Purpose: Although conflict has traditionally been considered destructive, recent studies have indicated that conflict management can contribute to effective teamwork. The present study explores conflict management as a team phenomenon in schools. The author examined how the contextual variables (task interdependence, goal interdependence) are…

Conflict within organizations must be managed to maximize its useful aspects while minimizing those that are dysfunctional. Conflict can be interpersonal or can stem from the structural characteristics of the organization. Sources of conflict include win-or-lose situations that reduce cooperation by fostering competition, incompatibility among the…

Basic characteristics and factors in conflict and conflict management in the context of institutions of higher education are examined, particularly as they interact in the context of a higher education institution. Drawing on the literature, trends in conflict management approaches, reasons for conflict, and results of conflict are identified.…

This discussion of the mentor/protege relationship in the library setting begins by examining the benefits of mentoring for both individuals and the organization. Characteristics of mentors, guidelines for self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses for a potential mentor, and protege characteristics that will attract a mentor are outlined.…

The use of mediation to resolve conflicts in educational settings is examined especially in relation to handicapped students. Four sample case studies illustrating the informal and formal use of the technique are detailed. Tables illustrate trends in due process administrative decisions in Georgia and mediator training requirements and…

This report discusses the use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution approaches in special education disagreements between the school and the parents of a child with a disability. The procedural safeguards and due process provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are explained. The report notes alternative…

A discussion of collective bargaining for part-time college faculty looks at research conducted in Canada and the United States and uses the case of York University (Canada) to examine the politics of collective bargaining and the mediative roles assumed by management in three specific conflict areas of part-time employment policy. (MSE)

This paper examines the degree to which women faculty and administrators are able to engage in connected knowing and interdependent definitions of self and reality within an institutional environment that values and rewards individualism, separateness, competition, and objectivity. The paper notes that connected knowing is essentially the process…

A literature review, intended to help in the development and assessment of effective manager training programs, explored development of conflict management research with respect to managers and their subordinates and examined individual, interpersonal, and organizational factors that affect the management of conflict. Although limited in scope,…

This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" looks at the law affecting collective bargaining by public employees (with particular emphasis on the schools), reviews the methods used to resolve disputes before and after agreements are signed, and considers the responses that management can make to issues raised during negotiation. The…

This book is designed to provide educators with comprehensive information about special education law, especially the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Chapter 1 briefly reviews the history of special education. In Chapter 2 the specific rights of students to special education and related services are detailed. Chapter 3 outlines…

An overview of conflict management as it relates to the role of the principal is presented. The traditional approach to conflict, which minimizes conflict and emphasizes social control, is contrasted with the perspective that views conflict as inevitable, functional, and manageable. Intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts, functions of conflict,…