The ‘Westernised’ Map of the Field of Educational Administration in Turkey and Dominant Perspectives in School Leadership Education

Abstract

Although the development of educational administration has remained on the agenda for over a half century, it is apparent that the field has encountered a number of problems in Turkey. Strategies, legislative regulations, and various practices over school administrators’ training and assignment have long been debated, and problems encountered in school administration as long-term policies on the training and assignment of school principals could not be developed. This study focuses on the historical development of school administrators’ training and assignments in Turkey and on school administrators’ behaviours from Hofstede’s cultural perspective. Finally, a centralist approach in public administration and the understanding that teaching is the basis for being a school administrator which denotes that no formal in-service education is required for being appointed as a school administrator are two main factors that inhibit the development of school administration as a professional field in Turkey. Furthermore, the fact that school administrator practices have changed repeatedly in an inconsistent manner and that the common public opinion that exams for assignment of school administrators are far from objectivity come under criticism for a considerable amount of time in Turkey. On the other hand, in the context of Hofstede’s culture dimensions, it is possible to argue that the schools accept a large degree of power distance and feel uncomfortable with uncertainty. It is also reasonable to suggest that school administrators build stronger and healthier ties with other staff in the dimensions of collectivity, femininity, and indulgence.