Paper for Ejer - Margin Correction

Effective School Leadership: Effect of School Principals’ Behavior on Teacher Job Satisfaction

(Public School Principals’ Leadership Behaviors in Relation to Teacher Job Satisfaction in North Cyprus)

Mine SANCARSenior Lecturer

[email protected] Mediterranean University

Faculty of EducationDepartment of Educational Sciences

Famagusta, North Cyprus

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ABSTRACT

This study was designed to determine the leadership behavior of public school principals

as perceived by public school teachers in relation to teacher job satisfaction in Northern Cyprus.

Teachers’ perceptions of their school principals’ leadership behavior was measured by the

Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire LBDQ). The Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job

Satisfaction Scales MCMJSS) was used to measure teachers’ expressed overall job satisfaction,

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels.

A Leaner Regression analysis of teachers’ perceptions of their school principals’

consideration and initiation of structure behaviors and their overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation levels proved a significantly positive relationship between school principals’

perceived consideration behavior and teachers’ expressed overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation levels and, if not negative or inverse, no significant relationship between

school principals’ perceived initiation of structure behavior and teachers’ job satisfaction levels.

Key Words: Leadership, consideration, initiation of structure, motivation, job satisfaction

INTRODUCTION

A Historical Perspective to Leadership

The concept of leadership dates back 5000 years to Egyptian hieroglyphics in which the

words (seshemu) “leader” and (seshement) “leadership” are used (Bass, 1990). Moreover, in

Plato’s ‘Philosopher King’ and Aristotle’s, ‘Magnanimous Man’ qualities such as valor, self-

confidence, determination, wisdom, foresight and justice were attributed to heroes/leaders in

classical Greece. The privileged status of the hero led into research revealing the “Great Man

Theory” and the “Trait Theory”. “The Great Man Theory” is an approach to history associated

with the nineteenth-century Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle who declared that the history of

the world is but the biography of great men (cited in Hirsch, Kett, &Trefil, 2002),. According to

this theory leaders are born, not made. Carlyle argued that heroes shape history through the

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vision of their intellect, the beauty of their art, the prowess of their leadership, and, most

important, their divine inspiration. “The Trait Theory” assumes that potential leaders possess

certain personality traits and it is these traits which differentiate them from other members of the

society.

Mayo (1933), after a series of studies at Hawthorn Plant of Western Electric, developed

the human relations approach to leadership. Following these studies others (Murphy, 1941;

Stogdill, 1948) believed that leadership did not reside in a person but was a function of the

occasion. They stressed the fact that there is a relevant relationship between the leaders’ traits

and the characteristics of the followers. They viewed leadership as an interactional phenomenon

where group formation takes place first and as the group emerges each member is assigned a

relative position within the group depending on the interrelation of the group members. They

also believe that such a distribution is necessary to engage in the pursuit of the common goals.

They argue that leadership is defined in terms of status, interaction, perceptions, and behavior of

individuals in relation to other members of an organized group.

Personal-situational theorists argue that leadership must contain elements about the

person as well as elements about the situation (Bass, 1960; Fiedler, 1964;Hersey and Blanchard,

1977). Any theory of leadership should address the interplay between the situation and the

individual. In mid-twentieth century, leadership studies focused on the situational demands

asserting that situational factors determined the emergence of a leader. Hersey and Blanchard

(1977) developed situational leadership which is mainly based on the relationship between

follower maturity, leader task behavior, and leader relationship behavior. This theory suggests

that leadership style of a leader depends on the job maturity (a person’s maturity to perform the

job) and psychological maturity (a person’s level of motivation as reflected in achievement and

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willingness to accept responsibility) of the followers. Therefore, from such a perspective, it

appears that in mid-twentieth century leadership began to be regarded as a relationship between

persons rather than as a characteristic of the isolated individual.

Research on leadership that followed focused on actual behavior of leaders (Shartle,

1950; Fleishman, Harris, & Burtt, 1955; Halpin, 1966). The Leader Behavior Description

Questionnaire (LBDQ), which is used to measure leaders’ ‘consideration’ and ‘initiation of

structure’ behaviors, is the product of the Ohio State University studies. The term

‘consideration’ describes the extent to which a leader exhibits concern for the welfare of other

members of the group and ‘initiation of structure’ shows the extent to which a leader initiates an

activity in the group, organizes it and defines the way the work is to be done.

As the leadership studies gained momentum, they gave rise to theories known as

humanistic theories. They were concerned with the development of the individual within an

effective and cohesive organization. Such theories are grounded in the idea that the human being

is, by nature, a motivated organism and the organization is structured and controlled. Therefore,

the leader’s function within the organization is to provide freedom for individuals to realize their

motivational potential for the fulfillment of their need to contribute to the accomplishment of

organizational goals (McGregor, 1960, 1966, 1967; Argyris, 1962, 1964; Likert, 1961, 1967;

Blake & Mouton, 1964; Maslow, 1965; Hersey & Blanchard, 1977; Bass 1990). The so called

‘human relations’ approach is basically based on the Hawthorne studies (Mayo, 1933) conducted

at the Hawthorne Plant of Western Electric between 1927 and 1933. The results of this study

suggested that a human-social element operated in the work place, thus increased productivity

was not merely a result of any set of employer demands or physical factors but more of group

dynamics and effective management.

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As McGregor (190, 1966, 1967) was working on his Theory X and Theory Y1, the Iowa

studies: ‘authoritarian, democratic and laissez-faire leadership’, the Ohio State University

studies: ‘consideration and initiation of structure’ and the Michigan State University Studies:

‘production centered and employee centered’ were concentrating on classifying leader behavior

into people (or relationships or employee)-orientation and task (or job)-orientation. They were

mainly interested in understanding leadership by comparing the behaviors of effective and

ineffective leaders. They were trying to determine what effective leaders do rather than what

effective leaders are. They believed that the dichotomy between leadership traits and behaviors

coincided; therefore, a leader’s personality traits and characteristics influenced his leadership

behavior or style.

The behavioral science approach was mainly influenced by the work of Maslow (1965)

who developed a hierarchy of needs of individuals. According to Maslow (1965) an

administrator’s job is to provide possibilities for the satisfaction of employee’s needs that also

support achievement of organizational goals, and to remove impediments that block need

satisfaction and create frustration, negative attitudes, or dysfunctional behavior. He also

emphasized the importance of providing an opportunity for everyone to use his/her full potential

for self-actualization. Drysdale, Ford, Gurr, & Swann (2003) support this by stating that

successful school leaders support all members of the school community, are achievement

oriented, clear the pathway and remove blockages for people to achieve, and try their best to

contribute significantly to make a difference to the quality of education and learning for the

1 McGregor (1960, 1966, and 1967) postulated two distinct types of leadership as Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X is based on the assumption that people are passive and resistant to organizational needs, thus they need to be directed and motivated to fit these needs. McGregor’s Theory X is very much similar, in philosophy, to Max Weber’s (1947) concept of bureaucracy. Conversely, Theory Y presupposes that people already possess motivation and a desire for responsibility; therefore, organizational conditions must be organized in such a way that it will be possible for people to fulfill their need while directing their efforts towards achievement of organizational objectives.

