Relationship between Peace-Building Counselling and Students’ Conflict Resolution Skills among Secondary School Students in Zamfara State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61166/feelings.v3i2.76Keywords:
Communication Skills, Conflict Resolution Skills, Negotiation Skills, Peace-Building Counselling, Tolerance and Cooperation Skills.Abstract
This study examined the relationship between peace-building counselling and students' conflict resolution skills among secondary school students in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study determined the relationship between peace-building counselling and students' communication skills, negotiation skills, and tolerance and cooperation skills for conflict resolution. A correlational research design was adopted. The population comprised 161,772 public secondary school students in Zamfara State, while a sample of 384 students was selected using the Research Advisors (2006) sample size table through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Of the 384 questionnaires administered, 378 were correctly completed and used for data analysis. Data were collected using a researcher-developed instrument titled Peace-Building Counselling and Students' Conflict Resolution Skills Questionnaire (PBCSCRSQ). The instrument was validated by experts in Guidance and Counselling, Educational Psychology, and Measurement and Evaluation, while its reliability was established using Cronbach's Alpha, yielding a coefficient of 0.89. Descriptive statistics comprising mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was employed to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed significant positive relationships between peace-building counselling and students' communication skills (r = .648, p < .05), negotiation skills (r = .623, p < .05), and tolerance and cooperation skills (r = .681, p < .05). The study concluded that peace-building counselling plays a significant role in enhancing students' conflict resolution skills and promoting peaceful coexistence in secondary schools. It was recommended, among others, that school administrators should strengthen peace-building counselling programmes, while guidance counsellors should organize regular conflict resolution and peer mediation activities to improve students' communication, negotiation, tolerance, and cooperation skills.
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