Abstract:

The purpose of this research was to examine high school adminastrators' conflict resolution strategies and tactics from a social constructivist perspective. Participants were 709 students, 75 teachers, and 21 school administrators from 7 high schools located in low socioeconomic areas in İzmir. Data were collected through adminestrating two different questionnaire and an interview protocol. Participants were selected through stratified, simple rondom, and convenionce sampling techniques. Results showed that there were differences among students, teachers and school administrators' views regarding school managers' conflict resoluiton strategies and tactics. Unlike the students, teachers stated that school managers used more constructive conflict resolution strategies and tactics rather than destructive ones. Whereas 62 % of teachers claimed that school managers used constructive conflict resolution strategies, only 27 % of the students shared this claim. Similarly more female students stated that school managers used constructive conflict resolution strategies and tactics than did the male students. School administrators' perceptions about themselves were radically diffirent from the students' perceptions about school administrators. Although teachers and especially female students stated that school administrators used constructive conflict resolution strategies and tactics, these strategies and tactics were limited to the use of giving advice and talking students. When whole results of the research were examined based on social constructivist theory, it can be said that school managers' conflict resolution strategies and tactics can not lead to students' construction of knowledge and skills concerning conflict resolution strategies.

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