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whole school community. Leithwood & Riehl (2003) stress the fact that leaders do not merely

impose goals on followers, instead they work with others to create a shared sense of direction

and goals. In public education this is even more important both for the development of academic

knowledge and skills and the learning and practice of important values and dispositions. They

also argue the importance of leaders working through and with other people to establish

conditions that enable others to be effective in what they are doing. For them successful school

leadership is not merely about setting directions, envisaging a vision, and communicating well

with others, it also includes having high performance expectations, monitoring organizational

performance, providing an appropriate model, being fair, strengthening the school culture,

modifying organizational structure and managing the environment in the process of developing

the institution as a learning organization.

Blake and Mouton (1964,1982) at the University of Texas, plotted leadership on a grid

called the Managerial Grid. They assessed managerial behavior on two dimensions: concern for

production and concern for people. The grid was designed to help managers identify their own

leadership styles, see how subordinates are affected by their leadership style, and consider

alternative ways of leadership in accordance with the subordinates needs. The leader who scores

high on both axes develops followers who are committed to the accomplishment of

organizational purposes. Thus, relationships of trust and respect between the leader and the

followers are accomplished.

According to Maslow (1965) different situations require different leadership, hence,

power should be given to a leader only on an ad-hock (complete suitability) bases for the

situation in which it is warranted. Thus, leadership should be given to those who are best suited

for the designated situation, those who can set things properly and who can do what needs to be

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done. According to Etzioni’s (1975) compliance theory organizations can be classified in terms

of the type of power they use to direct the behavior of their members and the type of involvement

of the participants. According to Etzioni there are three types of organizational power: coercive

power, which uses force and fear to control lower-level participants; utilitarian power, which

remuneration or extrinsic rewards to control lower-level participants; and, normative power,

which employs allocation of intrinsic rewards such as interesting work, clear goals, contributions

to society. All three types of power can be helpful in attaining employee cooperation in work

place, yet the effectiveness of the type of power to be used depends on the participant’s

orientation which is characterized in terms of its intensity and direction.

Fiedler’s Contingency Theory (1964) tends to emphasize the need to place the person in

the situation for which he or she is suited rather than developing the person to adapt to the

situation. It closely complies with Maslow’s premise that leadership should be given to people

who are best suited for the designated situation. The contingency approach seems to be

comparatively more complex than either the trait or the behavioral approaches. According to

contingency theory, effective leadership depends on the interaction of the leader’s personal traits,

the leader’s behavior, and factors in the leadership situation. It also presupposes that leadership

cannot be defined by any one factor, thus all factors should be accounted for in the context of

situation in which a leader must lead. Weber’s (1947) Rationalization theory which emphasizes

the process of practical application of knowledge to achieve a desired end can be associated with

Fiedler’s contingency theory, because it leads to efficiency, and control over both physical and

social environment in which human behavior is guided by observation, experiment and reason.

Mastery of physical and social environment increases cooperation and productivity. Similarly,

contingency theory suggests that there are three variables determining the situations under which

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a leader behavior would be most effective: the degree to which a leader is accepted by the

followers (leader-member relations), the degree to which the work to be done is clearly outlined

(task structure), and the extent to which the leader has control over rewards and punishments the

followers receive (position power). Thus, effectiveness of a leader depends on the situation in

which he is functioning. In some situations relationship-oriented leaders perform better, while

other conditions may require task-oriented leaders.

Studies on leadership have shown that, in order to account fully for leader-follower

relations, cognitive, behavioral and interactional (humanistic) explanations are needed. The

dominant paradigm for the study of leadership has evolved from research on traits and situations

to something more dynamic in terms of human relations, task analysis and contextual factors

together with personally favored styles similar to the rationalization theory once more.

The varying theories and definitions of leadership include such recurring themes such as

process, transaction, and context. This makes it possible to arrive at general definitions of

leadership. Green (1988) describes leadership as ‘a process’ and ‘a transaction’ between an

individual leader and the followers that ‘takes place in a given context that shapes the nature of

the transaction’ (p.3). Therefore, to arrive at an appropriately matching definition, leadership

may be best regarded as a practice the style of which mainly depends on the characteristics of the

workers and the type of institution in which it is to be exercised.

As Gardner (1986) and Kouzes and Posner (1993) state, mutual needs of both the leader

and the followers shape the style of leadership within an organization. Thus, taking the needs and

the interests of the leader and the constituents into account it can be stated that, effective

leadership involves cooperation, collaboration, interaction, and participation on both sides in the

process of the accomplishment of the shared goals and objectives in a given context.

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Scholars interested in the process and exercise of leadership also suggest that the process

of leadership is different from the process of management in that leaders are pioneers leading the

way while managers are people handling things (Gardner, 1986; Bass, 1990; Kouzes & Posner,

1995; Yukl, 1998; Sashkin, 1999; Zaleznik, 1977)). Yukl (1998) agrees that managers ask

people to do things more efficiently, whereas leaders bring people together to agree about what

things should be done and how they should be done.

Background of the Problem

During the first half of the twentieth century, classical organizational theory clearly

defines administrative management however it does not account for scientific management

which mainly concentrates on jobs of individual workers. Gulick and Urwich (1937) identified

seven functions of a manager as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating,

reporting, and budgeting based on Weber’s (1947) concept of bureaucracy. However, the

contributions of the studies carried on in the second half of the twentieth century with the effect

of the human relations approach, gave impetus to a different orientation to management versus

leadership studies. With the contributions of the diverse perspective in behavioral science and

with the assistance of social scinentists (Bass, 1960, 1990, 1997; Blake & Muton, 1964, 1982,

1994; Fiedler,1964, 1997; Reddin,1970; Etzioni,1975; Vroom, 1988, Bennis, 1990) leadership

in organizations have been more clearly defined. Bennis (1990) identifies bureaucracy and other

classical management principles as the ‘unconscious conspiracy’ that prevents leaders from

leading.

In the field of school leadership, Senge (1990) and Duignan & Macpherson (1992)

provide considerable insight into how educators can transform schools into ‘learning

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organizations’. Lunenburg and Ornstein (2000) adapting from Watkins and Marsick (1999) list

seven action imperatives that can be interpreted in term of what must school administrators do to

help schools become learning organizations: (1)create continuous learning opportunities; (2)

promote inquiry and dialogue; (3) encourage collaboration and team learning; (4) create systems

to capture and share learning; (5) empower people toward a collective vision; (6) connect the

organization to its environment; and (7) provide strategic leadership for learning.

Thus, with recent work in the field of leadership, school principals have been provided

with a broader framework for understanding difficult problems, complex relationships and

human relations within the school. School principals have come to realize that in schools task-

oriented and relations-orientated behavior (management and leadership) might overlap and the

school principal might need to exert both leadership and management behaviors.

Gardner (1986) names the person demonstrating both types of behavior as the “leader-

manager” and sums the following nine “leader-manager’s” tasks: (1) envisioning the group’s

goals; (2) affirming values for the group; (3) motivating the members; (4) managing the work

and the group; (5) achieving a workable unity among the members; (6) explaining what needs to

be done; (7) serving as a symbol; (8) representing the group; and (9) renewing the group.

In the case of school principals in North Cyprus as appointed “leader-managers”, five

other responsibilities might be attributed to them such as: (1) improving human relations; (2)

motivating teachers; (3) following instructions of their superiors in the Ministry of Education and

Culture; (4) meeting deadlines; and (5) improving or, at least, maintaining standards and quality

in teacher and student performance. School principals as managers or administrators also try to

overcome the problems of staff evaluation, appraisal, promotion, or rating of professionals

working for a shared goals and mission and struggling for efficient functioning of school.

