Group conflict is the perceived incompatibility of goad, actions, or interest among different members of a social group (Myers, 2015). These conflicts may either be motivated by individualism, dissatisfaction based on an unjust system, lack of cooperation, and imbalanced input toward a given project. This essay's objectivity is to highlight a personal experience of group conflict, highlight the cause of the conflict, mention the strategies that were used in resolving the conflict, and judge whether the approach used was effective or not.
Early this year, the world was shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought everything to a standstill. Many government agencies whose countries had been affected decided to put their countries into lockdown, leaving essential service providers in operation alone. In a bid to curb the spread of this deadly pandemic, social institutions like schools, beaches, and parks were forced to close. This move saw, specifically, the learning environment shift from a physical site to a virtual environment requiring learners to access material and attend classes online. However, this was not a smooth sail for all institutions. My brother's school, for example, had a problem. Two weeks after the country went into lockdown, their school administration sent a memo to all students requiring them to start attending to online classes.
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Unfortunately, mixed reactions ensued from both students and some of the teaching staff. Most students declined to attend the classes for the following two weeks, while some professors chose not to conduct the classes. Up to now, these professors have never shown up for the online classes' frenzy. On the other hand, the school administration was continually working to ensure that the classes to go no matter what. There was an incompatibility of interest among students, some professors, and the school administration.
What caused the conflicting interest? Most students claimed that they were remotely-based; thus, they could not easily access the internet. This is to mean that the diversity of where most students came from hampered the carrying out of Zoom classes because of slow internet connectivity. Besides, 70% claimed that purchasing internet bundles was way too expensive for them, considering that these were hard times when COVID-19 had crippled the economy for the worse. Another reason they gave for not attending classes for the first two weeks was the impromptu nature of issuing the memo and when the lessons began. I may not be in a position to have known the reasons that some professors decided not to teach. I feel that they may have felt inconvenienced by the school's change of tactics because they are accustomed to teaching the traditional way in a physical classroom. Besides, they may have had other engagements that they wanted to concentrate on and give teaching some break during the pandemic. What about the school administration? They may have been solely motivated by the idea that the wagon must keep moving to save time and make work more manageable in the future with minimal interference to the academic calendar.
In my opinion, these causes were partially misperceptions and partially injustices. Why misperception? Misperceptions: All three parties had a different view of what the online classes would affect them (Rummel, 1977). Some professors who chose not to teach may be felt that they were being pressured to start a new culture of teaching that conflicts with what they are used to and that they would struggle to adapt. From the students' side, I feel like this was an injustice being cast upon them because it was apparent that not all students shall be attending because of the internet connectivity barrier.
In a bid to resolve the conflict, the school administration organized for a meeting with student leaders and professors to try and address the different perspectives they had about online classes. Through dialogue, the institution took upon themselves to partner with internet service providers to offers subsidized bundles that were to be used by both students and teachers. This approach goes hand-in-hand with one of David Myers proposal of how to resolve social conflict. Conflicting parties are obliged to communicate to solve social conflict (Myers, 2015). In my perspective, this strategy was partially effective because it only addressed one part of the problem (the students). Up to now, the professors that decided not to teach have never shown up. I bet they inappropriately engaged those professors whose reasons not to teach may have outweighed the school's intention to want to conduct online classes.
References
Myers, D., 2015. Exploring Psychology . 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rummel, R., 1977. Misperception, Cognitive Dissonance, Righteousness, And Conflict . [online]
Hawaii.edu.Availableat:<https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/CIP.CHAP4.HTM#:~:text=4.1%20MISPERCEPTION,will%20generate%20responses%20in%20kind.> [Accessed 14 July 2020].
