Die onderhandelingsvaardighede van die skoolhoof

M. Ed. (Educational Management)Negotiation has become fashionable lately. The achievement of consensus in almost every sphere has also become extremely important. Educational leaders are at present being exposed to negotiations at an increasing rate. For this reason it has become essential for all educators and especially principals to be well informed about the whole process of negotiation. This minidissertation focuses on negotiation techniques used by principals of secondary schools. Negotiation can be regarded as a dynamic process in which at least two parties, with both common and conflicting interests, try to reach an agreement. This is dependent on the changing relationships, the achieving of agreement and can also be successfully used as a mechanism to handle conflict. The mere issuing of orders is, especially among professional people who are interdependant, not always effective and the principal will therefore also have to use other methods of motivation. Attention has been given to negotiation as a managerial skill with special emphasis on the negotiation process, the elements of negotiations and the skills that have to be mastered by the negotiators. The following aspects of negotiations are exposed and discussed in this exploratory study: * Communication is an essential element of negotiation and therefore communication skills are vitally important to successful negotiation. * The personality and behaviour of the negotiator greatly influence the process of negotiation, thus knowledge of the individual negotiating and conflict-handling styles lead to successful negotiation..