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One important factor that is generally not mentioned for the person in the administrative

or leading position is the effort that he has to spend for others’ and his/her own self- actualization

needs. A school principal must also focus on the attainment of all school participants’ and

his/her own full potential for continued personal and professional development. He/she must

realize that self- actualization is manifested differently in different people. Thus, he/she must

first get to know himself/herself and then his/her subordinates in the best way possible to be able

to act as a catalyst to help people and induce himself/herself achieve ultimate job satisfaction.

This means that a school principal must be aware of his/her personal traits and employ his/her

professional skills in employing people in planning job design, assigning work that would

employ people’s unique skills, and having a flexible structure that would participants’ personal

and professional growth that would allow shift and modification of responsibilities and

accountabilities. Being able to attain self-awareness and awareness of others’ potentials, needs

and expectations requires social (interpersonal and intrapersonal) skills. Drysdale, Ford, Gurr, &

Swann (2003) argue that most successful leaders have effective social skills such as strong

interpersonal communication skills, and they successfully engender a sense of confidence in

themselves and continuously exhibit enthusiasm towards a clearly shared vision.

Howard Gardner (1983, p. 243) states that ‘the capacity to know oneself and the others is

an inalienable part of the human condition … and it deserves to be investigated no less than these

other “less charged” forms’. E.L. Thorndike (1920) used the term ‘social intelligence’ to refer to

the person’s ability to understand and manage other people, and to engage in adaptive social

interactions. Similarly, Moss and Hunt, (1927, 108) defined social intelligence as ‘the ability to

get along with others’. Sternberg, Conway, Ketron, & Bernstein, (1981) list factors such as

accepting others for what they are; being on time for appointments; having social conscience;

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thinking before speaking and/or doing; not making snap judgments; making fair judgments;

assessing well the relevance of information to a problem at hand; being sensitive to others’ needs

and desires; being frank with self and the others; and displaying genuine interest in the

immediate environment among other factors as behaviors reflecting social competence.

Kosmitzki and John (1993), based on an earlier study by Orlik (1978), list additional dimensions

to social competence as: being good at dealing with people; having extensive knowledge of rules

and norms in human relations; being able to take perspective of other people; adapting well in

social situations; being warm and caring towards others; and being open to new experiences,

ideas and values.

Howard Gardner (1983) believing that traditional measures of intelligence fail to fully

explain cognitive ability formulated the idea of ‘Multiple Intelligences’ including both

interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences. Gardner’s documentation of individual differences

does not rely on traditional psychometric measures. He seems to prefer somewhat

impressionistic analysis based on convergence of signs provided.

The term “emotional intelligence” (EQ) was fist coined by Peter Salovey and John Mayer

(1990) to describe the characteristics such as understanding one’s own feelings; empathy for the

feelings of others; and ability of regulation of emotions in a way that improve the quality of

living. Goleman (1996) sees practical application of EQ in every aspect of life from how

companies should decide whom to hire to how parents should raise their children and how

schools should teach them. The cornerstone to human emotional intelligence is the sense of self-

awareness, being aware about what one is and how he/she feels. Goleman (1996) states that self-

awareness allows people to exercise self-control. He also argues that IQ may get one hired but

EQ gets him/her promoted. Most executives have become more and more interested in getting

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emotionally retooled. David Campbell (2002) and the other scholars at the Center for Creative

Leadership argue that getting emotionally retooled is not sensitivity training. One thing the

participants know when they get through this training is what other people think of them.

Barbuto & Burbach (2006) at the end of their survey to explore the relationship between

emotional intelligence and transformational leadership found that the emotional intelligence of

the leaders shared significant variance with self-perceptions and rater-perceptions of

transformational leadership. They reported that leaders who demonstrate less mood regulation

(more mood regulation is considered a desired behavior of emotional intelligence) enjoyed

higher levels of authenticity with peers. They also added that leaders with high levels of self-

awareness (another desired behavior of emotional intelligence) felt less effective as leaders in a

transforming organization in terms of inspirational motivation. They concluded that a positive

relationship between all elements of emotional intelligence and transformational leadership

existed based on personal traits.

The discussion of emotional intelligence has become more pressing in schools. From the

school principals to ancillary workers everyone is becoming more aware of who they are, how

they feel and the importance of regulating their emotions for enhanced living. This is becoming

more and more effective in their human relations and management of their own lives and

surroundings. Since human relations and humanistic approach to management of people is

becoming more important, the Ohio State leadership studies carried out in mid-twentieth century

will enlighten the perspective to school administration.

The Ohio State leadership studies (Halpin, 1966) defining leadership styles of school

principals from the humanistic perspective used the terms “consideration” and “initiating

structure” to describe the leadership style of school superintendents. The ‘consideration’ factor,

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which mainly takes human needs into account, refers to leader behavior which is indicative of

friendship, mutual trust, respect, and warmth in the relationship between the leader and the

members of staff, and the ’initiating structure’ factor refers to the leader’s behavior in delineating

the relationship between self and the members of the group, and in endeavoring to establish well

defined patterns of organization, channels of communication, and methods of procedures.

However, as mentioned before, because the responsibilities of a school principal

embodies administrative issues, in a school culture leadership involves both consideration and

initiating structure behaviors since it involves people gathering around a shared mission which is

not imposed on them by the institution they are working in, but assumed by the teachers

themselves while choosing the teaching profession. This is especially true in educational settings

in which the shared mission is driven by transformation because there is a constant change in

society to catch up with. Drucker (1999, p. 73) contends that ‘the only ones who survive in a

period when change is the norm are the change leaders’. He adds that ‘to be a successful change

leader an enterprise has to have a policy of systematic innovation’ (p. 84); innovation in

curriculum, innovation in pedagogy, innovation in professionalism, innovation in funding,

innovation in leadership and innovation in management. Therefore, each domain for leadership

in school education becomes a field of innovation. This is an indication for school principals

that, throughout their leadership, they should practice skills such as the ability to share ideas,

promote participation, allocate resources, shape a shared mission and vision, allow and create

opportunities for professional development, evaluate their position and others’ contribution to the

process of the accomplishment of goals. Thus, school principals need to consider others’

welfare, and establish a structure through which people work unobtrusively, without feeling the

pressure of administration and meet the requirements of their basic task, which is considered to

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be teaching and educating young generations, and meet the needs and the expectations of the

institution and the society to lead to quality performance for the present and for the future.

Caldwell (2000) says that innovation in school leadership is such and important issue that the

Blair Government in the U.K. put an initial investment of HK$125 million, and HK$750 million

over the following three years in creating the National College for School Leadership for training

teachers for headship. Drysdale, Ford, Gurr, & Swann (2003), too argue that most successful

school leaders are not satisfied with the status quo, they guide the school to establish a culture of

continuous improvement.

The Role of Leadership in Teachers’ Motivation and Job Satisfaction

It is vital for effective school principals to get the support of the others in their endeavor

as leaders serving the school and the society. The teachers, in order to support a school principal

in his/her endeavor and attain job satisfaction need to be motivated and happy with what they are

doing. Surveys of job satisfaction since the 1920s illustrate the importance of leadership

indicating that employees’ favorable attitudes toward their supervisors contribute to their job

satisfaction (Bergen, 1939; Houser, 1927; Kornhouser and Sharp, 1932; Viteles, 1953; Bass.

