The significant issue in Fort Washington Elementary School is the lack of a proper mechanism to deal with conflicts being experienced in the school. Therefore, the performance, discipline and learning environment are negatively affected. Fort Washington Elementary School is experiencing dysfunctional conflict. There is a power conflict that is manifested. The principal undermines the teachers’ ideas and authority in a bid to please the students’ parents. It does not lead to any development of solutions or give way to innovative ideas to deal with the conflict. Port is an upper middle class level school. Most of their stated goals are not supported by activities aimed at achieving them.
The administration seems to be run on politics. The teachers and aides are treated like employees whose opinions are not considered in decision making. The avoidance conflict intervention mechanism is employed in the school where the administration does not provide solutions for the teachers. The compromise mechanism is employed with regard to the parents of the students, where the wishes of the teachers are compromised to accommodate their needs. These mechanisms do not reflect the situational nature of conflict resolution. This is due to the fact that these mechanisms are not applied appropriately. Therefore, no conflicts are resolved.
Prescription
The first thing that Ms. Donna Cannon should do is hold a meeting with the schools’ Superintended. During the meeting, she can brief him on the goal of instilling more discipline in the school. She also has to make it clear that she expects his full collaboration. The second thing would be adopting the linking of roles intervention. Individuals like the assistant administrator can be given authority. Authority will enable them to manage how the students conduct themselves. From the case study, the assistant administrator has illustrated her ability to come up with practical solutions. This way, the other teachers can also be involved in the decision making process in the school. This in turn will boost the teachers’ morale at doing their job and possibly the overall performance.
Reference:
Palestini, R. H. (2005). Educational administration: Leading with mind and heart. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
