Educational Management Administration & Leadership

http://ema.sagepub.com Behaviour of Turkish Elementary School Principals in the Change Process: An Analysis of the Perceptions of Both Teachers and School Principals
Feyyat Goke Educational Management Administration Leadership 2009; 37; 198 DOI: 10.1177/1741143208100298 The online version of this article can be found at: http://ema.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/37/2/198

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ARTICLE

Educational Management Administration & Leadership ISSN 1741-1432 DOI: 10.1177/1741143208100298 SAGE Publications (London, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC) Copyright 2009 BELMAS Vol 37(2) 198215; 100298

Behaviour of Turkish Elementary School Principals in the Change Process

An Analysis of the Perceptions of Both Teachers and School Principals

Feyyat Goke

ABSTRACT

Technological and economic changes affect societies, and consequently bring about change in education. Elementary school principals in Turkey spend considerable time and effort managing change in their schools. This study contributes to the better management of Turkish elementary schools by determining the behavior of elementary school principals in the process of change. Data were gathered through interviews of 80 elementary school principals and 280 elementary school teachers in the Cappadocian city of Nevsehir. School principals and teachers considered their own behaviour in the process of change as generally sufcient. However, a signicant difference was found between the opinions of teachers and school principals. Teachers expect principals to show more effective behaviour in the change process. The results of the study suggest that eliminating handicaps caused by sex discrimination when selecting and appointing school administrators, giving administrators postgraduate education and applying an education program based on approaches that internalize improvement would contribute to more effective school management.
KEYWORDS

change management, change process, school management, school principals, Turkish schools

Introduction
This article analyzes the administrative behavior of elementary school principals in the process of change. Specically, the study sought information on the opinions of elementary school teachers and principals concerning the behavior shown by elementary school principals in the process of change. Increased expectations of educational institutions create new problems. It is imperative that school administrators can meet expectations and solve problems efciently. Innovations in technology, communications and organization over the last quarter century have added to this pressure (Sallis, 1996: 910; Senge, 2000). These changes have provided new paradigms in socio-politics and
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Goke: Turkish Elementary School Principals in the Change Process

economics making traditional administrative mentalities ill-adjusted for the new organizational requirements (Kennedy, 1995: 20; Stoll and Fink, 1999: 2; Yenersoy, 1997: 9; Karagzoglu, 1999: 823). The shortcomings of traditional management approaches (Bonstingl, 1996: 12) have paved the way for a redenition of the competency required from educational administrators. In particular, educational administrators have been forced to be change managers (Crowther and Olsen, 1997: 7; Thody, 1998: 232). Turkey has been highly inuenced by international developments involving the European Union (EU). The political, cultural, economic and technological demands of EU membership have dramatically increased expectations of the Turkish education system. In particular, these demands on the education system require curriculum diversication, and this has made the management reorganization of the education system inevitable. EU developments can be considered to be one of the most important factors driving Turkish elementary school principals to act as change managers. The most comprehensive modications in both management and programs ever seen in Turkey have taken place in elementary education in recent years. Total quality management applications were initiated in schools in 1999 in order to meet the quality education standards required by program changes. With these new total quality management applications, current elementary school principals were required to take a 120-hour management training course (MEB, 1999a). Subsequently, the Elementary Institutions Governing Statute (MEB, 2003) and the Ministry of Education Governing Statute for the Assignment and Rotation of Education Institutions Administrators (MEB, 2004a) were modied to provide a more effective management scheme for schools. Also, school protection societies were abolished in elementary schools, and schoolfamily unions were established in their stead (MEB, 2005a). In effect, the Turkish elementary education program, which had been relatively stagnant for nearly 35 years, underwent revolutionary change. The education program that was based on a ve-year elementary education has been changed to an eight-year program. The most fundamental changes to Turkish elementary education programs were initiated in 2004. Major changes occurred within the programs of life science, Turkish, mathematics, science and social science starting in the 2004/5 academic year (MEB, 2004b). Consequently, elementary school principals have become change managers and have taken on the burden of meeting the new education demands of Turkish society. This study was carried out in order to contribute to a better management of Turkish elementary schools by researching the behavior of elementary school principals in the process of change.

