Classroom Management Strategies and the Management of Teacher–student Conflict in Secondary Schools in Abuja, Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between classroom management strategies and the management of teacher-student conflict in public senior secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria. The study was necessitated by the increasing prevalence of teacher-student conflicts across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), attributed to inadequate classroom management practices, inconsistent disciplinary approaches, and ineffective communication frameworks. Anchored on Social Interdependence Theory, the study adopted a correlational survey research design. The population comprised 4,332 teachers from 118 public senior secondary schools across the six Area Councils of the FCT. Using a multistage sampling technique combining census, proportionate stratified, and simple random sampling, a sample of 351 teachers was drawn from 90 schools, with sample size determined using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table; 345 questionnaires were validly completed and analysed. Data were collected using a 28-item researcher-designed instrument, the Classroom Management Strategies and Teacher-Student Conflict Management Questionnaire (CMSTSCMQ), which yielded a validity index of 0.78 and a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.74. Data were analysed using Pearson Product-Moment Correlation to answer the research questions and simple linear regression to test four null hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed strong, positive, statistically significant relationships between conflict management and classroom rules and regulations (r = .742), communication patterns (r = .798), discipline (r = .715), and collaborative problem-solving techniques (r = .681); all four null hypotheses were rejected, with communication patterns emerging as the strongest correlate. The study concludes that effective classroom management strategies are significantly associated with improved teacher-student conflict management and recommends collaborative rule formulation, communication-skills training, consistent discipline frameworks, and institutionalised collaborative problem-solving structures.