1990). Since then, countless surveys can be cited to support the argument that leaders make a

difference in their subordinates’ satisfaction and performance. Therefore, whether an

organization succeeds or fails mainly depends on the leadership style employed within the

organization since it affects satisfaction level of the employees and thus, their performances

(Bass, 1990).

Researchers investigating the matter from a humanistic approach are concerned with

development of the individual within an effective and cohesive organization (McGregor, 1960;

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Argyris, 1964; Likert, 1961; 1962; Blake and Mouton, 1964; Maslow, 1965; Hersey &

Blanchard, 1969; Burns, 1978; Klawitter, 1985; Bass, 1990; Everett, 1991; Fowler, 1991). They

mainly believe that effective leadership in organizations strongly endorses human relations. They

suggest that participation generates the satisfaction of higher-order needs in subordinates, which

in turn, increases the subordinates’ motivation, satisfaction, quality and quantity of performance.

They base their arguments on the fact that the human being is, by nature, a motivated organism;

the organization is, by nature, structured and controlled. Hence, it is the function of the

leadership to modify the organization, to provide freedom for the individuals, to realize their

motivational potential for the fulfillment of their needs up to the highest level and to contribute

to the accomplishment of the organizational goals (Bass, 1990). Burns (1978) notes that an

effective leader recognizes the need for a potential follower and goes further by seeking to

satisfy higher needs, in terms of Maslow’s (1954) hierarchy of needs.

Thus, researchers in the field of education mainly support that there is no best style of

leadership that will successfully apply to every type of situation (Bhella, 1982; Boyer, 1982;

Everett, 1987; Fiedler, 1964; Fiedler & Chemers1997; Halpin, 1959; Klawitter, 1985; Stogdill,

1974). However, leaders who exhibit high task (initiating structure) and high relationship

(consideration) skills in combination based on their situations are likely to have a positive impact

on teacher job satisfaction.

There is evidence that school principals are powerful predictors of the school’s

organizational effectiveness and that school principals’ behaviors are closely associated with

teacher job satisfaction. The research indicate a relationship between school effectiveness and

teacher job satisfaction which are directly connected to leadership behavior (consideration and

initiation of structure) which are measured by the LBDQ (Leadership Behavior Description

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Questionnaire), developed by the Ohio State Studies (Bare-Oldham, 1998; Everett, 1991;

Fowler, 1991; Hall, 1994; Klawitter, 1985; Krug, 1989).

Research has produced strong evidence that school administrators are effective factors in

teacher job satisfaction and thus, indirectly, in the academic performances of students (Brown,

1967; Fast, 1964; Greenfield, 1968; Keeler & Andrews, 1963; Seeman, 1957). Seeman (1957)

found performance evaluation of the school principals’ leadership to be positively related to

consideration, initiating structure, communication, and willingness to change, and yet negatively

related to domination and social distance. According to Fast (1964) consideration and the

initiation of structure by principals, as described by teachers, were positively related to the

teachers’ satisfaction. Stromberg (1967) obtained a significant relation between teachers’ morale

and the attitudes of their principals towards consideration and initiation of structure.

Purpose of the Study

Based on research done in various contexts, the present study focuses on effective

educational leadership styles of school principals in Northern Cyprus in relation to teachers’ job

satisfaction. The study concentrates on investigating whether there is a significant relationship

between perceived leadership styles of school principals in Northern Cyprus and the expressed

job satisfaction of the teachers in their current positions.

The study utilizes Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) to measure

leadership styles of school principals as perceived by teachers and Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman

Job Satisfaction Scale (MCMJSS) to measure teachers’ job satisfaction levels in terms of

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intrinsic motivation2, extrinsic motivation3 and overall job satisfaction. Although intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation may look distinct, it is suggested that the same factors that may enhance

intrinsic motivation by promoting feelings of self-determination can also promote self-

determined extrinsic motivation or visa versa (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Lepper and Henderlog

(1999) suggest that intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation can operate simultaneously and

are not necessarily reciprocal. Therefore, extrinsic motivation can actually enhance intrinsic

motivation when it motivates the individual to engage and interest-enhancing strategies. Similar

studies to the present one focus on the same issue investigating the relationship between leader

beahviour and job satisfaction(Fast, 1964; Brown, 1967; Stromberg, 1967; Andreas, 1981;

Andreas and Ilada Andreas, 1987; Burns, 1990; David, 1990; Fjelstad, 1990; Lunenberg and

Ornstein, 1991 Allegre, 1994; Reyes and Shin, 1995; Bare-Oldham, 1998; John & Taylor, 1999).

The unique quality of this study, however, lies in its exploration of the teachers’

perceptions of the school principals’ leadership styles and their expressions of their job

satisfaction levels in Northern Cyprus. No such study that has ever been done before in North

Cyprus and it might serve as a starting point for further study.

2 Lepper & Henderlog (1999) and Ryan & Deci (2000) define intrinsic motivation as occurring when an activity satisfies basic human needs for competence and control which makes the activity interesting and likely to be performed for its own sake rather than as a means to an end (cited in Sansone & Harackiewicz (2000).Shah & Kruglanski (2000) define intrinsic motivation in two distinct ways. They suggest that intrinsic motivation can be defined in terms of structure (when an activity is associated with one and only one goal) and in terms of substance (when the content of the goal is the matter). Thus, a person’s intrinsic motivation may be considered intrinsic in terms of his or her degree of persistence and his or her emotional experiences while working toward a given goal (cited in Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000).Sansone and Smith’s (1999) definition of the term suggests that intrinsic motivation occurs when individuals are motivated to experience interest and that a variety of goals may be associated with interest for different people and/or different contexts (cited in Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000).Renninger (1989, 1990, and 1992) suggests that intrinsic motivation occurs when the activity is central to the self, or when it is associated with individual interest. These are more enduring interests as that develop as knowledge and value increases (cited in Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000).

3 There are two distinct definitions of extrinsic motivation. (1) when motivation is based on something extrinsic to the activity and (2) when motivation is based on something extrinsic to the person (Sansone & Harackiewicz, 2000). In this case the second definition of extrinsic motivation will be the focus.

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The study aims at involving teachers working in schools in all five districts of North

Cyprus (Nicosia, Famagusta, Kyrenia, Güzelyurt, and Yeni İskele). The idea is to collect

comprehensive data, to comment on the leadership styles of school principals in Northern

Cyprus, as perceived by the teachers, and their impact on expressed teacher job satisfaction.

This will provide evidence to make helpful recommendations for future practices.

Based on the review of literature, it is hypothesized that a significantly positive

relationship will exist between principals’ perceived leadership style and expressed teacher job

satisfaction.

Brown 1967) reported that effective school principals generally scored higher on the

LBDQ Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire, developed by Ohio State University

leadership study group). According to Fast 1964) ‘consideration’ and ‘initiation of structure’

exerted by principals as perceived by teachers were positively related to the teachers satisfaction.

Again, Stromberg 1967) obtained a significant relation between teachers’ morale and the

attitudes of their principals toward ‘consideration’ and ‘initiation of structure’.