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School Principal as Change Manager and the Expectations of Teachers Regarding Change
Today, we see a school system that is completely different from the singleroom school of the 19th century. In the new school, management has become much more important. The administrative skills needed include: educational leadership, a vision for the future, human resources management skills, interpersonal communication, time management, change management and conict management (Cranston, 2002: 5). In todays schools, the principal occupies a very important position in the education system as a change manager (Calabrese, 2002: 326) because he or she is the person who is responsible for the achievement of a more efcient education system for their students (Crowther and Olsen, 1997: 7). A principal, as a change manager, must continuously recognize when change is needed in the school environment, and nd the internal support for this change. Important skills that a change manager needs include the ability to analyze complex systems and personnel management (Everard and Morris, 1996: 231). The expectations of those involved in the change process are important in the achievement of change in schools. This is why the outcomes of change must meet the expectations of the participants (Toprak, 1999). Some studies performed in Turkey show that teachers have specic expectations regarding the behavior of elementary school principals in the change process. For instance, Atakl (1994) interviewed 116 inspectors, 450 teachers and 90 school principals in Ankara in order to determine the impact of elementary school principal behaviour on the efciency of teachers. The research showed that elementary school teachers expected principals to: (1) display joint-decision making; (2) exploit environmental resources; (3) provide leadership; and (4) ensure effective communication. These traits are all required in the change process. Another example is Sahin (2000) who interviewed academicians from education management departments, principals, school inspectors and teachers in Turkey. The interviews centered on elementary school principals competence. A particularly important aspect of the study was that it showed that teachers continued to have similar expectations of administrators six years later. Based on the current impetus for change, it can safely be said that there is a great need for principals who will effectively manage Turkish elementary schools. However, a systematic policy is not being pursued to ensure meaningful change. To further illustrate this situation, the next section contains an analysis of the development of school management in Turkey and the related regulations and practices. The literature suggests that in Turkey there is a need for principals who can manage elementary schools efciently.

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Goke: Turkish Elementary School Principals in the Change Process

Development Process of School Management in Turkey

There have been many changes in education since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The rapid population increase, which started in 1950, and the migrations from rural to urban areas that began in the 1970s increased the demand for education, increased the number of people involved in education and changed expectation of what should be taught. Despite the social demand for education reform, nancial resources were limited and long-term programs intended to change educational policy could not be accomplished. Thus, the long-term educational problems in Turkey have gone unaddressed until now (Karagzoglu, 1999). Changes in the management of elementary schools in Turkey have been proportional to changes in primary education. During the early years of the edgling republic, elementary schools were institutions at which citizens were trained in such areas as literacy, civics and professional skills that the existing economic system required (Blbl, 1991). The rapid increase in literacy caused changes in higher education, and that in turn produced an increase in expectations from elementary education. The process brought with it a change in the competencies required for managerial posts in primary education. Despite these developments, the management of institutions and elementary schools was the responsibility, not of those who had managerial training, but of educators or teachers (Cicioglu, 1985: 45). Although the Constitution of 1960 required elementary education to span eight years, only the rst ve years were stipulated as being compulsory. In addition, the management of elementary schools was delegated to principals chosen from among elementary school teachers. From 1982 until 1997, elementary education suffered from the side effects of frequent and inconsistent reforms. This changed with the legislation numbered 4306 in 1997 (MEB, 1997), which stipulated an eight-year compulsory education. While only branch teachers were entitled to be elementary school principals (MEB, 1993), later classroom teachers were also allowed to become primary school principals. Now elementary schools are administered by principals who are chosen, trained and appointed in accordance with The Governing Statute for the Appointment and Replacement of Administrators of Educational Institutions in The Ministry of National Education (MEB, 2004a). With the above regulation courses for educational managers were regarded as an asset, but were not compulsory. However, being a branch teacher was a condition for consideration to be a principal. Furthermore, this regulation did not take into account the pre-service education of elementary school teachers, did not consider training principals during service and paid attention only to the principals ofce performance. With the new criteria, every graduate who is actively involved in classroom teaching and whose candidacy is complete can become a school principle (MEB, 1998). Furthermore, it became compulsory for principal candidates to attend 120 hours of management training courses, and pass a national management examination. This
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also became a requirement for existing principals wishing to remain in their posts. The training program included a six-hour lesson called change and renovation (MEB, 1999a). The MEB governing statute for the assignment and rotation of educational institution administrators, which regulates selection, training and assignment of principals, was changed in January, 2004. The new version of the governing statute expanded the general conditions for becoming a principal to include two years experience as a teacher and the completion of in-job training. Moreover, candidates also have to take part in an oral interview after the written tests (MEB, 2004a). There has been frequent change in legal regulations (particularly in the governing statutes) concerning the selection, training, assignment and rotation of school principals. This may be because changing governments consider principals as a means of power. In other words, although the changes take place in the social dimension, the legal regulations are made primarily through considerations within the political dimension, and in Turkey, social necessities are used continuously as a means for political goals. For instance, the principle of objectivity in the governing statute of 1999 regarding the selection of principals was amended to include an interview in which a high degree of subjectivity in selection can occur.

