An Analysis on Mission Statements of Turkish Primary Schools: Similarities and Differences

Abstract

Article InfoMission statements are increasingly becoming an inevitable component of educational institutions. The main reason behind this can be attributed to the fact that they are determinants for the accreditation of schools in today's competitive educational arena. Thus, gaining an insight into the emphasized concepts in mission statements of primary schools is essential since primary schools are the places where the education starts for every single individual. In this regard, the aim of this study is to provide a document analysis of mission statements of Turkish public primary schools which are governed by the Ministry of National Education. To achieve this, mission statements of 500 primary schools across Turkey were compiled; particularly schools from the Western and the Eastern parts of the country were randomly selected and included in the analysis. As well as the comparison between mission statements of schools located in two opposite sides of the country, a special attention was paid to whether any reference to language teaching and learning was available in the mission statements. The whole data were analysed via content analysis. The results give in-depth information about common and differing points among mission statements. The most common mission was found to be educating individuals who valued Atatürk's principles and reforms underpinning the Turkish education system. Besides, a number of distinct missions

More than Meets the Eye? Using Text Analytic Techniques to Unpack School Mission Statements

“…The recurrent themes of academic success, civics, community ties and socio-emotional skills may seem like the universal ''usual suspects'' for school mission statements, but, while these themes are the ones most manifested in the United States, studies of other countries yield different results. For example, a study on primary schools in Turkey finds valuing the principles and reforms of the political leader Atat€ urk as the top-most common purpose (Turhan & Kirkgoz, 2020). Studies focusing on mission statements from Australian high schools (Allen et al, 2018), New Zealand and Japanese primary schools (Chapple, 2015) and Omani primary schools (Al-Ani & Ismail, 2015) find, as in the United States, academic/ cognitive outcomes as among the top-four most prevalent themes.…”

A Mission Statement Does Not a Mission Make: A Mixed Methods Investigation in Public Education

“…Out of several characteristics, mission, vision, and goals might not be that important (Leithwood & Azah, 2017). Despite either contrary or elusive evidence, the value of mission statements as a net positive or in need of a slight modification continued in most circles (David et al, 2014;Kadhium et al, 2021;Sidhu, 2003;Turhan & Kirkgöz, 2020).…”