Leadership style as a predictor of conflict management strategies in schools: Perspectives from the field

Educational leadership plays a crucial role in shaping school climate, organizational effectiveness, and interpersonal relationships within basic education institutions. However, limited empirical research has examined the predictive relationship between leadership style and conflict management strategies in rural Philippine school settings. This study investigated whether leadership styles significantly predict the conflict management strategies employed by school heads in the San Mariano II District. Using a descriptive-correlational quantitative design, data were collected from 147 teachers and school heads across 19 public schools through the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI). Results revealed that transformational and transactional leadership were highly practiced, while compromising and collaborating were the dominant conflict management strategies. Correlation analysis showed that transformational leadership was strongly associated with collaborative and compromise-based approaches, whereas laissez-faire leadership was linked to avoidance behaviors. The findings confirm that leadership style significantly influences conflict resolution practices and underscore the importance of strengthening transformational leadership in rural schools.