Method
In the present study, in order to investigate the behavior of elementary school principals as administrators throughout the process of change, answers were sought to the following questions: What are the effects of such personal traits as gender, age and education level on being a school administrator? What do teachers and elementary school principals themselves think of the behavior that elementary school principals display during the change process? Are there any signicant differences between the views of teachers and of principals? The goal of this research was to analyze the administrative behavior of elementary school principals in the process of change. Specically, the study sought information on the opinions of elementary school teachers and principals concerning the behavior displayed by elementary school principals in the process of change. The study looked at whether differences existed between the opinions of teachers and principals, and whether gender, age and education level played a role in any differences found. The elementary school principals evaluated were subjected to a mandatory 120 hours of administration training in order to be eligible for future appointments due to the Ministry of Educations act of 1998 for the assignment and rotation of education institution administrators. This training was carried out by a group of academics from Hacettepe University, including myself. Nevsehir province was chosen as the focus of the research as a result of my involvement in training in this region.
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Goke: Turkish Elementary School Principals in the Change Process

The survey used in the research was prepared based on literary reviews, Turkish Governing Statutes related to school management (MEB, 1993, 1998, 1999b, 2004a), views and suggestions of those studying school management, 13 years of personal experience in elementary schools as a classroom teacher (Gke, 2005), and related research conducted in Turkey on this topic (YK, 2005). In this study, the behavior of school principals in the change process was grouped using an approach that considers management as a process (Bursaloglu, 1994). With the organization of behavior according to change process levels, it was expected that consistency would be obtained between principal and teacher opinions. The grouping of the behavior of principals during change management was based on the change process levels offered by Everard and Morris (1996), and the four-step change process model of Morrison (1998). According to Everard and Morris (1996), in order to manage the change process effectively, initially a change program must be formed. Second, a description of the current and desired situations must be produced and the gap between the two must be quantied. The third step is the decision of measures to be taken to ll the gap. Management of the change process forms the fourth step (Everard and Morris, 1996: 234). Morrisons four-step change process model is thus a demonstration of need, planning, implementation and integration (Morrison, 1998: 26). In this research, the behavior of school principals during change management was grouped into these steps. In the study, 16 examples of behavior displayed by principals were placed in the objective creation-planning step, 18 in the implementation step and nine in the integration step. The survey used in this research was prepared through literatary reviews, reviews of legal texts and evaluation of expert opinions. In order to test its reliability; the survey was applied twice to 56 elementary school principals and 104 teachers in Nevsehir and Ankara. The signicance coefcent was Cronbachs alpha = 0.96. Scope validity of the survey was tested using factor analysis. The developed scale has one factor, since the rst factor value (17.321) is more than four times higher than the second factor value (1.932). Conversely, the fact that the factor loads of the items of the survey came out between 0.497 and 0.777 also indicates that the developed scale is one-directional. The KaiserMeyerOlkin test measure of sampling adequacy was found to be 0.927. As for Bartletts Test of sphericity, the approximate Chi-square value was 4169.979 (p 0.01). The results of this statistical test thus indicate that the survey used in this research possesses sufcient reliability and validity. Krijeie and Morgans (1970) and Andersons (1990) sampling tables were used to determine the number of teacher and principal participmants to be included in the sample: 80 elementary school principals and 280 elementary school teachers were included. Among the teachers included in the sample, 48.5 per cent were female, whereas only 7.5 per cent of the school principals were female. In Turkey, there are 399,025 elementary school teachers of which 46
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per cent are female (MEB, 2005b). Approximately 32 per cent of the teachers and 89 per cent of the principals available in the study area were included in the sample, which is considered acceptable for this type of research. The elementary school teachers and principals who were included in the survey were divided into groups and given a 12-hour course related to change management and educational leadership within a one-year period. Surveys were applied by the researcher at the end of the courses. In order to evaluate the opinions of the elementary school principals and teachers, the frequency of the behavior shown in the change process was categorized into a ve-point scale as follows: always (points between 4.205.00); generally (points between 3.404.19); sometimes (points between 2.603.39); rarely (points between 1.802.59); and never (points between 11.79). Three hundred and sixty surveys that include principal and teacher opinions were analyzed using SSPS. Data related to personal information were recorded as percentages, and opinions related to the behavior of the elementary school principals and teachers in the process of change were calculated as arithmetic means. In order to test for any signicant differences between the opinions on the behavior of Turkish elementary school principals in the change process independent sample t-tests were used.

