Eureka! Institutional Repository

Modern society is defined by significant changes that have caused considerable variations in the student population to individual, cultural, linguistic, social, economic and religious levels. This often leads to conflicts. Conflicts between native and foreign students in a school unit are very important because, depending on how we perceive them and deal with them, they can cause defferent effects on the functioning of the school and consequently on the personal development of each individual. Therefore, the proper solution of the conflict is to be sought in order to minimize the negative effects and maximize the positive ones for the benefit of both the pupils and the school. The purpose of this research is to investigate the views of teachers in Primary and Secondary Education on the role of the leader-manager in the management and confrontation of the conflicts that arise between native and foreign students in modern Greek school and the conflicts’ origins. In order to conduct the survey, the quantitative approach was chosen through the use of an anonymous questionnaire, while the analysis of the data obtained was carried out with the SPSS 25 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The final sample consisted of 115 Primary and Secondary Education teachers in Greece. The results of our research assure that the conflicts between native and foreign students in contemporary Greek schools are a real phenomenon that is mostly due to different perceptions and values as well as communication problems. As a result, there are negative consequences for the functioning of the school and on the students’ psychology as well. The technique of compromise turned out to be the most preferred way school unit leaders follow to manage such conflicts, though teachers suggested the method of cooperation as the most appropriate one.