Reyes and Shin 1995) state that job satisfaction is an indispensable element for

organizational commitment of the employees. Findings indicate that teachers feel committed to

their school when the principal’s leadership style is supportive and enabling. This is in harmony

with David’s 1990) findings that democratic leadership style in selected Catholic schools in the

Philippines was significant and positively related to teachers’ organizational commitment

(Burns, 1990; Fjelstad, 1990). John and Taylor 1999) found a strong relationship between

consideration leadership behavior of principals and the organizational commitment, thus job

satisfaction of teachers.

19

The studies in the Philippines have indicated that the Filipinos tended to be relationship

oriented and preferred consideration behavior, and when it was practiced they worked better and

were more committed to their work David, 1990; Alegre, 1994; Andreas, 1981; Andreas and

Ilada-Andreas, 1987). The implications of these findings for this study may indicate that the

same may be the case for North Cyprus, an island state, which holds a very small population and

on which the social structure is closely knit. People on the island seem to have more intimate and

friendly relations rather than being inhibited and indifferent to one another as observed in larger

societies.

Research Questions

1. What is the significantly perceived leadership behavior of public school principals by

public school teachers in Northern Cyprus as measured by the Leader Behavior

Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)?

2. What is the expressed job satisfaction level of public school teachers in Northern Cyprus

as measured by the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale (MCMJSS)?

3. Is there a significant relationship between public school principals’ perceived leadership

styles consideration and initiation of structure), as measured by the Leader Behavior

Description Questionnaire LBDQ, and the teachers’ expressed job satisfaction, as

measured by the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale (MCMJSS) in

Northern Cyprus?

4. Is there a significant relationship between public school principals’ perceived leadership

styles, as measured by the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire LBDQ, and the

20

teachers’ expressed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, as measured by the Mohrman-

Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale (MCMJSS) in Northern Cyprus?

Limitations of the Study

1. Many of the studies investigating whether there is a significant relationship between

school principals’ perceived leadership style and teachers’ expressed job satisfaction

levels have been weak and inconsistent for most criteria of leadership effectiveness

(Bass,1990; and Fisher & Edwards, 1988). Some of the studies reveal that

subordinates are more satisfied with initiating structure (task-oriented) leaders

whereas others indicate just the opposite or no significant relationship at all.

Moreover, it is discussed that behavior description questionnaires are susceptible to

several types of bias and error (Bass, 1990).

Thus, in this study errors might result from different sources such as ambiguous items

that may be interpreted in different ways by different respondents. A fixed response

format may require respondents to think on one item for a long time, thus the

respondent may never be sure.

2. Another source of error might result from biases depending on whether the

respondent likes or dislikes the leader. Therefore, when these sources of error are

considered the results of the research may not allow the researcher to make

generalizations but may allow some indications of respondent perceptions of leaders

and leadership.

3. The study is also limited in that, the questionnaire was distributed to teachers who

were presently working in public schools in major cities of Northern Cyprus. Private

21

schools and technical/vocational schools were not included in the study.

Consequently, research findings may not allow the researcher to make generalizations

but the analysis of the available data may provide valuable insights into the field and

may allow inferences for further discussions.

4. This study is limited in that it only employs one instrument for each variable: The

Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ) for perceived behaviors of

school principals, and Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale (MCMJSS)

for examining teachers’ job satisfaction level. Applying other instruments may reveal

different results.

Summary of Procedures

The population of teachers working in public elementary and secondary schools in the

2002-2003 academic-year was around 2200 as identified by the Ministry of National Education

and Culture in Northern Cyprus. One thousand seventy seven 1077) of these teachers worked in

87 public elementary schools and 1270 worked in public secondary schools. Three hundred and

fifty-eight 358) teachers working in randomly selected twenty-one public elementary schools

and 452 randomly selected teachers working in 26 (total number of secondary schools excluding

technical-vocational schools ) public secondary schools were sent the questionnaire packages.

The return rate from the public elementary school teachers was 77% 274) and the return rate

from the public secondary school teachers was 72% 325 - 134 from middle schools, grades 6 to

8; 121 from combined middle and high schools, grades 6 to 11; and 70 from high schools, grades

9 to 11). The public elementary school teachers who responded comprised 46%, and the public

secondary school teachers responding comprised 54% of the total number of 599 respondents (n

= 599).

22

The Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire LBDQ) was used to obtain data on

public school teachers’ perception of their school principals’ leadership style. The instrument

consisted of two sub-scales, consideration and initiation of structure that are measured to be

different patterns of leadership behavior. The Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale

MCMJSS) instrument was used to determine public school teachers’ level of job satisfaction.

The instrument contained four items measuring intrinsic motivation and four items measuring

extrinsic motivation, which altogether measured teachers’ overall job satisfaction.

The first statistical analysis to be performed was coefficient alpha to measure the

reliability of the instruments. Although the instruments were proven to be reliable and have been

used since the mid-twentieth century, reliability tests were needed for this study since the

instruments were translated into Turkish, and were used in a different a culture at a different span

of time.

An internal consistency estimate was computed for both instruments, the Leadership

Behavior Description Questionnaire LBDQ) and the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job

Satisfaction Scale MCMJSS) . The alpha value was .95 for both consideration and initiation of

structure behavior, and .83 for conditions for administration for the Leadership Behavior

Description Questionnaire LBDQ) . For the Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman Job Satisfaction Scale

MCMJSS) the value for total satisfaction was .90, for intrinsic motivation .86, and for extrinsic

motivation .90 all of which were above the cut off value of .70 suggested by Nunnaly 1978).

The returned questionnaires were tabulated for frequencies of leadership style choices

and job satisfaction scores. In order to answer research questions 1 and 2 statistical tests using

Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS) were performed to determine perceived

leadership styles of public school principals and expressed job satisfaction levels public school

23

teachers in Northern Cyprus. A linear regression analysis was performed to test research

questions 3 and 4.

The mean scores of the totals of the items related to consideration and initiation of

structure behavior were compared to reveal the perceived leadership styles of public school

principals in Northern Cyprus and the mean scores for overall job satisfaction, intrinsic

motivation, and extrinsic motivation were taken to determine the expressed job satisfaction

levels of public school teachers in Northern Cyprus.

Summary of the Findings

1. As tested by Pearson’s Paired Sample t-Test, the correlation coefficient .912 between

the two perceived styles, consideration and initiation of structure, is significant. Thus,

there is a very strong positive and significant correlation between the two perceived

styles.

Because of a positive mean difference, 2.31 points, to the advantage of perceived

consideration style, (t = 7.44 and p = 000 which is p < .01), it may be stated that

school principals in Northern Cyprus are perceived to display consideration style to a

greater degree than initiation of structure style.

Thus, public school principals in Northern Cyprus are considered to display quadrant

II behavior – high consideration / high initiating structure Halpin, 1966; Stogdill &

Coons, 1957). This means that principals in this study are perceived to be highly

considerate of teachers’ needs and wants while providing a lot of guidance about how

tasks can be completed. Thus, they are perceived to be effective and efficient in

managing both tasks and people.

24

2. As the mean scores clearly indicated, public school teachers in Northern Cyprus have

high overall job satisfaction M =39,5, SD = 5.31), intrinsic motivation M = 20, SD

= 2.98) and extrinsic motivation M = 19.5, SD = 3.24). All these scores are above

the cut off points, which are 24 for overall job satisfaction, 12 for intrinsic and

extrinsic motivation.

