Co-Teacher Conflict

Some of the more common but disruptive problems facing school leaders occur inside the classroom between the adults. Principals often struggle to address conflicts between co-teachers, resorting to one of two extremes- giving too much space or too much direction.

When school leaders are too passive in heading off personal and professional differences, resentments may lead to actions that compound the problem. Consider a new educator who was refused a desk or space on the shelves by the veteran co-teacher. When the principal asked the new teacher how she was adjusting, she asked for help in how to approach this situation but was told it would all work out in time. That new co-teacher spent the entire year doing next to nothing in the class.

Being too aggressive in solving the problem can also serve to reinforce the issues, but drive the conflict underground. Now the two teachers resort to more passive aggressive behavior, generating tension reminiscent of the student’s families at home.

Consequences for unresolved differences between teachers can range from modest to severe. Students in the class can become fragmented and the faculty polarized within the department. The quality of instruction can suffer and burnout with attrition is possible.

Simple guidelines for the administrator to help facilitate a long- term resolution are as follows:

  1. Pay attention to how the co-teachers are negotiating their differences before helping them address the content of their discord. If people don’t attend to how they are talking then what they are talking about won’t be taken in.
  2. Consider the power differential between the two adults and how it may have been formed. When people are in a power struggle, they need help letting go of control.
  3. Encourage both parties to acknowledge some strength for the other person. When we hear acknowledgment from another person, we become less guarded and more willing to hear.
  4. Support flexibility and adaptation. By reinforcing a less rigid posture, you will be leading people toward a more creative solution.
  5. Remind the adults they are setting an example for the students in how they resolve conflict. By exploring differences with curiosity, they will be promoting the same for the children.
  6. Provide understanding to each adult as a jump start to their own empathy. You want to ensure you aren’t seen as taking sides but promoting honesty and directness.
  7. Offer reassurance that conflict can be anxiety producing. If one person seems too tense, help them to take short breaks before returning to the negotiation.
  8. Help each party understand what basic needs aren’t being met or being threatened. Whether it’s safety, control, purpose, etc… all our behavior flows from our desire to meet needs.
  9. Encourage each side to agree to some type of compromise. What is each person going to do to improve the situation before the meeting is over?
  10. If necessary, remind the adults they have a responsibility to be professional even when they don’t agree. Poor behavior that impacts the students will have consequences.

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