Features and types of conflicts in preschool educational institutions of Yakutsk

Neustroeva Aiza Borisovna ORCID: 0000-0001-8419-7135 PhD in Sociology Leading Researcher of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) 677000, Russia, Respublika Sakha (Yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Lenina, 33 aizok@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Trofimov Ai-Tal Leonidovich Master's degree, Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Northeastern Federal University named after M.K. Ammosov 677000, Russia, respublika Respublika Sakha (yakutiya), g. Yakutsk, ul. Kulakovskogo, 42, of. 405 aizok@mail.ru

Introduction

Employees of preschool educational institutions (hereinafter referred to as preschool educational institutions) face many different conflict situations on a daily basis, in which children, parents, educators and kindergarten administration can participate. The sensitivity to conflict situations in kindergartens is due to the specifics of the labor process, the personal needs of educators and parents, the characteristics of the nature and behavior of participants in the conflict. An important role is played by the fact that the DOW collectives are predominantly female, which determines their more emotional nature, women's collectives are more likely to change moods, are sensitive to changes from their colleagues, react more acutely to the miscalculations and mistakes of others, therefore, they are more conflicted ^[1].

Most often, conflicts, the inability to prevent them and manage the conflict situation, the negative psychological climate in the team - all this causes employees to leave this area. To date, one of the most important competencies that a pre-school employee should have is conflictological competence - this is the teacher's preparedness and ability to manage conflicts, the ability to perform their work functions in a conflict-prone environment, transform it for the successful solution of pedagogical tasks ^[2].

This article identifies the features, causes and frequency of conflicts arising in the activities of employees of preschool educational institutions. In addition, the hypothesis of the relationship between the satisfaction with the work of kindergarten workers and the level of conflict in the institution is being tested.

The main research methods were, firstly, psychological testing of kindergarten workers according to the method of "Style of behavior in conflict" by K. Thomas (adaptation by N.V. Grishina) ^[3] and the method of diagnosis of the leading type of response (Kashapov M.M., Shalaeva T.G.) ^[4]. In total, 78 employees of kindergartens in Yakutsk participated in the testing. Secondly, an online survey of kindergarten workers in Yakutsk using the Google Form application. The sample population of the study was 45 respondents, the questionnaire included 23 questions. Empirical data was collected in May 2021. 

Unfortunately, not enough attention is paid to the problem of conflict research and management in preschool educational institutions. To date, there are isolated works on the classification of conflicts in school, the characterization of their causes, as well as individual theoretical and practical recommendations on conflict mediation in the school environment. Despite the fact that conflicts in the education system are a natural phenomenon, have causal relationships, significantly affect the behavior of participants in the educational process, it is difficult to find scientifically sound recommendations in the literature on conflict management in an educational organization ^[5].

Frequency and causes of conflicts in kindergarten

The survey showed that the majority of kindergarten workers assessed the conflict in a negative way, 68.9% of respondents had a negative attitude to any type of conflict. A neutral attitude to conflicts was expressed by 31.1% of respondents, the remaining 4.4% of respondents replied that they treat conflicts positively and are not afraid of them. They believed that conflicts at work are necessary and lead to the development of the organization mainly women, the older generation, employees with more than 16 years of experience, employees with higher education, educators and methodologists. They had a sharply negative attitude to conflicts and believed that they were harmful and dangerous, an indicator of poor work, mainly men, young people, workers with up to 3 years of experience, workers with secondary special education, junior educators and technical staff. The neutral position was held mainly by women, middle-aged and middle-aged workers, the kindergarten management.

The study showed that 60% of DOW employees did not consider themselves to be conflicted personalities. It should be noted that it is natural for a conflicted person to aggravate the situation around him. Such a person reacts sharply to the statements of colleagues, tries to attract people to his side in any way. And most often, even when the cause of the conflict is eliminated, a conflicted person will find another reason to create conflict situations. Most of the respondents who assessed their behavior as non-conflicting were among men, workers aged 41 to 50 years, workers with long work experience, with higher education, among senior educators. Most often, women, young workers, workers with secondary special education, technical staff and kindergarten management entered into conflicts.

