Social Studies Students’ Perception of the Causes of Conflict and Management Strategies in Colleges of Education for Peaceful Learning Environment in North-Central, Nigeria

to Nakiyi South Circuit. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of the study consisted all Secondary school teachers and heads of schools within the district from where a sample size of 30 teachers and heads of schools and 12 school heads were selected as sample for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires. Data analysis was done using t-test. Findings indicated that lack of communication between teachers and school heads, interpersonal relationships within the school, favoritism, as well as procedural issues formed the major causes of conflict in schools within the district. Almito, and Oriangi (2023) conducted a study titled “Head teachers conflict management and students’ satisfaction with school climate in Secondary Schools in Uganda”. The study investigated the influence of head teachers’ conflict management strategies on student’s satisfaction with the school climate. A cross-sectional survey design was used for the study. The sample size for the study consisted 181 students from Secondary schools in Kampala, Uganda. Data was obtained using questionnaires. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Findings showed that conflicts arise when teachers and school heads pay little or no attention to the complaints of students. in order words, ignoring students’ complaints was the most common cause of conflict. Sniras (2023) in a study titled “Students’ conflicts, causes, and ways of solution in physical education lessons”. The purpose of the study was to investigate the inclination of 15-16-year-old students to conflict as well as determine the causes of conflict and conflict resolution strategies in physical education lessons. The survey design was deployed for the study. A sample size of 325 students from comprehensive schools in metropolitan areas participated in the study. Questionnaires where used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using t-test. Findings showed that blank contents of teachers’ communication and authoritarian styles of teaching were the main causes of conflict. The study also found that cooperation, collaboration and compromise as the most effective conflict management strategies. Mekkah (2023) conducted a study titled “The development of a school base conflict management model in Aceh Nesar Junior High school, Indonesia. The aim of the study was to find out the causes of conflict in schools and the techniques used in conflict management. The survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study consisted all high school teachers in the study district from where a sample size of 32 teachers was drawn. Questionnaires were used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using simple percentage and mean score. Findings showed that teacher job satisfaction can help minimize conflict within the school. 3.0 Methodology 3.1 Research Design A descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. According to Adeyemi in Ehinmetalor & Nwandiani (2002) viewed descriptive survey as a design that describes, analyzes and interprets conditions that are in existence. It describes, systematically, the facts, qualities or characteristics of a given population, event or area of interest as factually and accurately as possible to proffer answers to questions asked by the problem of study. This research design was considered appropriate based on the fact that the population of the study was large and the result obtained would be generalized on the entire population. 3.2 Population of the Study The population for the study comprised of 19,367 Social Studies students from all the thirteen (13) government owned Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria. They include; Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, Kwara, Niger, Plateau and the Federal Capital Territory. The breakdown of Colleges of Education in North-Central Nigeria is presented in Table 1. Table 1: Population Distribution of respondents S/n State Number of Colleges of Education Social Studies Students 1. Kogi 02 793 1,376 2. Niger 02 743 2,996 3. Plateau 02 2,841 541 4. Benue 02 2,721 1,786 5. Nasarawa 01 798 6. Kwara 03 2,818 278 45 7. FCT 01 1,631 Total 13 19,367 Source: NCCE, 2022 3.3 Sample Size and Sampling Procedure The sample size of 648 Social Studies students in 3 states was used for the study, using the combinations of random sampling technique and Krejeie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination table. To get the sample size of the 3 states, the researcher employed random sampling technique. The researcher wrote the name of six (6) states and the Federal Capital Territory on a separate paper, wrapped them and put them in plastic cup. After shaking the papers for a while, the researcher secured the attention of a research assistant to pick out three (3) papers from the plastic cup. Krejcie and Morgan (1970) developed a formula and table to determine appropriate sample sizes for given population sizes. They emphasized using a 95% confidence level and a 5% margin of error. Their method helps ensure that samples are representative without surveying the entire