School Administrators as Legitimation Agents: Linking Perceived Organizational Legitimacy and Legitimation Strategies

Abstract

Schools operate in an environment heavily influenced by institutional and political factors. While standardizing effects of strict legal regulations and the public education system impose certain structural and professional limitations on schools, political pressures from various interest groups may create gaps between rules and school practices. It can be suggested that school administrators can benefit from these gaps to legitimize school level practices. In this study, we examined the effects of proactive, protective and reactive legitimation strategies used by administrators on legitimacy perceptions of internal stakeholders. Using a prediction research design, the study was conducted with 365 administrators and 426 teachers working in 94 schools. The researchers developed a "Perceived Organizational Legitimacy Scale" and a "Legitimacy Management Strategies Scale" to gather data. Findings showed that proactive and protective strategies had positive effects on all types of legitimacy perceptions whereas reactive strategies had positive effects only on taken-for-grantedness. Moreover, reactive strategies mostly had negative effects on pragmatic legitimacy and comprehensibility, but no significant relationship was found between these strategies and moral legitimacy.

“They didn’t ask us!” School Counselor Perception of Involvement in Superintendent Decision Making During Crisis Schooling

“…Johnson (2017) defined crisis leadership as "the ability of leaders not to show different leadership competencies but rather to display the same competencies under the extreme pressures that characterize a crisisnamely uncertainty, high levels of emotion, the need for swift decision-making and, at times, intolerable external scrutiny" (p. 15). Under unprecedented pressure from tremendous forces threatening the legitimacy of their organizations (Fidan & Balcı, 2018) during crisis schooling, superintendents made myriad decisions around integrated student supports designed to meet students' basic needs (Biddle & Frankland, 2020). The process in which a leader typically engages when making decisions in the context of a crisis is outlined by CDT.…”

Öğretmenlerin Liderlik Özyeterliği ile Okul Müdürü Olma İstekleri Arasındaki İlişkide Liderlik Etme Motivasyonun Aracılık Rolü

“…Başka bir ifadeyle okullar, Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı ve anılan aktörlerden oluşan bir kurumsal çevrenin parçasıdırlar. Bu kurumsal çevre kanunlar, yönetmelikler, yönergeler, genelgeler ve öğretim programları gibi düzenlemeler yoluyla öğrenci kabul ve mezuniyet koşulları, yönetici ve öğretmenlerin atanma ve çalışma koşulları ile okul paydaşları arasındaki ilişkiler üzerinde belirleyici bir etkiye sahiptir (Fidan ve Balcı, 2018). Okul müdürleri görevlerini yerine getirirken kurumsal çevrenin kısıtlayıcı etkilerini göz önünde bulundurmak zorundadırlar.…”

“…Öğretmenler, okul müdürlerinin iddia ettiklerinden daha az destekleyici ve cesaretlendirici tutum sergiledikleri ve yöneticilik rutinlerine iddia ettiklerinden daha fazla önem verdikleri görüşündedir (Daniëls vd., 2020). Başka bir ifadeyle öğretmenler, görevdeki okul müdürlerinin liderliğini idealin altında bir düzeyde betimleme eğilimindedir (Fidan ve Balcı, 2018). Okul müdürlerinin özellik ve davranışlarına ilişkin bu türden bir değerlendirme, öğretmenlerin okul müdürlüğünü üstesinden gelinebilir bir görev olarak algılamalarına yol açmaktadır (Rechsteiner vd., 2022).…”

After the Killing of Atatiana Jefferson: Black Stakeholder Experiences Within a Municipal Listening Structure

“…Other scholars have compared cataphatic listening to colonial domination, as power relations remain static during the appearance of listening (Garrison, 2010). Finding better ways to listen becomes imperative, then, for democratic entities to be considered legitimate (Dobson, 2014;Dowling & Pfeffer, 1975;Fidan & Balci, 2018;Forrester, 1989;Garriga & Mele, 2004;Massey, 2001;Sung & Kim, 2018). To counter the problems of cataphatic or "stonewall" listening, public-sector listeners should embrace apophatic listening (Dobson, 2014;Waks, 2007) or an inclusive kind of listening.…”