How often do DOW employees face conflict situations at work? The thesis about the high frequency of conflicts in preschool institutions has not been confirmed by us. Every fifth respondent has never faced conflicts in the workplace. In general, DOW employees clashed less often than once a half-year (60%). Only 2.2% of kindergarten employees participated in conflict situations on a weekly basis, the remaining 17.8% of employees replied that conflict situations occur several times a half-year. The frequency of conflicts at work varied greatly depending on the gender, age, position and length of service of the employee. As can be seen from Table 1, 36.4% of men have never faced conflicts in the workplace, and 54.5% of men answered that once a half-year and less often. Among women, the frequency of conflicts was higher, so 2.9% of women had conflicts weekly, 20.6% - several times a half-year.

 Table 1. Answers to the question "How often do you have to deal with conflict situations at work?" depending on gender

Young workers, workers with less than 3 years of experience, workers with secondary special education and kindergarten technical staff were the least likely to conflict. On a weekly basis, conflicts arose mainly among women, workers of older age groups, with work experience above 16 years, workers with higher education, educators. 

What conflicts do kindergarten workers most often face: between parents, children or colleagues?  And what are the causes of conflicts? The study showed that the most common conflicts in preschool occurred between children (16.3%) (Figure 1). The causes of conflicts among children were very diverse: toys were not divided, the rules of games and the distribution of roles were not liked, disputes arose, loss, etc. Aggressive children who provoke fights, get angry, swear, get annoyed are not uncommon in kindergarten. The reasons for aggressive behavior of children may be related to health problems, or show a lack of upbringing. Teachers should know the rules of working with such aggressive children, should be able to identify the causes of aggression and help the child cope with it.

Rarely, but sometimes there were conflicts between parents (2.3%), between parents and children (2.2%), between parents and DOW employees (2.2%) (Figure 1). The causes of conflicts on the part of parents can be divided into objective and subjective. Objective reasons can be called parents' dissatisfaction with the organization of the educational process, the quality of nutrition, the attitude of the educator to his child. Among the answers were also the following: "parents are dissatisfied with the overcrowding of groups in Yakutsk", "because of scratches on the body of children", "because of the morbidity of children". The subjective causes of conflicts and discontent on the part of parents include the biased attitude of parents towards kindergarten staff, excessive demands and expectations of parents, overprotection of the child, personal hostility, etc. On the part of kindergarten teachers and employees in relation to parents, dissatisfaction arose due to the late performance of their duties, for example, the delay in payment for kindergarten services, for the child's meals, in connection with the child's behavior, etc.

Conflicts between management and employees, between colleagues are the least likely to occur. The main causes of conflicts between colleagues and management were most often the replacement of educators, unethical incorrect attitude on the part of management to their employees, due to the division of responsibilities, from the excessive team nature of the interlocutor, age differences and misunderstandings, dissatisfaction with work, constant duty, replacement payment, etc.

Figure 1. Frequency of conflicts in kindergarten: assessment of employees (%)

Kindergarten workers have not often encountered any really acute destructive conflict situations. Most often, the conflicts in the DOW were constructive in nature, were objectively conditioned and substantive. To the question "Name the most acute conflict in which you had to take part, or which you observed while working in kindergarten", the majority of respondents replied that they did not take part in such an acute conflict. Some respondents answered that the most acute conflicts were due to parents who tried to impose their demands and desires on kindergarten workers, were overly emotional and did not want to compromise.

Strategies of behavior of kindergarten workers in a conflict situation

An important component of the conflictological competence of kindergarten workers and educators is the ability to effectively resolve conflicts. When resolving a conflict, it is the strategy of the behavior of its participants that is crucial. Kenneth Thomas classified all strategies of behavior in conflict according to two criteria: the desire to defend their own interests and the desire to take into account the interests of another person. Based on these criteria, he identified five possible ways of behavior in conflict: rivalry (confrontation), adaptation (adjustment), avoidance (evasion), compromise, cooperation. Our tests showed that, in general, such a style of behavior in conflict prevails among kindergarten workers as compromise, when they are ready to make concessions, but at the same time get something in return (28%). A compromise indicates an exchange of mutual partial concessions. Both sides partially benefit, but are partially forced to abandon their goals, which maintains tension and may lead to a resumption of the conflict. 

