An ethnographic study of conflict in an Alaskan early college charter school

Abstract

This study is an analytic ethnography investigating the culture of conflict in an Alaskan early college charter school. Interviews conducted with 12 staff members allow for discovery of the conflict and the culture surrounding it within the Effie Kokrine Early College Carter School. Results include a determination that the school sequesters conflict, instead of addressing the underlying problems which create it. The underlying problems creating conflict at the school are: employee lack of general knowledge about the student population, subpar communication skills in students, a lack of female role models for female students, lack of conflict role models for all students, and a lack of training in adult-to-student conflict. This study provides the first comprehensive look at conflict in an Alaskan early college charter school and provides the underpinnings of a future conflict resolution system.