Results and Discussion

The ndings of the study were evaluated in two parts. The rst contained the participants personal information, while the second concerned the opinions held regarding the behavior displayed by principals and teachers.

Findings and Comments on Personal Data

In this section, participants ages, gender and education levels are considered and evaluation based on that information provided. The gender, age and education level of each participant are shown in Table 1. Though 48.9 per cent of the teachers working in elementary schools in the city of Nevsehir are female, only 7.5 per cent of the principals are female. In

Table 1 Personal data on teachers and principals included in the research

Sex (%) Female Groups Principals n = 80 Teachers n = 280 7.5 48.9 92.5 51.1 23.6 25 34.6 71.2 39.6 3.2 2.1 Male Age (%) 2030 3140 4150 51+ Education (%) Institution with 2-year education 50 32.1 Institution with 3-year education 12.5 4.6 Faculty with 4-year education 37.5 63.3

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Turkey in general, 46 per cent of teachers at elementary schools are female while only 7 per cent of principals are female (MEB, 2005b). It would seem that male principals administrate the elementary schools despite almost half of the teachers being female, which is a situation that has obviously been to the disadvantage of women for many years. For instance; in his study made 26 years ago Akaln (1980) determined that the percentage of female administrators working in the institutions of the Ministry of National Education was only 7.48 per cent and they had all been working for the organizational body in the centre of the Ministry. Twenty-two yeas later, Boydak ve Akpnar (2002) found that the percentage of female teachers working in elementary schools was then 44 per cent while that of the female principals working in those schools was only 5.7 per cent. This percentages differ according to the populations of cities and characteristics of regions. In their study made in the city of Kayseri elikten and Yeni (2004) found that only 1 per cent of school administrators in the town were female. In a general sense, this might be the result of various political, social, economic and educational factors and in a narrower sense, it might have been caused by the traditional responsibilities imposed on women by their roles as wives and mothers in their families. When considering the matter in terms of age, more than half the participants were under the age of 40, while two-thirds of school principals were over 40 (Table 1). This might have been the result of the fact that almost all of the principals who had previously been administrators in ve-year elementary schools were still maintaining their duties in eight-year schools despite newly graduated teachers being appointed to work in elementary schools in Nevsehir. Conversely, the prerequisite of having sufcient teaching experience before a candidate can be consider for principalship could explain the age difference between principals and teachers. According to the 19th item of the Regulation Concerning the Appointment and Replacement of Administrators of Educational Institutions having a postgraduate degree is a criterion for appointment as an elementary school principal (MEB, 2004a). Up until 1997, there had not been any criteria or requirements regarding the minimum educational levels for appointment as a principal in ve-year elementary schools (MEB, 1993). According to the ndings of this study, half of the elementary school principals in Nevsehir had two-year degrees (Table 1). This could be the result of the principals who were in charge in ve-year elementary schools were still keeping their positions. Considering this, it was a correct decision of the Ministry of National Education to offer 120-hour training programs to principals in charge in order that they complete their undergraduate degrees (MEB, 1999a).