Every fourth kindergarten worker adhered to such a strategy of behavior in a conflict situation as avoidance or evasion. Avoidance indicates a lack of desire for cooperation, but at the same time a desire to achieve their goals. The participants (or one of them) pretend that there is no conflict at all, ignore it. This type of reaction to conflict is classified as destructive, it implies that a person tries not to get into situations that provoke contradictions, does not enter into discussion of issues fraught with disagreements.

More than 22% of employees adhered to the strategy of cooperation. Cooperation indicates a joint search for solutions that fully satisfy the interests of both participants. This type of response means that a person recognizes differences of opinion and is ready to get acquainted with other points of view in order to understand the causes of the conflict and find a course of action acceptable to both sides and ensuring the achievement of a socially useful goal. This group of respondents can be called a group with a constructive type of response: in a conflict situation, they try to resolve the conflict, they want the conflict to end in peace, they worry that the situation may go beyond dialogue.

The remaining 13% of respondents tried to adapt. The strategy of "rivalry" or "confrontation" was followed by 12% of respondents. This type of behavior in conflict, as well as "avoidance", refers to destructive. At the same time, in a conflict, participants prefer to defend their point of view in all ways, strive to win, are afraid of losing, always react to provocation.

The analysis of the results of the study using the diagnostic method of the leading type of response (Kashapova M.M., Shalaeva T.G.) allowed dividing the respondents into two groups: with destructive and constructive behavior in a conflict situation (37% and 63% of respondents, respectively). 

The behavior of DOW employees in a conflict situation changes taking into account their gender, age and work experience. A comparison of the behavior of men and women of different age groups in a conflict situation showed that men more often than women tried to find a mutually acceptable solution and smoothed out the "sharp corners". Men usually clashed because of contradictions arising in the process of joint activity, whereas women more often had conflicts of a personal nature. Among women, the proportion of those who did nothing and did not enter into conflict and defended their interests was higher. In addition, many women indicated other ways of behavior in a conflict situation: "I can take revenge in another way later," "I am for justice, if I am right, I will defend my opinion," "I always act on the situation."

The study showed that employees of older age groups, highly qualified workers with more than 16 years of experience, educators most often tried to defend their interests to the last. Sometimes experienced teachers emphasized their superiority over their young colleagues, which contributed to the emergence of conflicts in the team. The strategy of "leaving the conflict" was followed mainly by young and middle-aged workers, middle-skilled workers, junior educators. The strategy of "doing nothing" was followed more often by women, young employees, new employees, kindergarten management. First of all, the use of "avoidance" strategies was associated with the adaptation of new and young employees to the activity and the team. 

Job satisfaction and the level of conflict among kindergarten workers

According to experts, the level of conflict in the organization directly depends on job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is the degree of adaptation of an employee in a given institution ^[6]. As a rule, "the basis of staff conflict is based on socio-psychological factors, which are reduced to unsatisfied basic labor needs: motivational and hygienic factors in the team. The former motivate satisfaction with work, the latter in their absence – dissatisfaction. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction with work leads to intergroup conflicts at work" ^[7]. Job satisfaction consists of satisfaction with various working conditions, such as wages, work content, working conditions, relationships in the team and with management. Dissatisfaction with work most often leads to the relocation of an individual to another place of work, to a change of profession, industry ^[8]. The survey showed that, in general, 54.8% of respondents were completely satisfied with their work, and 45.2% were partially satisfied. The kindergarten workers were the least satisfied with the amount of remuneration. Almost every fifth employee replied that he was not satisfied with wages at all, 62.2% were partially satisfied (Table 2). Among women, 22.2% replied that they were completely dissatisfied with their wages, while among men the share of dissatisfied was 10%. In addition, employees aged 31 to 40 years (50% dissatisfied) and employees with up to 3 years of work experience (28.6% dissatisfied) were the least satisfied with wages. A comparison of the answers to the question about satisfaction with wages depending on the position of employees showed that 50% of methodologists, 33% of junior educators and assistant educators, 28.6% of teachers and 21.4% of educators are completely dissatisfied with the level of remuneration.

Table 2. Satisfaction with various working conditions of kindergarten workers

Women over the age of 51 were the least satisfied with working conditions, among them 7.7% replied that they were not at all satisfied with working conditions, while among men none chose this answer option. Basically, they were educators with a lot of experience in kindergarten.

