Investigation of school principals' perceptions on self- leadership and positive childhood experiences

Abstract

The aim of this research is to determine the perceptions of school principals working in public schools in Bursa on self-leadership and positive childhood experiences. The research is a descriptive research in survey model. A quantitative research design was used. According to the statistics of 2021-2022, the research population consists of 221 school principals working in public schools in Bursa. Simple random sampling method was used in the research, it was based on voluntariness. Self-Leadership Scale, Positive Childhood Experiences Scale and Personal Information Form prepared by the researchers were used as data collection tools in the research. According to the results of the research, it was seen that the perceptions of the school principals regarding positive childhood experiences and self-leadership did not differ statistically according to gender, school level, professional seniority and educational status. In the sub-dimension of self-speaking, which is one of the sub-dimensions of self-leadership, it was observed that the views of the school principals differed significantly according to gender, and the perceptions of female school principals were higher than male. It has been found that there is a low-level positive relationship between positive childhood experiences and self-leadership. In this context, it can be said that school principals' positive childhood experiences contribute positively to the development of self-leadership skills, and self-leadership skills will reveal strong leaders. The fact that the manager candidates have experienced enough positive childhood experiences supports the managers as an effective leader. Managerial training programs should be organized on self-leadership strategies, the use and applications of self-leadership skills by increasing the awareness of manager candidates about self-leadership skills.