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Findings and Comments Regarding the Behavior Displayed in Schools during the Management of Change
In the present study, the teachers and principals stated that the school principals generally displayed the behavior specied by change management in schools (mean: principal = 3.8235, teacher = 3.5811) (Table 2). This could be interpreted in the sense that the teachers and principals had similar perceptions about change. However, it is meaningful that none of the participants declared that the principals always displayed that behavior. Change is not a linear process but dynamic consisting of specic stages and its success depends on managing every step of it efciently. In the study, the teachers and principals stated that the principals generally displayed the behavior at the determining goals-planning stage, but they also stated that none of the behavior traits at that stage was always (4.205.00) displayed (Table 2). However, the change process in a school needs a constant revision of goals and planning. Managing such a process would be supported by creating a need for change in those who take part in the process, planning the necessary activities in consideration of the environmental factors (Morrison, 1998: 26), and focusing attention on the change itself (Koontz and Donnell, 1964). Considering all these, it could be mentioned here that the participant principals in the study will most probably have some unexpected problems while implementing the changes. Achieving change in a successful way depends on certain activities being done throughout the change process (Everard and Morris, 1996: 234). The behavior of an administrator during the change process might either increase or decrease the success of the implementation process (Taymaz, 1982: 25). The teachers and principals also declared that during the implementation process principals (Table 2) did not always show the behavior that would generate the changes. Based on this, it could be said that principals do not act according to the requirements of change management and behave according to the way they perceive change. The integration stage contains some supportive features and feedback and award systems that strengthen the implementations and activities throughout the process (Morrison, 1998: 26). A lasting change culture could be achieved in schools only after the factors mentioned above are made functional, and that can be done by making up deciencies and correcting mistakes on the way to realizing the change (Basar, 1993: 6; Bursaloglu, 1994: 128). In this study, the teachers and principals indicated that the principals not always but generally displayed the behavior required by the integration stage and they only sometimes beneted from such nancial and spiritual awards, such as paying extra money and praise (Table 2), which could be assessed as one of the prominent obstacles on the way to generating a lasting change culture in schools. When evaluating principals behavior in change management in a general sense, it could be concluded that principals plan changes and act according.
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Table 2 Opinions of principals and teachers about behaviors of the elementary school principals in the change process Teachers Principal behaviors in the levels of change management process Determination of objectivesplanning level principals Foresees and prevents the problems Forms new goals to enable the change Shows positive role models for the change Lays out the change goals clearly Makes roles and responsibilities clearly Denes the situations that cause uncertainty Make use of team work to enable change Performs cost-benet analysis regarding change Creates the need for change Analyzes the causes of incidents and problems Lays out the possible benets of the change clearly Reveals the fears and anxieties that cause problems Takes into account the ways of perception by different individuals Takes into account the cultural differences of the employees Sets appropriate timings for the change Is perceived as trustworthy Implementation level principals Bears responsibility for implementation of the suggested change and participates in the process Pursues behaviors that enables the change Uses the appropriate communication means Explains and shares occuring concerns Creates self-esteem in the participants of the change Makes use of expert comments Has empathy Continuously provides information to the individuals to make the change possible Plans and brings about the social activities enables the use of the experience gained through change Makes use of the appropriate technology in the implementation of the change Keeps transparent regardless of circumstances Focuses on the suggested change Makes use of the appropriate assistance from the environment Is able to approach individuals on an emotional level Supports the individuals and groups Enables people to use their competency Expresses his appreciation of the achievements in the process Integration level principals Makes use of evaluation and self-evaluation Explains and involves individual comments in the change process Mean SD Principals Mean SD

3.5571 3.5464 3.7714 3.7607 3.6857 3.5250 3.6571 3.5500 3.5107 3.6607 3.6929 3.4679 3.5893 3.6143 3.4821 3.6893

1.0559 1.0599 1.0359 1.0692 1.0060 1.0740 1.0761 1.0288 1.0974 1.0822 1.0293 1.0570 1.0261 1.1859 1.0573 1.1295

3.7125 3.7875 3.9500 3.7250 4.0125 3.7750 3.7875 3.5750 3.6000 3.8875 3.9250 3.6250 3.8875 4.1250 3.9000 4.1875

