Determining School Administrators’ Perceptions on Institutional Culture: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Schools, the where educational activities are carried out, are among the major institutions society considers as important. Schools undertake strategic responsibilities in maintaining cultural values and conveying them to future generations. The primary responsibility in achieving these missions is assigned to the school administrators. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of school administrators on institutional culture. This is a qualitative study conducted on school administrators who were selected based on the volunteering principle. Perceptions of school administrators concerning their institutions' culture and the differences between their institutional culture and other institution's cultures were determined and analyzed. Findings of this study suggest that school administrators have both positive and negative opinions regarding their institutional culture and cultural difference. While love-respect, collaboration-solidarity and common history were prominent positive opinions; lack of communication, lack of shared values and low expectation were prominent negative opinions. In addition, participants stated the environment as a crucial factor when defining culture.

The Relationships between Structural and Psychological Empowerment of Teachers and Their Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

“…Aksi durumda ise çalışanlar kendilerini engellenmiş ve buna bağlı olarak mutsuz hissedebilmektedirler. Çalışanların yapısal olarak güçlendirilmişlik düzeyi, örgütün sağlayacağı fırsat ve güç yapısına bağlıdır (Kanter, 1993;Kartal, 2016;O'Brien, 2010;Vacharakiat, 2008). Fırsat yapısı, çalışanların örgüt içinde bilgi ve becerilerini geliştirmeleri; güç yapısı ise çalışanın bir işi başarabilmesi için gereksinim duyabileceği güç kaynaklarına ulaşabilmesi için gerekli yapısal düzenlemeyi ifade etmektedir.…”

How Symbols and Rituals Affect School Culture and Management

“…In total, 7% of the directors, 19% of the teachers, and 27% of the servants stressed that with the help of the directors, staff, individuals in schools, and parents, school culture should be spread more throughout education process. In their study, Karadağ and Özdemir [18] reached a different finding, which revealed that a majority of school directors demanded more applications to prioritize role and task culture when defining school culture.…”

“…In total, 40% of the directors, 19% of the teachers, and 67% of the servants believe that school culture contributes to social-organizational-individual development, performance, and academic success. Another finding by Karadağ and Özdemir [18] is that school culture has significant importance and is a must in the transfer of sociocultural inheritance as well as in students successfully achieving their socioeconomic roles. In a study by Doğan [19], it is stated that school culture has a positive impact on students' success.…”

The Mediator Role of Social Safeness and Pleasure in Relation between Mobbing and Meaning of Work in Academicians

“…However, to my knowledge, there is no study which can explain the reasons of this relationship. It is thought that the social safeness and pleasure, which have an important role in the formation of social relations (Kelly, Zuroff, Leybman, & Gilpert, 2012), has also crucial effects on the relationships at work, particularly, organizational commitment (Çolak, Altinkurt, & Yilmaz, 2014), organizational culture and climate (Kartal, 2016).…”