Conflict Management in Public Primary Schools: A Case of Ilala Municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

This qualitative study assessed conflict management in public primary schools in Ilala Municipality, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study addressed three research questions; what are the driving forces for conflicts in primary schools? And what challenges do the school managements face when managing conflicts in primary schools? What are the common conflict management strategies in primary schools? To address these questions, 64 participants including head of schools, teachers and students were involved. Data were collected through individual interviews, focus group discussion and documentary analysis. The data were thematically analysed. The study found that poor communication, poor discipline among students, teachers’ attitudes, poor learning environment and economic hardships among teachers were the most common causes of conflicts in the selected schools. Also, the study found that improved communication systems, collaboration and mediation and strengthening students’ discipline can be the best strategies for conflict management in schools. It is clear in this study that poor cooperation, lack of professional skills in handling conflicts, fear of encouraging hostility and rigidness of some people were some of the challenges facing school managements in resolving conflicts. This study recommends two things; leadership training programmes for teachers and heads of schools, and introduction of institutional policies on conflicts management. Keywords: Student-student Conflict and Teacher-head of School/Management Conflic