1.0814 1.0517 .9665 1.1135 .8034 .9805 1.0637 1.0035 1.0978 1.1250 1.0998 1.0479 .8858 1.1293 1.0262 .9691

3.7250 3.6500 3.6393 3.6571 3.7286 3.4964 3.4679 3.5393 3.5464 3.5571 3.5571 3.5821 3.5393 3.7464 3.6643 3.6000 3.4964 3.5964

1.0192 1.1034 1.0414 1.0457 1.0632 1.1328 1.2294 1.0431 1.0699 1.0354 1.1024 1.1234 1.0967 1.0958 1.0916 1.1026 1.1391 1.0997

3.9250 3.8875 3.8750 3.8625 3.8750 3.7250 3.8500 3.7250 3.6500 3.8000 3.7125 3.8500 3.6375 3.9875 3.9000 4.0375 3.9375 3.8500

.9247 .9546 .9329 1.0280 1.0235 1.1797 1.2639 1.0185 1.1035 1.0113 1.1160 1.1811 1.1165 1.0849 1.0744 1.0366 1.1063 1.0920

3.6214 3.5321

1.0470 1.0772

3.9125 3.7375

1.0696 1.0031

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Table 2 Continued Teachers Principal behaviors in the levels of change management process Takes seriously and discusses the objections towards the change Creates a sense of success in the participants Documents the change in reports and uses these documents Encourages the achievements gained through change Suggests and brings about the task changes required Makes use of material and non-material awards, such as bonuses and appreciation Makes the change remembered General average of all behaviours Mean 3.5643 3.5821 3.5321 3.6786 3.4286 3.3750 3.6607 3.5811 SD 1.1866 1.0232 1.0871 1.0388 1.0885 1.1448 1.0452 Principals Mean 3.7875 3.8250 3.6875 3.9875 3.7875 3.6500 3.8750 3.8235 SD 1.1550 .9109 1.0625 .9743 1.0755 1.2128 1.0235

Nonetheless, successful change depends on managing every stage of the change process efciently. The fact that principals generally display the behavior they should always display means they do not manage changes in their schools efciently. This might be because they consider change just a part of their duties but not as a requirement and a means of development. A t-test was carried out in order to determine the difference between elementary school teachers and principals opinions on the behavior of principals during the process of change. The difference between the opinions of the two groups regarding principal behavior during the change process was signicant (p = 0.019). According to this result, teachers do not agree with principals on the behavior that the principals display during the management of change at school. This difference can also be the reasoning behind future efforts to create a common change culture at school and to effectively manage the changes. The results of some studies on school principals behavior displayed in school management in Turkey overlap with those of our research. Even if the conducted studies are not directly related to changes in school, when looking at management as a process all of the administrative and educational activities at school can be explained through change. That is why the studies previously carried out on the administrative and educational functioning of elementary schools were evaluated within the dimension of the management of change process, and were related to this research. Some parallel research ndings are given below. Sartas (1991) argued in his dissertation that school principals generally displayed formal behavior in the change process, but that their behavior differed according to the situations encountered in the change process. Further, that elementary school principals did: (1) provide effective change for teachers professional development; (2) participate in the change process actively; (3)