The compared mean score of .55 points to the advantage of intrinsic motivation,

as tested by Pearson’s paired sample T-test (t = 4.50, p = .000 which is p< .01),

indicated that expressed intrinsic motivation level of public school teachers in

Northern Cyrus is significantly higher than their stated extrinsic motivation. This

might indicate that public school teachers seem to be more motivated with the

characteristics of the teaching job that are inherent in the activity itself because they

view teaching as a worthwhile activity for their self-esteem and self-respect.

3. The bivariate correlations between the perceived consideration and initiation of

structure behaviors of school principals and expressed overall job satisfaction of

teachers in Northern Cyprus , as tested by multiple regression analysis, are positive.

The predictors consideration and initiation of structure behavior) together indicated a

high relationship to expressed overall teacher job satisfaction R = 555, R2 = .309, p =

.000, p < .01). The beta coefficients indicate that perceived consideration behavior of

public school principals in Northern Cyprus is related to the prediction of teachers

expressed overall job satisfaction, however, initiation of structure behavior of public

school principals has no contribution to expressed overall teacher job satisfaction on

its own.

25

If the predictors are to be relatively ordered in importance, it can be stated that

consideration behavior is more important in predicting overall teacher job satisfaction

in Northern Cyprus. Regression Standardized Residual, P-P Plot of Regression-

Standardized Residual, and the Partial Regression Plot contribute to the finding that

the two variables are linearly related and as perception of consideration behavior of

school principals increased the overall teacher job satisfaction increased.

When significance of correlation coefficients were computed, the only important

variable in predicting teachers’ overall job satisfaction seems to be consideration

behavior of school principalst = 7.21, p = .000, p < .01). Initiation of structure

behavior seems to have not effect on predicting the overall teacher job satisfaction (t

= -.554, p = .55, p > .5).

When partial correlations between the independent variables/predictors

(consideration and initiation of structure behaviors) and the criterion (teachers’

expressed intrinsic motivation) were analyzed, it was observed that there is a positive

correlation (r = .46) between perceived consideration behavior of public school

principals and overall job satisfaction of public school teachers in Northern Cyprus

even after partialling out the effects of initiation of structure behavior (r = .23).

Although the correlation coefficient between perceived initiation of structure behavior

and expressed overall teacher job satisfaction (r = .41) indicated a positive correlation

between the two variables, the partial correlation (after partialling the effects of

consideration behavior) between them (r = -.03) did not indicate a relationship

between the two variables.

26

4. The bivariate correlations between the perceived consideration and initiation of

structure behaviors of school principals and expressed intrinsic motivation of public

school teachers in Northern Cyprus were positive R = .459). The predictors

consideration and initiation of structure behavior) together indicate a high

relationship to teachers’ expressed intrinsic motivation R = .459, R2 = .211, p = .000,

< .01). Thus, the correlation coefficients signified a significantly positive relationship

between perceived consideration behaviors of the public school principals and

teachers’ expressed intrinsic motivation in Northern Cyprus. The beta coefficients B

= .084, = .519) indicated that perceived consideration behavior of public school

principals in Northern Cyprus seems to make a considerable contribution to the

prediction of teachers expressed intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, initiation of

structure behavior (B = .015, = -.066) of public school principals seems to have no

contribution to expressed intrinsic motivation of teachers on its own. Therefore, if the

predictors are to be relatively ordered in importance, it can be stated that

consideration behavior is more important in predicting intrinsic motivation of teachers

in Northern Cyprus.

When significance of correlation coefficients were considered, the only important

variable in predicting intrinsic motivation of teachers was again consideration

behavior t = 5.86, p = .000, p < .01). Initiation of structure behavior was found to

have no effect on predicting the intrinsic motivation of teachers. (t = -.750, p = .453, p

> .5). When partial correlations between the independent variables/predictors

(consideration and initiation of structure behaviors) and the criterion (teachers’

expressed intrinsic motivation) were analyzed, it was observed that there is a

27

positively high correlation (r = .458) between perceived consideration behavior of

public school principals and intrinsic motivation of public school teachers in Northern

Cyprus even after partialling out the effects of initiation of structure behavior(r

= .233). Although the correlation coefficient between perceived initiation of structure

behavior and expressed intrinsic motivation (r = .406) indicated a positive correlation

between the two variables, the partial correlation (after partialling the effects of

consideration behavior) between them (r = -.031) signified no relationship between

the two variables.

5. The bivariate correlations results of multiple linear regression analysis between the

perceived consideration and initiation of structure behaviors of school principals and

expressed extrinsic motivation of public school teachers in Northern Cyprus were

positive R = .429). The predictors consideration and initiation of structure

behavior) together indicated a high relationship to expressed extrinsic motivation R

= .429, R2 = .184, p = .000, p < .01). The positive beta coefficients B = .084,

= .457) indicated that perceived consideration behavior of public school principals in

Northern Cyprus seems to make a considerable contribution to the prediction of

teachers’ expressed extrinsic motivation, whereas, initiation of structure behavior of

public school principals seems to have no contribution to expressed extrinsic

motivation of teachers on its own (B = 0.006, = -.02). Therefore, if the predictors

were to be relatively ordered in importance, it can be stated that consideration

behavior is more important in predicting extrinsic motivation of teachers in Northern

Cyprus than initiation of structure behavior of public school principals in Northern

Cyprus.

28

When significance of regression coefficients are considered, the only important

variable in predicting extrinsic motivation of teachers was consideration behavior t =

5.077, p = .000, p < .01). Initiation of structure behavior seems to have no effect on

predicting the expressed extrinsic motivation of public school teachers in Northern

Cyprus (t = -.341, p = .733, p > .5).

Partial correlations between the independent variables/predictors (consideration and

initiation of structure behaviors) and the criterion (teachers’ expressed extrinsic

motivation) signified that there is a positively high and significant correlation (r

= .429, p = .000) between perceived consideration behavior of public school

principals and extrinsic motivation of public school teachers in Northern Cyprus even

after partialling out the effects of initiation of structure behavior (r = .204). Although

the correlation coefficient between perceived initiation of structure behavior and

expressed extrinsic motivation (r = .386, p = .733) signaled a positive correlation

between the two variables, the partial correlation (after partialling the effects of

consideration behavior) between them (r = -.013) demonstrated no significant

relationship between public schoolteachers’ expressed extrinsic motivation and

initiation of structure behavior of public school principals in Northern Cyprus.

In summary, although school principals seem to display high consideration and high

initiation of structure behaviors in Northern Cyprus, they seem to display more consideration

behavior than initiation of structure behavior. The mean score for perceived consideration

behavior of school principals in Northern Cyprus is M = 56, (above the norm mean score of M =

44.7), and the mean score for initiating structure behavior is M = 54, (again above the norm

mean score of M = 37.9). This means that school principals in North Cyprus display considerate

29

behavior while being directive on task performance. The data also indicated that there is a

significant positive correlation between teachers perception of public school principals’

consideration behavior and expressed teacher overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. Findings displayed that consideration behavior was a more important variable in

predicting teacher job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Teachers participating in

the study also expressed higher intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation pointing to the fact

that they valued the teaching profession.

Conclusions

The literature review section of the paper summarized studies in the field of leadership

thorough out history. It can be concluded from what has been stated that leadership can take

different forms in different contexts. As far as leading the way is concerned, personal traits such

as self-awareness, social-intelligence and emotional intelligence gains importance along side

with administrative and managerial skills. In relation to this, the following conclusions were

drawn from the findings of the study.

