Role Conflict Experienced by Primary School Educators in North West, South Africa

Abstract If work-family role conflict is not managed properly it could have debilitating consequences for educators regarding the quality of their work and family lives. The aims of the current study were twofold, namely, to determine the nature and the extent of role conflict being experienced by primary school educators teaching in three regions of North West, South Africa. To achieve the aims of the study, a literature review and an empirical study were undertaken. The literature review focused primarily on the nature of role conflict (intra- and inter-role conflict), while the empirical study investigated the extent of role conflict (intra- and inter-role conflict) being experienced by 795 primary school educators teaching in three regions of North West. Based on the outcomes of the literature review focusing on the nature of role conflict, a questionnaire was developed and validated to assess the extent of role conflict being experienced by the participants. The findings indicated that, in general, the participants experienced a slight to moderate extent of intra- and inter-role conflict. Some recommendations were made to manage and address the educators’ experiences of intra- and inter-role conflict in the school context.