Conflict and the Quality of Teachers' Work

*Beata Pitula and Monika Morgala*

### **Abstract**

The text presents research on the conflicts revealed by teams of kindergarten teachers and their effects on the professional functioning of teachers and the quality of work of the preschool institution. Their results confirmed the prevalence of conflicts, their mainly hidden and emotional nature and negative consequences in the form of lowering the quality of the care, educational and didactic functions performed by the kindergarten teacher.

**Keywords:** conflict, teacher's work quality, teacher, conflict in kindergarten, conflict in teaching teams

### **1. Introduction**

Education is one of the most important ingredients of human existence, and education *has long been recognized as an area of social life that largely determines the fate of individual people, various groups, nations and countries* [1]. Undertaking research and reflection embedded in the perspective of educational everyday life is important from the perspective of perceiving schools and kindergartens in the category of institutions that are *the basic tool of the State for the organization of universal education* [2] and understood in terms of a social institution, which is part of a more complex structure, it is characterized by a relatively constant *system of values, norms, statuses, role regulations, social groups and organizations ( … ) related to the need to provide members of society with basic intellectual and cognitive skills* [3]. The education of children and young people becomes a determinant of the development of every human being, and the teacher and the quality of his work will be of key importance here.

To implement the social functions imposed on education (socialization, social integration, establishing a social position, cultural innovation and other hidden functions) [4], the specificity of the school environment, and in particular the interpersonal conditions of social coexistence, including communication competences and conflict resolution styles, taking into account the roles played in this particular community [5–7] should be examined. The main processes of team interaction are therefore: communication, conflict and coherence [8]. Interpersonal communication in an environment diverse in terms of characters, attitudes, worldview and psychosocial competences is not easy, but it is the only method of effectively communicating information, emotions and own opinions in a team, including the teaching team.

Disruptions in the communication process cause misunderstandings and tensions, the consequences of which are conflicts within the teams. The effects of these conflicts may be destructive for an individual teacher, the teaching team and the entire institution, or on the contrary - positive, implying beneficial changes. *The key ( … ) is the belief that this conflict is a natural and inevitable part of life, and the realization that it is our reaction or responses to the conflicts that make the conflict situation constructive or destructive* [9]. However*,* no matter what happens to teachers in this work, both in a positive and negative sense*, if the work negatively affects the teacher's well-being, health and functioning, the negative consequences will secondarily translate into the quality of their work and the activities of the entire educational institution* [10].

Combining the scientific interest in the work of teachers and the factors determining their professional functioning and personal connections with the management of preschool education institutions, we made an attempt to diagnose the effects of conflicts on the effectiveness of the work of preschool teachers and the entire preschool institution.
