Abstract

This study examined conflict management competencies and peace education practices as predictors of administrative effectiveness among public secondary school principals in Edo State, Nigeria. The study was motivated by the increasing incidence of school conflicts, student indiscipline and leadership challenges confronting public secondary schools, which require principals to possess competencies that promote peaceful and effective school administration. A descriptive correlational survey design was adopted. The population comprised 5,452 respondents, consisting of principals, vice-principals and teachers in public secondary schools across Edo State. A sample of 420 respondents was selected using a multistage sampling procedure, while 403 valid questionnaires were retrieved and analysed, representing a 95.9% response rate. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that conflict management competencies significantly predicted administrative effectiveness (β = 0.571, R² = 0.326, p < .001). The inclusion of peace education practices significantly improved the prediction model, increasing the explained variance from 32.6% to 55.4% (ΔR² = 0.228, p < .001). The study concluded that principals' administrative effectiveness is enhanced when they possess strong conflict management competencies and actively promote peace education practices within their schools. It was recommended that educational authorities strengthen leadership capacity through regular training in conflict management and institutionalise peace education practices as part of school leadership and governance. The findings contribute to educational leadership and school governance literature by demonstrating the complementary role of conflict management and peace-building in improving administrative effectiveness in developing educational contexts