Intragroup conflicts in German preschools: the impact of leadership on conflicts between caregivers

ABSTRACT

In general, conflicts are inevitable when people collaborate. Although conflicts between caregivers occur in preschools, they have hardly been explored so far. Here, the preschool leader is expected to successfully manage the emerging conflicts. However, it is unknown how the general leadership behavior is related to conflicts within teams of caregivers. Therefore, based on the intragroup conflict theory and different leadership styles, this study investigates the impact of leadership on intragroup conflicts in German preschools. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey was administered to a sample of 182 caregivers at 75 preschools in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The results show that preschool leaders who display constructive leadership behavior minimize task, relationship, and process conflicts, while moderate constructive leaders generate higher levels of process conflicts than ambivalent leaders. Moreover, the influence of ambivalent leaders on relationship conflicts is higher than that of moderate constructive leaders. The implication of the findings is that, in order to effectively deal with intragroup conflicts, preschool leaders should obtain appropriate support and demonstrate constructive leadership behavior.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. In this paper, the term „preschool“ refers to organizations that provide services in the area of early childhood education according to level 0 of ISCED 2011 (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2012). In Germany, this includes childcare for children aged 0 to 6 years.

2. Here, the term „caregiver“ is used as an umbrella term for pedagogical employees in preschools, even though they differ in their functions, areas of focus, and qualifications.

3. External leaders lead in the background and only involve themselves in the work of their employees when necessary. They also promote independent work (Kotlyar & Karakowsky, 2006).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany, under Grant [01NV1810].

Notes on contributors

Vera K. K. Eling

Vera K. K. Eling is a Research Assistant in the Department of Children and Youth Education at the University of Kaiserslautern-Landau in Germany. Her research interests include leadership and collarboration in early childhood education and care with an focus on intragroup conflicts. Other areas of research include educational quality and digital documentation.