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I'm in the fortunate position of having a good idea of interview questions for an internal promotion (teacher).
I am struggling for a good answer to giving examples of how I've managed conflict.
I can speak about conflict between children but not between me and others; I've never really been in any since leaving bar work. I can talk about relationships, open communication etc but can't for the life of me think of concrete examples.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Maybe flip it round and say that you've never found yourself in that situation and that you think that's because you approach interpersonal relationships in a certain way, e.g. open communication?
Can always follow with what you think you'd do if a conflict situation ever arose...
parents that come in raging ?
Did you spill my pint? Outside - NOW!!!
Manage that, skool boi.
😀
How about toning it down to examples of managing situations where you have a fundamental difference of opinion to others rather than requiring it to be on the verge of fisticuffs? If you need practice wade into any of the big hitter threads on here.
Just tell them that, in the event of conflict, you utterly dominate the antagonist by sheer force of will and, if that fails, by unexpected bursts of explosive violence.
Bet they don't disagree. Job's yours.
Can you talk about the difference between assertive and passive aggressive? No one want's to hire/promote a pushover who avoids conflict at all costs, so telling them you've never had a difference of opinion is not a good answer!
It doesn't have to mean fisticuffs and ill feelings, just examples of how you resolve arguments without upsetting the team.
e.g. no one wanted to teach set 9z because they're no hopers and shot their last teacher, so I gave it to Dave because no one likes him and he later quit as a result, is not good conflict management. I offered it to Adam as I think he's the most promising NQT new teacher in the department with the incentive that if he achieved a 70% pass rate in their SAT's I'd recommend him to be head of KS3 in the department.
Say that your preferred approach is a punch-up behind the bike shed.
When i was at school the teachers used to use: the cane, trainer, ruler, black board eraser & isometric postures to manage pupil conflict.
A more reasonable approach for managing conflict with adults could be "i took a step back, he/she took a step forwards, so initiated an attack in fear of my safety".
HTH.
Teacher promotion?.... You going for year head or HOD?....
You NEED to look at "Restorative Approaches" and "Transactional Analysis."
Ex HOD and current HOY here.
Questions that start.
"Give me an example of when ..." Are the sign of a poor interview and should be treated as an exercise in creative writing.
It may well be that you're doing something right that means that the conflict hasn't arisen or diffused because of the way you approached it? Read up on examples of how to avoid / diffuse potential conflict situations and answer the question by confirm what your approach would be.
Some genuine lols. Thanks.
@Simon - HoD (small D). I know those and have had excellent and recent PD on child vs (?) child conflict but it's the professional examples I'm struggling with. Child - child conflict is easy.
The one example of me and another member of staff I do have is vaguely on-going and inappropriate.
One question I had for a recent interview was very similar. 'Can you tell us about a time where youv'e had to manage in a situation that involved conflict'
I just looked & said, 'you'll have seen by my application that I've just done 16 years in the prison service'? He said, 'yeah, I think we'll forget about that one' & his co-interviewer said, 'may as well miss the next 2 out as well'
I got the job & start on the 4th December. 8)
No help, but good luck OP!
Q- How do you manage confict?
A- I owned them with my Bombers and I wee'd in their shoes,if that failed I challenged them to a duel.
Q- How do you manage confict?
A- I just keep arguing with them for a few hours until they got bored/tired and left.
makecoldplayhistory - MemberI am struggling for a good answer to giving examples of how I've managed conflict.
Easy:
A) you punch the aggressor in the face until they bleed
B) you post on here and have seen, and read and commented on, conflict so therefore know more than “your average bear”
Congrats esselgruntfuttock! 🙂
turn the question round , "how will you manage conflict if you dont give me the promotion"
Q- How do you manage confict?
A- I just don't put myself in the situation of conflict. 😆
you need to remember in these type of interviews telling people what you think you will do (i.e. hypothetical stuff or telling them what you think they want to hear for example) counts for nothing.
They will be looking for experience and skills you have already got that you can demonstrate through actual examples of something that you have done. By asking for actual examples its more difficult for you to make something up on the spot as they will use probing questions to discover more.
its often difficult as you tend to look for examples that are big things but small everyday situations where something didn't escalate for example can be as useful. the real art is to then apply what you may have learnt from this to a situation you may find in the new job.
remember the S T A R technique
What was the situation
task - what was the task
action - i.e. what was YOUR role/ what did YOU do in the task
result - what happened (good or bad) / what would you do differently if you did it again
(and also - how does it/ what you learnt relate to the new job)
Easy:
A) you punch the aggressor in the face until they bleed
B) you post on here and have seen, and read and commented on, conflict so therefore know more than “your average bear”
I’m starting to suspect you’re chewkw without the likeable element 🙂
I asked this question today in an interview for pastoral posts; I'm an AHT in a secondary school. I like to see answers that focus on the importance of 'challenging others' being a good thing, and an acknowledgement that good/effective leadership at any level can often arise from disagreements.
I'd be surprised if, in the course of your teaching career, there hasn't been a time when you and your colleagues have disagreed about something; data, planning, curriculum, PP outcomes etc. Given how difficult working in education is for all nowadays, there is an inevitability to it happening. Outstanding leaders see this, and pre-empt it through empowerment and equity.
I am not likeable, that’s a given.
And I prefer it that way 😛