachers in the team who do not feel completely satisfied with the climate in the team. But at the same time, such indicators of the team as friendliness, productivity, mutual support were rated the highest, which indicates a high moral spirit of the team.

The results obtained by the method of K. Thomas are presented in Figure 1.

Fig. 1 Styles of conflict behavior of teachers

According to Figure 1, 12% of teachers choose the strategy of rivalry in conflicts, cooperation – 16%, compromise – 16%, avoidance – 32%, adaptation – 24%.

So, most of the teachers of this team are used to avoiding conflicts in their daily and work activities. Avoidance means a lack of desire for cooperation and a lack of tendency to achieve one's own goals, which in one way or another negatively affects the team as a whole and a particular employee.

Also, many teachers use a strategy of adaptation in conflict behavior, which means sacrificing their own interests for the sake of another. It also does not always bring satisfaction to each of the parties and is not a constructive strategy.

16% of teachers use strategies of cooperation and compromise. A compromise is an agreement based on mutual concessions; a proposal of an option that removes the contradiction that has arisen. When using a strategy of cooperation, the participants of the situation come to an alternative that fully satisfies the interests of both sides. In our opinion, these two strategies are the most constructive and help the participants to get out of the conflict with the least psychological losses. But these styles of conflict behavior are demonstrated only by a small part of the members of the studied teaching staff.

12% of the study participants demonstrate a destructive strategy of rivalry, competition or competition, i.e. striving to achieve their interests to the detriment of another. Because of such employees, more conflicts may arise in this team.

To determine the influence of the strategy of conflict behavior on the psychological atmosphere of the team, a linear correlation analysis was carried out. The Pearson criterion was used.

The following influences of the style of conflict behavior on the psychological atmosphere of the collective were revealed in the teaching staff.

Positive correlations:

a) cooperation enhances mutual support (0.380);

b) compromise increases engagement (0.517) and agreement (0.726);

c) adaptation is associated with consent (0.340). The more a group member agrees, the more intensively he uses the device.

Negative correlations:

a) rivalry suppresses the manifestation of satisfaction (-0.326), enthusiasm (-0.293) and entertainment (-0.284) in the group;

b) cooperation is not acceptable with coldness (-0.380). The less cooperation, the more coldness;

c) compromise and inconsistency. The more compromise behaviors, the less inconsistency in the group (-0.517);

d) adaptation and inconsistency. The more adaptations, the less inconsistency (-0.340);

e) the more often the exit strategy is used, the less agreement (-0.330) and cooperation (-0.355) in the group.

In the course of an empirical study of conflicts in the teaching staff, it was revealed that a favorable psychological atmosphere has developed in the studied teaching staff. The following influences of the style of conflict behavior on the socio-psychological climate of the team are revealed: cooperation strengthens mutual support, compromise increases passion and consent, adaptation is associated with consent, rivalry suppresses the manifestation of satisfaction, enthusiasm and entertainment, cooperation is not acceptable with coldness, the more compromise forms of behavior, the less inconsistency in the group, the more adaptation, the less inconsistency, the more often the withdrawal strategy is used, the less agreement (-0.330) and cooperation.

Today, the interest in the practical study of teachers' conflict interaction is explained by the increased conflict and tension in teaching teams, and this, in turn, affects the psychological state of each teacher and the socio-psychological climate of the teaching staff as a whole. The results obtained can be used in the work of a school and organizational psychologist: for the prevention and resolution of conflicts in teaching teams, in consultative work with teachers experiencing conflicts with colleagues.

As a direction for further research, it is recommended to develop a preventive program aimed at developing the most optimal and adaptive strategies of behavior in conflict among teachers, as well as at acquiring behavioral skills in various conflict situations that teachers may encounter at work.