Conflict among Teachers: What Underlies Misunderstandings and How to Address Them?

The article explores the causes of conflicts within teaching staff and their impact on the teaching environment. Mutual understanding among colleagues is a key factor influencing the quality of the educational process and the overall atmosphere in the workplace. The research sample included 20 teachers — both elementary and subject teachers — with at least three years of experience, aged 35–45. The research has em-ployed K. Thomas’s Personal Conflict Behavior Strategies to identify predominant conflict-handling styles, and V. F. Ryakhovskiy’s Self-Assessment of Conflict-Proneness to assess levels of individual conflict tendency. Based on the results, most teachers tend to avoid open confrontations, preferring to smooth over tensions. How-ever, the presence of teachers with high conflict-proneness highlights the need for preventive interventions aimed at developing constructive interaction skills and pro-moting a collaborative approach as the most productive strategy for the teaching staff. The article is intended for educators, school administrators, and anyone interested in improving professional relationships and teamwork in educational settings.