PurposeThis study focused on the impact of principals' leadership content knowledge, evaluation practices and teachers' professional learning activities on classroom instruction.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 425 teachers who worked in 46 elementary and lower secondary public schools within two provinces in Turkey. Teachers were asked to fill out a questionnaire on principals’ leadership content knowledge, evaluation feedback, professional learning activities and changed instructional practices. This study employed multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) by using the Bayesian estimation method to analyze the research hypotheses.FindingsFindings indicate that if teachers perceive the evaluation progress as more useful, then they will participate in more professional learning activities, and they will be more effective in their classroom practices. This study also indicates that teachers' professional learning activities stimulate their instructional practices.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the number of schools and teachers allows using multilevel analysis, it limits the findings generalized beyond the sample. To compensate for this limitation, the author confirmed that the sample was representative of the larger population by examining the size of students and teachers, SES and teachers' job experience. The author also conducted a Bayesian estimator to strengthen the test of significance of effects.Practical implicationsThis study underlines the critical role of leadership content knowledge in evaluating practices and providing useful feedback perceived by teachers in elementary and secondary schools. Principals should lead to instruction by knowing how to address a lack of teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and classroom practices. The Ministry of Education should support principals in becoming effective instructional leaders to observe teachers and provide them meaningful feedback on teaching.Originality/valueDespite increased interest in this construct, research on principals' and teachers' responses to adapt the recent form of teachers’ performance evaluation systems is scant, especially in developing countries’ context. Moreover, little is known about the paths through which principals can enhance classroom practices by providing useful feedback. Given these trends in policy and practice context, this study provides empirical evidence that principals can enact the teachers’ performance evaluation that affects classroom instruction.
This paper examines the links between learning–centred leadership and student achievement through the mediating effect of teacher professional community and parental involvement. Using teacher and student survey data collected from 79 lower secondary Turkish schools in 12 provinces across the country in 2019, this study employs multilevel structural equation modelling. The findings of the current study add to the growing knowledge base in the non-western societies, revealing the impact of principals’ leadership on school processes and outcomes in Turkey. The study suggests that principals have a crucial role in improving student achievement by enhancing situations in which teachers work, namely, organisational and family paths. It suggests that principals’ leadership practices still matter for teacher professional community and parental involvement in non-western countries. Implications for policy, practice and further research are discussed.
A vast amount of contemporary research has been devoted to defining effective school leadership roles and practices and measuring their influence on school processes, structures and outcomes. This paper examines the effects of trust in principals and school leaders’ focus on instruction on teacher collaboration and teacher self-efficacy. Using teacher survey data collected from 45 lower secondary Turkish schools across the country in the 2018–2019 academic year, this study employs multilevel structural equation modelling with Bayesian estimation to investigate the structural relationships between trust in principals, alongside leaders’ focus on instruction, and teacher collaboration and teacher self-efficacy. The study confirms previous research, indicating that trust in principals has a crucial role in teachers’ emphasis on instruction and that these principals’ instructional leadership practices enhance teachers’ sense of efficacy both directly and indirectly through teacher collaboration. The research concludes that, while the way these practices are carried out might differ across contexts, the principals’ leadership practices focusing on teaching and learning still matter for teachers’ beliefs and practices in non-western countries. Implications for policy, practice and further research are discussed.
Eğitim sisteminin temel uygulayıcısı olan öğretmenlerin mesleki konularda belirli bir yetki ve özgürlük alanına sahip olmaları şeklinde tanımlanabilecek özerklik kavramı, öğretmenlerin karar verme ve öğrenciler ile ilgili konularda öngörülen mesleki seçimleri yapabilme özgürlüğü; eğitimin planlanması, geliştirilmesi ve yönetimi süreçlerine katılmaları olarak tanımlanmakta ve çalışma ortamıyla ilişkilendirilmektedir. Konuyla ilgili yapılmış çalışmalarda, daha fazla özerkliğe sahip olan öğretmenlerin, mesleklerine yönelik daha fazla istekli ve gönüllü olduklarını belirten sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır. Dolayısıyla, öğretmen özerkliği ile öğrenci başarısı arasında olumlu bir ilişki beklenmektedir. Bu çalışmada, farklı ülkelerdeki öğretmenlerin görevlerini yerine getirirken sahip oldukları özerklik düzeylerinin, öğrencilerin akademik başarılarıyla olan ilişkisi incelenmiştir. Bu amaçla, 2009 PISA çalışmasına katılan ülkelerin PISA sonuçları ve PISA anketlerine ait verileri kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, öğretmen özerkliğinin okul ortamında yer verilmesi gereken bir unsur olduğu söylenebilir. Ayrıca, öğretimin içeriği ile doğrudan ilgili olmayan disiplin ve değerlendirme politikalarıyla öğrenci başarısı arasındaki ilişkinin, derslerin ve ders içeriğinin belirlenmesi maddeleri kadar etkili olmasının, başarı üzerindeki değişkenlerin (okul disiplini gibi) daha geniş kapsamda ele alınmasını zorunlu kıldığı söylenebilir. Ayrıca, özerklikle ilgili alanın, öğretmen grubunun okul içi ya da okul dışı oluşuna göre öğrenci başarısı üzerindeki etkisini farklılaştırabilmektedir.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.