Abstract
M. Ed. (Educational Management)
Negotiation has become fashionable lately. The achievement of consensus in
almost every sphere has also become extremely important. Educational leaders
are at present being exposed to negotiations at an increasing rate. For this
reason it has become essential for all educators and especially principals to
be well informed about the whole process of negotiation. This minidissertation
focuses on negotiation techniques used by principals of secondary
schools.
Negotiation can be regarded as a dynamic process in which at least two
parties, with both common and conflicting interests, try to reach an
agreement. This is dependent on the changing relationships, the achieving of
agreement and can also be successfully used as a mechanism to handle conflict.
The mere issuing of orders is, especially among professional people who are
interdependant, not always effective and the principal will therefore also
have to use other methods of motivation.
Attention has been given to negotiation as a managerial skill with special
emphasis on the negotiation process, the elements of negotiations and the
skills that have to be mastered by the negotiators. The following aspects of
negotiations are exposed and discussed in this exploratory study:
* Communication is an essential element of negotiation and
therefore communication skills are vitally important to
successful negotiation.
* The personality and behaviour of the negotiator greatly influence
the process of negotiation, thus knowledge of the individual
negotiating and conflict-handling styles lead to successful
negotiation...