Mehmet Sincar

Readiness of teachers for change in schools

Theorizing on the role of teacher attitudes in change effectiveness, this study examined the predictive value of context (trust), process (social interaction, participative management and knowledge sharing) and outcome (job satisfaction and workload perception) variables for cognitive, emotional and intentional readiness of teachers for change. The study was designed as predictive correlational study. Data were collected from 1649 elementary teachers. Hierarchical linear regression analysis results indicated that background and context variables are weak predictors of readiness for change (RFC), while job outcome and process variables emerged as stronger predictors of RFC. The central role of job satisfaction and trust in predicting RFC suggests that readiness cannot be limited to times of change; rather, it is closely related to total experiences of teachers on their job. As a result, for a more effective management of teachers’ attitudes towards change leadership needs to hold a broader temporal and contextual understanding rather than demonstrating limited interventions during times of change.

The Mediating Roles of Internal Context Variables in the Relationship between Distributed Leadership Perceptions and Continuous Change Behaviours of Public School Teachers.

Abstract This study aims at building a theoretical base for continuous change in education and using this base to test the mediating roles of two key contextual variables, knowledge sharing and trust, in the relationship between the distributed leadership perceptions and continuous change behaviours of teachers. Data were collected from 687 public school teachers. The results showed that the combined effect of knowledge sharing and faculty trust in principal mediated the relationship between teachers’ distributed leadership perceptions and continuous change behaviours. The directions of the coefficients of the relationships between the independent variable and the dependent variable suggested that higher distributed leadership perception leads to increased knowledge sharing and trust in principal, which in turn was associated with greater continuous change behaviours. The study showed that school systems have an extensive capacity for self-improvement, even in the absence of a pre-developed change plan.

An investigation of Turkish female school administrators’ views on the concept of self-development

ABSTRACT The aim of this qualitative-phenomenological study was to investigate Turkish female school administrators’ views on the concept of self-development and the techniques they adopt in their self-development process. Using snowball sampling, ten female school administrators participated in a semistructured interview. The obtained data were analyzed through the content analysis method and validity and reliability of the study were obtained thorough peer-debriefing, member checking and consistency checking. The findings pointed to a need to clear the current negative perceptions toward women school administrators. This study also showed that social roles that are attributed to women by society become obstacles for the self-development process of female school administrators, especially when they want to attend a developmental activity. Moreover, management of feelings, psychology and communication became the fields in which female school administrators needed to improve themselves. Findings showed that self-development is a notion worth exploring. Further conclusions and implications are discussed.

İl Eğitim Denetmenlerinin İletişim Becerileri ile Empatik Eğilimlerinin Bazı Değişkenler Açısından İncelenmesi

In this study empathetic tendencies and communication skills of city education supervisors are determined and the relation between communication skills and empathetic tendencies is described It is a descriptive study based on relational screening model The study group of this study is 306 participants chosen through convenience sampling among 1045 city education supervisors working in 13 cities In the analysis of data ANOVA and t test are used There is not a meaningful difference in city education supervisors rsquo; gender branch and seniority variables According to the variable ldquo;Are you pleased with your work? rdquo; there is a meaningful difference in support of the ones giving the answer ldquo;Yes rdquo; Communication skills of city education supervisors predict their empathetic tendencies When points of communication skills and empathetic tendencies are evaluated together it can be said that supervisors rsquo; perceptions of empathetic tendencies are lower Workshop and seminars increasing city education supervisors rsquo; both communication skills and empathetic tendencies will affect their behaviors positively