Conflict in the classroom: an examination of teacher management strategies
| dc.contributor.author | Birrell, Sandra Helen | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Hett, Geoffrey | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-05-29T00:34:28Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-05-29T00:34:28Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 1999 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Psychological Foundations in Education | |
| dc.description.abstract | The language, structure, and gestures used by teachers to reprimand children in grades 6 to 8 were examined. These reprimands were defined as teacher-student conflicts and Deutsch's (1994) theory of cooperative and competitive conflict management was applied as the theoretical framework. This study examined both the structure of teacher communication (literal/non-literal) and its social messages (cooperative/competitive). Videotapes of 4 teachers in a total of 9 middle school classes were scored for conflict episodes, teacher communication, and student variables such as gender, number, and frequency. Results showed teachers were 3 times more likely to use a non-literal reprimand than a literal one when dealing with an individual student (male or female), but only slightly more likely to use a non literal reprimand when addressing student groups. Most significantly, teachers engaged i n more conflicts with male students, and when they did, they elected to use competitive strategies almost 91% of the time. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23956 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.title | Conflict in the classroom: an examination of teacher management strategies | |
| dc.type | Thesis |