1. It appears from the findings that public school principals were perceived to display

consideration and high initiating structure behavior throughout Northern Cyprus. Based

on the data from the 599 respondents there was a higher perceived consideration mean

score than perceived initiation of structure mean score. The norm mean score for

consideration was M = 44.70 and the sample mean score of public school teachers’ rating

of public school principals was M = 56. The norm mean score for initiation of structure

was M = 37.90and the sample mean score of the public school teachers’ rating of public

school principals initiation of structure behavior was M = 54. Even though both scores

30

are above the norm mean scores, indicating that school principals in Northern Cyprus are

imposing a structure while considering teachers needs and wants, it can be concluded that

public school principals were perceived to be more concerned with interpersonal aspects

of their role than organization of tasks. This could be the way public school principals

preferred getting tasks done which is in the line with what Halpin 1955) suggests.

Administrators in education demonstrate good leadership behavior while considering the

feelings, needs, wants, aspirations and motivations of their members of staff, while

initiating structure to as great an extent as it is probably desirable.

One reason for school principals to display high consideration and high initiating

structure behavior might be that they are a part of a closely knit society living in a part of

a small island state in which human relations are intimate, and warm, which might urge

them to be considerate of peoples feelings, wants and needs. The reason for them to

display high initiating structure behavior may be that they are appointed officials by the

Civil Service Commission whose members are appointed by the President of Northern

Cyprus. Being both appointed officials and teachers at the same time, they might have

come to realize that the two tasks, managing tasks and managing people management

and leadership) might overlap. They might have a holistic concept of school culture that

enables them to perceive school as a complex phenomenon, a small picture of the society

embodying students, teachers, administrators, the community and the relations between

them. Thus, based on the above discussion, the overlapping areas of function of school

principals force them to improve human relations, motivate teachers, as well as follow

instructions, follow dead lines, or improve or at least maintain standards and quality

while exerting equity.

31

2. Findings showed that public school teachers expressed high overall job satisfaction,

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The teachers also expressed having significantly

higher intrinsic motivation than extrinsic motivation throughout Northern Cyprus.

Findings also indicated that perceived consideration behavior of school principals

affected teachers’ job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Perceived

consideration behavior of school principals seemed to significantly positively affect

teachers’ expressed overall job satisfaction, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

whereas initiation of structure had no significant relation to and had negative effect on

each.

Therefore, as it was hypothesized, it may be speculate that teachers in Northern

Cyprus tended to be relations oriented and preferred consideration behavior and when

such behavior was practiced they seemed to have more overall job satisfaction, intrinsic

and extrinsic motivation. This may be due to the fact that, as in the case of Filipinos

(Andreas & Ilada-Andreas, 1987; Allegre, 1994), Northern Cyprus being an island state,

holds a very small population, thus social structure, which is very closely knit, urge

people to have more friendly relations and people expect to have this in their work

environment, too.

The results clearly indicated that perceived leadership styles of the public school

principals in Northern Cyprus correlated with teachers’ expressed overall job satisfaction,

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It was observed from the findings that perceived

consideration behavior was important in assuring overall teacher job satisfaction, intrinsic

32

motivation and extrinsic motivation, whereas, initiation of structure behavior had no contribution

to teachers’ overall job satisfaction, intrinsic or extrinsic motivation.

Recommendations for Further Research

The analysis of the descriptive data and findings of this study have formed the basis for

the following recommendations.

1. This study excluded private schools, special education schools, and public technical/

vocational schools and reveals leadership behaviors consideration and initiating

structure) of public elementary and secondary school principals as perceived by public

elementary and secondary school teachers, and their expressed overall job satisfaction,

intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels. Thus, to be able to have a full picture of the

school principals perceived leadership behaviors in relation to teacher job satisfaction

throughout North Cyprus, it is recommended that the study be replicated using a sample

of teachers working in private schools, special education schools, and public

technical/vocational schools to obtain data on their perceptions of their school principals’

leadership styles and their levels of overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation.

2. The study took place only on one part of the island Northern Cyprus) and reveals the

perceptions and job satisfaction levels of public school teachers only on this part. It only

discusses the findings on these teachers’ perceptions of their school principals’ leadership

styles in relation to their expressed levels of job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. It is recommended that the study be replicated using a sample of Greek

33

Cypriot public school teachers employed at Greek Cypriot public schools to find out if

the findings are consistent throughout the island.

The findings of this study should be used as a guide in the selection and training and

appointment of school principals because awareness of teachers’ perceptions and

expectations could lead to better school administration and principal-teacher relations,

thus increased teacher motivation and productivity.

3. The results of this study should be made available to authorities responsible for

educational policy-making and/or school principal appointment and to everyone

interested.

4. Another study should be conducted to collect data on school administrators’ perceptions

of the leadership styles of the educational policy makers, their trainers, and mentors if

there are any) and the findings of this study could be matched and compared with the

findings of this study, thus conclusions and recommendations can be drawn for all type of

educational administrators and policy makers in Northern Cyprus, and for those

interested.

5. Although a numerable research has been done in the field, there are still gaps in our

existing knowledge about effective educational leadership. Other studies such as ‘how

can educational leader balance their leadership and management responsibilities to make

schools innovative institutions’ or ‘if teachers too embody leadership skills and attributes

in different areas, how can these be coordinated and who could take responsibility for

what’ could be conducted as further research to contribute to the area.

6. The different definitions in leadership, intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation

may result in researchers asking different questions and interpreting results in

34

different ways. Because of the differences in definition some contradictions may

appear with similar research done in the field. Thus, one challenge is that further

researchers should be cognizant of how their questions are shaped by definitions they

are using.

35

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Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti’nde Okul Müdürlerinin Önderlik Davranışlarına Bağlı olarak Öğretmenlerin İş Doyumu

Mine [email protected]ğu Akdeniz Üniversitesi

Eğitim FakültesiEğitim Bilimleri Bölümü

Gazimağusa, KKTC

ÖZET

Anahtar Sözcükler: önderlik, iş merkezci, insan merkezci, güdülenme, iş doyumu

Araştırma Sorusu

Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti’ndeki devlet okullarında görev yapmakta olan öğretmenlerin iş doyumları

ile bu okullarda görev yapmakta olan okul müdürlerinin önderlik davranışları (iş merkezci ve insan

merkezci) arasında bir ilişki var mıdır?

Çalışmanın Amacı

Konuyla ilgili farklı bağlamlarda yapılan çalışmalara dayalı olarak, bu çalışma Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk

Cumhuriyeti’nde(K.K.T.C.’de) okul müdürlerinin önderlik davranışları ve bu davranışların öğretmenlerin iş

doyumu ile ilişkisini araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışma K.K.T.C.’de öğretmenlerin okul müdürlerinin

önderlik davranışlarını algılayışı ile öğretmenlerin bulundukları konumda dile getirdikleri iş doyumu

düzeyleri arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olup olmadığını araştırmaktadır.

Yöntem

Okul müdürlerinin önderlik davranışlarının öğretmenler tarafından algılanışı, ‘Önder Davranışı Betimleme

Ölçeği’ (Leadership Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ)) öğretmenlerin genel iş doyumu, işsel ve

dışsal güdülenme düzeyleri ise ‘Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman-İş Doyumu Ölçeği’ ile ölçülmüştür. K.K.T.C.