population. They recommended probability sampling techniques to improve accuracy and validity. The breakdown of the 3 states picked and sample size of Colleges of Education, using Krejeie and Morgan (1970) table is presented in table 2 below: Table 2: Sampled Distribution of Respondents Source: Krejeie and Morgan (1970) 3.4 Instrumentation The instrument used for the study is self-designed structural questionnaire. The questionnaire was titled “Students’ Perception of Causes of Conflict and Management Strategies for Peaceful Learning Environment in Colleges of Education in North-Central, Nigeria” (SPCCMSPLECENCN). The questionnaire was made up of two sections – A and B. Section A was designed for background information about the respondents. This includes sex, religion, age and location of school (rural or urban). Section B of the questionnaire was based on six research questions. The questions were in line with the four-point likert scale of Strongly Agreed (4), Agreed (3), Disagreed (2) and Strongly Disagreed (1). 3.6 Validity of Reliability of Instrument In other to validate the instrument, the questionnaire was read, criticized and corrected by the supervisors and three other lecturers in the Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Abuja. The lecturers checked the face and content validity of the questionnaire before the final draft of the questionnaire was produced for administration. In order to determine the reliability of the instrument, a pilot test was conducted using twenty (20) students from Federal College of Education, Okene. The students completed and returned the questionnaires. The reliability of the instrument was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. The reliability index was 0.888 which is considered reliable. State Number of Social Studies Students Sample size (Krejeie and Morgan table) Kogi 793 260 Plateau 541 226 Kwara 278 162 Total: 3 811 648 3.7 Data Collection Procedure The researcher took permission from the authorities of the Colleges of Education in North- Central Nigeria through an introductory letter from the Head of the Department before administering the questionnaires to the students directly. The questionnaire was retrieved immediately from the respondents. Two Research assistants were briefed and monitored as an employee to help the researcher to retrieve the questionnaires from the respondents. 3.8 Method of Data Analysis The statistical techniques that was used for the study was simple percentage for analysis of demographic data, mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions at a benchmark of 2.50 to accept or otherwise of the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested using the inferential statistics of t-test and ANOVA at 0.05 level of acceptance and rejection. Hypotheses 1 and 3 were tested using Analysis of Variance , while hypothesis 2 was tested using t-test. 4.0 Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation 4.1 Presentation of Data In this section, the data presented and analyzed include demographic data of respondents, answering the research questions and test of hypotheses. The total of 648 copies of the questionnaire was administered but 538 were valid for analysis, representing 83% success rate. 4.2.1 Demographic Data of Respondents In this section, data on gender, age and location were presented. Table 3: Distribution of Respondents by Gender Gender Frequency Valid Percent Male 175 32.5 Female 363 67.5 Total 538 100.0 Source: SPSS version, 25 Table 3 revealed that 175 (32.5%) of the respondents were males and 363 (67.5%) of the respondents were females. This implied that majority of respondents in this study were females. Table 4: Distribution of Respondents by Age Age Frequency Valid Percent 17-21 years 384 71.4 22-26 years 152 28.3 27 years and above 2 .4 Total 538 100.0 Source: SPSS version, 25 Table 4 showed that 384 (71.46%) of the respondents were within the age bracket 17-21 years, 152 (28.3%) of the respondents were within the age bracket 22-26 years and 2 (0.4%) of the respondents were within the age bracket 27 years and above. This implied that majority of the respondents were with the age bracket 17-21 years. Table 5: Distribution of Respondents by Location Location Frequency Valid Percent Rural Area 228 42.4 Urban Area 310 57.6 Total 538 100.0 Source: SPSS version, 25 Table 5 revealed that 228 (42.4%) of the respondents were within rural areas and 310 (57.6%) of the respondents were within urban areas. This implied that majority of respondents in this study were within urban areas. 4.2.2 Answer to Research Questions Research Question One: What is the students’ perception of the causes of conflict in Colleges of Education for peaceful learning environment in North-Central, Nigeria? Table 6: Students’ perception of the causes of conflict in Colleges of Education for peaceful learning environment N =538 S/n Items Mean Std. D Decision 1. Competition for inadequate resources causes conflicts 3.65 .554 Agreed 2. Contra polity value system causes conflicts 3.60 .620 Agreed 3. Conflict is caused by psychological needs of groups and individuals 3.63 .558 Agreed 4. Arguments with other people to accept one’s opinion leads to conflict. 3.58 .647 Agreed 5. Undue negative influence on other students causes