Male workers were less satisfied with the content of the work. According to the survey, 30% and 60% of men were fully or partially satisfied with the content of their work, respectively, and 10% of men were not satisfied with the content of their work. There were no women who were completely dissatisfied with the content of their work, 55.6% and 44.4% were fully or partially satisfied with the content of their work, respectively (Table 3). A comparison of satisfaction with the content of work depending on age, work experience and position showed that the most dissatisfied were employees of older age groups (older than 51 years), with work experience from 4 to 8 years, mainly teaching staff.

 Table 3. Satisfaction with the content of the work of men and women (in % of the total by columns)

The employees of the kindergartens were most satisfied with their relationships with colleagues. There were no differences in satisfaction with relationships in the team among men and women. At the same time, among men there were more dissatisfied with the relationship with the management (10%), while among women there were no dissatisfied with the relationship with the management (Table 4). The senior age groups (8.3% dissatisfied), employees with a higher level of education (3.7%), teaching staff (14.3%) most often criticized the management.

 Table 4. Satisfaction with the relationship with the leadership of men and women (in % of the total by columns)

In general, women were more satisfied with their work in kindergarten than men. Absolutely dissatisfied with the work in kindergarten was not revealed, however, among men there was a high proportion of dissatisfied with the content of work and relationships with management. Among women, there was a high proportion of dissatisfied with the size of wages. The survey also revealed the dissatisfaction of employees of older age groups with working conditions, relationships with management, and the amount of wages.

Among fully satisfied employees, the frequency of conflicts was lower than among dissatisfied employees. Thus, 5.3% of the dissatisfied respondents faced conflicts on a weekly basis, 21.1% - several times a half-year. Among the employees who were satisfied with their work, 17.4% encountered several times in the half-year and none replied that they faced problems and disputes on a weekly basis. Thus, the attitude to work as a need is closely related to the self-realization and internal development of the employee. The higher the satisfaction with the work of employees, the less conflicts and misunderstandings in the team. Knowing what the employees are not satisfied with, you can adjust the psychological climate in the team.

The emotional climate, the atmosphere in the whole team depends on the satisfaction with the work of each employee. A survey of kindergarten workers showed that on a 10-scale scale, where 1 is "I don't like the job at all" and 10 is "I really like the job", on average, respondents rated their work by 8.5 points in the sample. At the same time, 33% of respondents rated the work by 10 points.

To the question "Describe the atmosphere inherent in your team?" 48.8% answered that the atmosphere in the team is mainly based on mutual respect, 27.9% rated the atmosphere as friendly, 23.3% - as businesslike, not a single respondent rated the atmosphere in the team as unhealthy. A comparison of the answers to this question depending on gender showed that women more often assessed the atmosphere at work as friendly, while men more often chose the answer options "atmosphere of mutual respect" and "business atmosphere" (Table 5).

Table 5. Answers to the question "Describe the atmosphere inherent in your team" depending on the gender of respondents

The older the employee was and the more work experience he had, the more often he characterized the atmosphere in the team as friendly. The youth mostly replied that there was an atmosphere of mutual respect in the team. There were warmer and closer relations among educators, senior educators and teachers. It was these employees who more often answered that there were friendly relations in the team. Specialists and technical staff believed that the relationship was business. 

55.6% of respondents had positive relationships with the majority of colleagues. 40% answered that they were completely satisfied with the labor collective. 4.4% of employees had strained relationships with some colleagues. Strained relationships in the team were indicated by respondents of older age groups, while among young and middle-aged workers, none had strained relationships. 

Let's analyze respondents' willingness to change jobs in the future with the help of the question "Would you change jobs if you had the opportunity?". The respondents' responses were distributed as follows: the majority of respondents identified a trend towards stability, they replied that they were satisfied with their current job (61.4%) and they were not going to change it; less than half of the respondents were characterized by a desire to change their place of work (38.6%). The mobile strategy was most often followed by men (45.5%), young workers (58.3%), specialists (66.7%) and educators (52.6%).