Milli Eğitim ve Kültür Bakanlığı kayıtlarından edinilen bilgiye göre, bu araştırmanın yapıldığı 2002-2003

Akademik yılında, devlet okullarında görev yapmakta olan öğretmen sayısı 2200 civarındadıri. Bu

öğretmenlerin bin yetmiş yedisi (1077) seksen yedi (87) devlet ilkokulunda, ve bin ikiyüz yetmişi (1270)

ise yirmi altı (26) devlet orta okul ve liselerinde görev yapmaktadıri. Bu çalışmada, sayının çok olması

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nedeni ile, beş ilçeyi de içine alacak şekilde, ilkokulların %25’i, ve bu okullarda görev yapan öğretmenlerin

sayılarının azlığı nedeni ile hepsi katılımcı olarak seçilmiştir. Araştırmanın amaçları doğrultusunda, orta

dereceli okulların sayısının azlığı nedeni ile hepsi, ancak çalışan öğretmenlerin sayısının çok olması

nedeni ile bu okullarda görev yapan öğretmenlerin de % 25’i, rastgele seçim yöntemi ile, katılımcı olarak

seçilmişlerdir. Dolayısı ile rastgele seçilmiş yirmi bir (21) devlet ilkokulunda çalışan üçyüz elli sekiz (358)

öğretmen ve yirmi altı (26) orta dereceli okulda görev yapmakta olan rastgele seçilmis dörtyüz elli iki (452)

öğretmen bu araştırmada katılımcı olmuş ve hepsine araştırma amaçları için kullanılan ölçekler

ulaştırılmıştır (toplam 810 adet). Bu ölçeklerin geri dönüş oranı, ilkokul öğretmenlerinden %77 (274), orta

dereceli okul öğretmenlerinden ise % 72 (325) olmuştur. Bu rakamlarla birlikte, bu araştırmaya konu olan

ilkokul öğretmenleri beşyüz doksan dokuz (n=599) toplam katılımcının %46’sını oluştururken, orta

dereceli okul öğretmenleri bu rakamın %54’ünü oluşturmuşlardır.

Bu araştırmanın bulgularını hesaplamak için SPSS (Sosyal Bilimller İçin İstatistik Paketi)

programı kullanılmıştır. Katılımcılardan dönen ölçeklerde verilen yanıtlar programa girilmiş, araştırma

sorularından 1. ve 2. soruyu yanıtlamak için frekans hesaplamaları, 3. ve 4. soruyu hesaplamak için ise

regresyon analizi hesapları uygulanmıştır.

Ölçeklerin Türkçe çevirilerinde kaynaklanacak sorunları görmek açısından, ilk olarak ölçeklerin

güvenilirliklerini ölçmek için alfa katsayısı (coefficient alpha) testi uygulanmıştır. Her iki ölçek için de içsel

tutarlılık hesaplaması yapılmıştır. Önder Davranışı Betimleme Ölçeğinde (LBDQ) hem ‘insan merkezci’

hem de ‘iş merkezci’ davranış algılamasını ölçen maddeler için alfa değeri .95 ve yönetsel yeterlik

algılamasını ölçen maddeler için ise alfa değeri .83 olarak bulunmuştur. Mohrman-Cooke-Mohrman İş

Doyumu Ölçeğinde toplam iş doyumu ile ilgili alfa değeri .90, içsel güdülenmeyi ölçen maddelerle ilgili alfa

değeri .86, ve dışsal güdülenmeyi ölçen maddelerle ilgili alfa değeri .90 olarak bulunmuştur.

Bulgular

Yapılan analizler sonucunda öğretmenlerin genel iş doyumu, içsel ve dışsal güdülenme düzeyleri ile okul

müdürlerinin ‘insan merkezci’ ve ‘iş merkezci’ davranışlarının algılamaları arasında doğrudan ve olumlu

bir ilişki bulunmuştur. Ancak, iki önderlik davranışının bir birlerine olan etkisi soyutlandığı zaman ‘insan

merkezci’ davranışların, tek başına, öğretmenlerin genel iş doyumu, içsel ve dışsal güdülenmeleri ile

doğrudan, olumlu ve anlamlı bir ilişkisi olduğu gözlenirken, ‘iş merkezci’ davranışların, tek başına,

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öğretmenlerin genel iş doyumu, içsel be dışsal güdülenmeleri ile arasında doğrudan ve anlamlı bir ilişki

görülmediği gibi, bu tür davranışların öğretmenlerin genel iş doyumu, içsel ve dışsal güdülenmelerini

olumsuz etkilediği görülmüştür.

Tartışma ve Öneriler

Yapılan çalışma,, K.K.T.C. genelinde, okul müdürlerinin öğretmenler tarafından yüksek düzeyde ‘insan

merkezci’ ve yüksek düzeyde ‘iş merkezci’ davranış sergiliyor olarak algılandıklarını göstermektedir. Bu

çalışma ayni zamanda K.K.T.C.’de öğretmenlerin yüksek düzeyde genel iş doyumuna, içsel ve dışsal

güdülenmeye sahip olduklarını ancak içsel doyum düzeylerinin, dışsal doyum düzeylerinden anlamlı

olarak daha yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir. Bu bulgulara bağlı olarak, K.K.T.C.’ de öğretmenlerin, önceden

de varsayıldığı gibi, insan ilişkilerine önem verdiği, ‘insan merkezci’ davranışları tercih ettiği, ve bu

davranışların sergilendiği iş ortamlarında iş doyumu ve güdülenme düzeylerinin yüksek olduğu

vurgulanmaktadır. Bunun da nedeni, böylesine küçük bir toplumda insan ilişkilerinin sıkı, sıcak ve yakın

olması, ve iş ortamlarında da bu tür ilişkilerin tercih ediliyor olması olabilir.

Bu çalışma başlangıç alınarak benzeri bir çalışma K.K.T.C. genelindeki tüm okulları ve tüm öğretmenleri

kapsayacak şekilde yeniden yapılabilir. Çalışma Kıbrıs’ta iki kesimi de kapsayacak, Kıbrıs genelinde bir

sonuca varacak ve iki toplumu karşılaştıracak şekilde genişletilebilir. Geleceğe yönelik daha doğru

kararlar alabilmek için, eğitim polikalarını belirleyen, okul yöneticilerini seçip, atayan üst düzey yöneticiler

ve bu konuya ilgi duyan herkes bu araştırmanın sonuçları konusunda bilgilendirilebilir. Okul müdürü

adayları seçilirken, atanırken ve/veya okul müdürlerine yöneticilik/önderlik eğitimi verilirken, bu araştırma

sonucunda elde edilen bulgular dikkate alınabilir. Daha iyi yapılandırılmış ve daha iyi çalışan bir eğitim

sisteminin oluşturulabilmesine yönelik yorum ve önerilerin yapılabilmesi için, okul müdürlerine yönelik,

onların, üst yöneticilerini, eğitim politikası belirlenmesinde söz sahibi olanları, eğitim müfettişlerini ve

bakanlığa bağlı öğretmen eğitmenlerini önderlik davranışları açısından nasıl algıladıklarını araştırmaya

yönelik çalışmalar yapılabilir.

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