Conflict management in the upper level of compulsory school : A qualitative study of upper-level teachers´ways of handling classroom conflicts

The aim of this study is to describe how teachers in the upper level of compulsory school reason about the conflicts that can arise in the classroom and the methods they use to deal with them when they arise and to prevent new conflicts from arising. The study was performed through qualitative interviews with three upper-level teachers in Southern Sweden. The results show that the teachers thought that conflicts related to bullying were most common, but that conflicts over the distribution of power in the group and relational conflicts were also common. As for the remaining conflicts, the teachers preferred to stop a conflict for the moment when it arose in the classroom, rather than sort it out. To sort out conflicts the teachers used different types of conversation with the pupils involved. The teachers worked to prevent conflicts by talking to the pupils about respectful behaviour and trying to create a classroom climate where all the pupils are happy and know each other