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provide a feeling of condence to their school environment; (4) support change; (5) appreciate successes in the change process; and (6) encourage the actors in that direction. Tabancal (1995) found that teachers thought that elementary school principals always displayed the behavior of initiating change. According to the teachers, principals generally display the behavior of creating a desire for change in participants of the change process, planning change, providing that the teachers participate in decision making at school, being open in behavior, distribution of tasks, making roles and responsibilities clear, taking suggestions into account, foreseeing changes and communicating them, and taking into account possible losses during the change process. Cafoglus (1997) study shows school principals share with the teachers the objectives of change, and provide the information to them that is necessary for a successful implementation of change. The principals provide resources for the successful implementation of change, encourage participation in the process, and appreciate the achievements made. Cemaloglu (1999) concluded that principals and teachers both believe that the planned changes will be achieved to a large extent. They also both believe that the objectives of the change process are clearly dened and feasible. According to teachers and school principals, the principals give sufcient information to the participants of the change process, create positive environments and encourage the actors of change. Eretin (2001) reached the conclusion that school principals considered themselves to be sufcient in honesty, fairness, leadership and industry; and that assistant principals wanted to be more competent in mastering legal texts. In another study by Sahin (2005), the ndings tell us that the interviewed teachers consider school principals behavior sufcient in the dimensions of education leadership, research and professional development, schoolenvironment relations, and communication. The conclusions resulting from this research show parallels with the conclusions of the studies of Sartas (1991), Tabancal (1995), Cafoglu (1997), Cemaloglu (1999) and Sahin (2005). This similarity arises from the perception of elementary school principals and teachers that school principals have managed to execute the changes demanded of them to a great extent in the last 10 years. In contrast, the reasons behind the ndings of this research can be that elementary school principals appointed in Nevsehir were given a 120-hour training course, or other training according to school principal competence denitions in the Ministry of Education Governing Statute for the Assignment and Rotation of Education Institution Administrators, which was put into effect in 1999.