The desire to change jobs, dissatisfaction with work is influenced by the difficulties and problems faced by kindergarten workers. Among the main problems identified by kindergarten workers, firstly, there were difficulties working with parents. Thus, respondents indicated that "parents are not engaged in the upbringing of their child, but shift it to educators", "a lot of pressure from parents who disrespect kindergarten workers", "unreasonable claims from parents", "misunderstanding", etc. Secondly, kindergarten workers pointed out the conflicts that arise between older and younger employees: "senior colleagues do not help, they interfere all the time and point out mistakes", "reporting, a lot of papers need to be filled out", "misunderstanding on the part of management", "lack of support from management", etc. Many the teachers replied that they felt constant anxiety because of the great responsibility for the children, constant tension and fear. Poor working conditions in some kindergartens, a small room, old furniture, lack of new toys and equipment were also indicated. It also created negativity on the part of parents, difficulties in performing their work functions.

Conflict management in preschool educational institutions

It is very important for educational institutions to implement various ways of conflict management. Experts believe that the process of conflict management should begin with an analysis of its causes, structure, and dynamics of the development of a controversial situation ^[9].

The survey showed that kindergartens sometimes discuss emerging conflicts and problems with the team (40%). More than 24.4% of respondents said that conflicts are discussed very rarely by the whole team, 15.6% noted that conflict situations are not discussed at all in their kindergarten. More than 11% of employees answered that disputes and conflicts are often discussed together with the team, 8.9% - there is always a discussion.

To the question "To what extent do you have knowledge of conflict resolution techniques?", 51.1% of employees answered that they have the knowledge to effectively resolve most of the conflicts that arise (Table 6). More than 35.6% of employees answered that "their knowledge is not always enough for effective conflict resolution," the remaining 13.3% of respondents did not know any methods of conflict resolution. Male employees rate their conflictological competence higher than women. Among women, 17.6% considered their knowledge insufficient, among men, none chose this answer option. Moreover, 63.6% of men were confident in their knowledge of conflict resolution methods.

Table 6. Answers to the question "To what extent, in your opinion, do you have knowledge of conflict resolution techniques?" depending on the gender of respondents

Middle-aged workers and young people were the least confident in their knowledge of conflicts. Thus, among young workers, 50% said that they do not always have enough knowledge and professional competence, 8.3% of respondents believed that they did not have knowledge of conflict resolution at all (Table 7). Among workers aged 41 to 50, 22.2% doubted that they had sufficient knowledge about conflicts and 44.4% believed that they lacked knowledge.

Table 7. Answers to the question "To what extent, in your opinion, do you have knowledge of conflict resolution techniques?" depending on the age of the respondent

The less work experience and the level of education of the employee, the more he needed knowledge of conflict resolution techniques. For example, among employees with more than 16 years of experience, 66.7% had sufficient knowledge of effective conflict resolution techniques, and among employees with up to 3 years of experience, 25% of respondents answered this way. Most of all, the kindergarten management, educators and teachers needed conflictological competence.

Were the DOW employees ready to acquire additional knowledge on conflict issues and effective ways to resolve them? Almost all respondents answered that they want to learn it (77.8%) and only 22.2% answered that they do not need it. Mostly men (54.5%), workers aged 31 to 40 (33%), middle-skilled workers (41.7%), specialists (66.7%) and technical staff (60%) did not want to acquire additional knowledge on conflict issues. The most in need of additional knowledge on conflict issues and effective ways to resolve them were women, employees of older age groups from 41 years and older (86.7%), employees with long work experience (88.9%), employees with higher education (84.4%), kindergarten management (100%), methodologists and educators (100%).

To the question "Do you consider it necessary to train kindergarten workers to interact in conflict situations, as well as the specifics of effective conflict resolution among children and parents?" 95.6% of respondents answered that it is mandatory and only 4.4% believed that such knowledge is not important for kindergarten workers.

Thus, the study showed that most of the conflicts in kindergartens arose between children, between parents and kindergarten. Within the team, conflicts between employees were very rare. The most acute conflict situations arose between parents and educators on the organization of the educational and pedagogical process. Educators and teachers were in great need of additional knowledge about the effective resolution of conflicts among children, methods of identifying the causes of conflict between the child and parents. In general, kindergarten workers themselves understand the importance of forming conflictological competence both for themselves and for children ^[10]. To date, kindergarten teachers and employees are required to ensure a high level of communication management with children and parents, compliance with professional ethics, the ability to direct conflicts in a constructive direction.