There are several steps that can be taken in order to handle the conflict and attendant stress that is felt in teacher conflicts, absenteeism and a lack of academic progress of special education students in regular classes at Sunnyslope. First, it would be wise for the principal to hold a meeting in which there is plenty of discussion among the two groups of teachers. This step is advocated by Bradley and Monda-Amaya (2005), who note that such meetings should be used to clarify (for all groups) student needs, the kind of support needed for the students successful integration into the regular classroom, the capacities and training, if any, that are required to help regular teachers successfully integrate the students, and so forth. The principal should use this meeting to note the exact nature of the ongoing conflict and attempt to facilitate the discussion of a process both groups of teachers could agree on.
This meeting could also be used to determine the stress levels of both groups of teachers. If the conflict has been going on for some time, it would be good for the principal to provide some in-service stress reduction training for both groups of teachers. In this regard, Dunham and Varma (2005) report that stress reduction training can do much to help teachers in conflict situations. Such training enables them to not only manage their stress levels but to get stress down to a point where teachers can see new options and try them. Thus, it makes them more productive and more likely to make effective changes.
Once the principal has determined the competencies required by regular education teachers and special education teachers, a determination has to be made as to what training regular teachers might require. This training will help regular teachers do the tasks that special education teachers feel that they must do in order to provide students with needed support. Proper support and training is mandatory if regular ...