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Conclusion
In recent years, Turkey has undergone a process of rapid change on the way to becoming a member of the EU and adapting itself to global changes. Just as in all other aspects of social life, education is experiencing a rapid change process. Some examples of this could be the renewal of the elementary school programs, revision of the teacher training programs, re-determination of the criteria of choosing and the appointment of administrators, the re-organization of the school system and participation in student exchange programs such as Socrates and Erasmus. These changes, which also bring about new demands, have resulted in an increase in the expectations of education institutions. Thus a need has also emerged for school administrators who can respond to those expectations and solve problems efciently. Lots of factors can be mentioned which hinder the management of change in a school and fulllment of expectations (Sallis, 1996: 97). Such factors could be created not only by technological, social, economic, and political attitudes, values and actions (Hales, 1997; Schwering, 2003: 361) but also by how competent administrators and other employees are and what their personal traits are (Hellriegel et al., 2001: 558). In this study, administrators and teachers stated that school principals do not always display the behavior they are supposed to during the change process in schools (Table 2). This could stem from the participants individual characteristics such as age, gender and educational level, social values, the administrative structure of the education system and the school principals own administrative incompetence. Considering the issue in terms of age, it is seen that teacher participants were generally young while the principals were middle-aged (Table 1). This could be explained by the fact that teaching experience is a prerequisite of consideration for principalship. Considering the matter in terms of educational level, it is seen that almost half of the principals had two-year degrees. The reason for this could be the lack of undergraduate or postgraduate programs on school administration in Turkish universities. Considering the issue in terms of gender, it is seen that in the city of Nevsehir where the study was carried out and also in Turkey, gender is a determining variable that is obviously to the disadvantage of women. The factors inhibiting women from being in administrative units could be grouped as cultural, political, economic and educational, and they could differ from each other culturally. Though the participation of women in economic life has been increasing due to the changes in the developmental level of Turkey and its close global relationships, the increase has not been as high regarding womens place and success in the prestigious professions such as being an administrator (Bayrak and Mohan, 2001). The number of female school administrators in Turkey is still low despite an increase of a few points seen in the last 25 years. The reasons that could be
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mentioned for this are that men consider themselves more appropriate for administrative jobs (Schein, 1994: 54), the educational level of women is relatively low and thus they cannot sufciently participate in economic life, and women have some specic pre-determined roles as wives and mothers (zbey, 2004). The rate of womens participation in political decisions is also rather low (only 4.4 per cent of the 550 members of parliament are women). The rate of . their participation in economic life as employees is just 24.8 per cent (TUIK, 2005). It could be mentioned here that the number of women working in the education sector is not so different. One reason for this could be the fact that educating women is not seen as signicant enough. For instance, 99.48 per cent of boys in Turkey attend elementary schools while the rate for girls is 91.85 per cent. The situation is not much different in terms of high schools as 89.53 per cent of boys attend high schools while less than 71.88 per cent of girls do so (MEB, 2005b). The data suggest that women in Turkey have some disadvantages in terms of being in administrative units because of various cultural, political, economic and educational factors. While the rate of women in administrative units is over 25 per cent in some EU countries, it is only about 8 per cent in Turkey (Uzun, 2005). Some studies considering the issue in Turkey suggest that there is a glass ceilings facing women on the way to being an administrator. Others suggest that there is a collective acknowledgment of the fact. In his study on the behavior of elementary school principals, Atay (2001) obtained a result verifying the acknowledgement in question and found that people thought women were different from men and that thus they could not be effective in professional life and administration. According to another study by Usluer (2000), female teachers see their roles of good wives and mothers as more important than their roles at work and thus feel satised with being teachers rather than wishing to become administrators. Considering the reasons mentioned above and many others, it could be concluded that women are unwilling to have responsibilities in the administration of elementary and high schools. Men want to administrate schools at a rate of 66 per cent while the rate for women is only 23 per cent (Arat, 1999). Womens low rate of taking the school administration examination might be based on that unwillingness. In 1999, 8 per cent of those taking the exam were women and the rate was about 12 per cent in 2001 (elikten, 2004). However, it could be mentioned here that thanks to the rapid changes in the social structure of Turkey, women have begun to nd the opportunities to take part and be successful in administration just as in other elds in life. According to Fullan (1991), change in a school consists of certain stages and its efciency depends on achieving success at each stage. In the present study, the behavior that school principals displayed throughout the change process was analyzed by considering the stages of objective creation-planning, implementation and integration. According to the participants opinions, principals generally displayed the behavior specied at each stage of the change process
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in schools (Table 2). A coherence can be seen between the behavior the principals displayed at every step. However, the success of an attempt to change things depends on displaying the required behavior at all those three steps at the maximum level. This is what continual development requires. According to the results of the study, principals did not always display behavior that would enable one to manage the change efciently. This could be because the principals who participated in the study saw themselves as merely responsible ofcers in charge during the change process but not as efcient managers of it. In many studies carried out in Turkey, it has been found that teachers and principals consider that what principals do during change processes is sufcient to bring about change (Cafoglu, 1997; Cemaloglu, 1999; Sartas, 1991; Sahin, 2005; Tabancal, 1995;). The ndings of this study suggest that teachers expect principals to act more efciently during such processes. This is conrmed by the interviewed groups declarations that principals do not always display the behavior needed throughout change processes. According to the ndings of the study, the teachers and principals who participated did not agree on the behavior displayed by elementary school principals during change processes. This could have stemmed from the difference between the roles of teachers and principals in schools, the administrative incompetence of principals or such individual characteristics of the participants as age, gender and educational level. As the data suggest, school principals differ from teachers in terms of age, gender and educational level. Due to the supposition that people at different positions with different ages, genders and educational experience normally have different views, it is quite foreseeable that principals and teachers held some different views. To conclude it can be said that education institutions are in a process of great change imposed by both inner and environmental dynamics and the changes to be experienced in schools must be managed efciently. This could be achieved only by the administrators considering change a necessity and means of development. In successfully managing change in schools, the factors that could play important roles are principals individual characteristics such as their ages, educational levels and genders, and the way they think of change management and what they know about it. Here the suggestions to be considered are that the obstacles in womens way to being school administrators in Turkey must be removed, there must be quotas to the advantage of women in appointing school principals, women must be encouraged to be administrators, and school principals must have postgraduate degrees after taking courses in administrative approaches that are truly based on change and development. References
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Biographical note
F E Y Y A T G O K E, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, Uludag University. Uladag Unversty is located in western Turkey and has around 40,000 students. Dr Goke received his graduate degrees from Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. Feyyat has authored two books on educational administration in Turkey. The rst, The Relationship Between States Powers (Political, Economic, Ideological) and the Aims of Education Systems in the Change Process, deals with the relations governments and education system in theory, while the second, Looking for Resources in Compulsory Education in Turkey, explores how primary schools deal with limited funds in Turkey. Research and teaching interests of Dr Goke focus on educational management theories. Feyyat is a consultant for The Turkish Elementary School Supervisors Union, and is a member of the Editorial Board of Educational AdministrationTheory and Practice (Educational Administration Journal in Turkey).

Correspondence to:
F E Y Y A T G O K E, Faculty of Education, University of Uludag, Turkey. [email: fgokce@uludag.edu.tr]

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