Determining School Administrators’ Perceptions on Institutional Culture: A Qualitative Study

• Main Author: Secil Eda Kartal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: ÜNİVERSİTEPARK Limited 2016-03-01
• Series: Educational Process: International Journal
• Subjects: school; culture; institutional culture; school administrator; cultural perception.
• Online Access: http://edupij.com/index/makale_indir/36

Schools, the where educational activities are carried out, are among the major institutions society considers as important. Schools undertake strategic responsibilities in maintaining cultural values and conveying them to future generations. The primary responsibility in achieving these missions is assigned to the school administrators. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceptions of school administrators on institutional culture. This is a qualitative study conducted on school administrators who were selected based on the volunteering principle. Perceptions of school administrators concerning their institutions’ culture and the differences between their institutional culture and other institution’s cultures were determined and analyzed. Findings of this study suggest that school administrators have both positive and negative opinions regarding their institutional culture and cultural difference. While love-respect, collaboration-solidarity and common history were prominent positive opinions; lack of communication, lack of shared values and low expectation were prominent negative opinions. In addition, participants stated the environment as a crucial factor when defining culture.