Principals' opinions of organisational justice in elementary schools in Turkey

Abstract

Purpose -This study aims to present the opinions of public elementary school principals in Turkey about the current organisational justice practices among teachers from the distributive, procedural, interactional, and rectificatory dimensions. Design/methodology/approach -The opinions of 11 public elementary school principals in Ankara about organisational justice practices were identified through focus group and conceptual analyses. Findings -School principals are seen to distribute justice on matters like leave of absence, rewarding, performance appraisal, student allocation to classes, and course programs. Some complicating factors for principals in justice distribution are differences in teachers' perceptions of justice, school size, and restrictions of the policies of the Ministry of National Education. When principals make a mistake in justice distribution, they resort to checking their compliance with regulations, attempting to correct the mistake, and apologising. When teachers deem school principals unfair, they distance themselves, accuse the principals of unfair administration, slow down their work, and engage in gossip.Research limitations/implications -The research is limited by the relatively small sample of principals involved. Practical implications -The research will lay the ground for discussion about the steps to eliminate current problems about organisational justice practices in schools and will contribute to policy development by the Ministry of National Education in this regard. Originality/value -The study is significant in examining the concept of justice as a universal value at the school level, enabling comparison with similar studies in other countries; and being the first research in Turkey to investigate school principals' organisational justice practices.

Analyzing of the Relationships between Organizational Justice and Organizational Trust of Teachers

“…In the analyses, it was found that teachers' perceptions of organizational justice were at a high level. The studies conducted on this subject also support the results of this study (Özer et al, 2006;Baş and Şentürk, 2011;Yaylacı, 2004;Atalay, 2005;Ünal, 2003;Tan, 2006;Polat, 2007;Aydın and Kepenekçi, 2008;Polat and Celep, 2008;Yılmaz and Taşdan, 2009;Titrek, 2009;Yılmaz, 2010;Oğuz, 2011;Gök, 2014;Kılıç andDemirtaş, 2015 andTerkeş, 2015). It was also found that organizational trust levels of teachers were at the moderate level.…”

“…Yapılan analizlerde öğretmenlerin örgütsel adalet algılarının yüksek düzeyde olduğu sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Bu konuda yapılan çalışmalar bu araştırmanın sonucunu desteklemektedir (Özer ve diğ., 2006;Baş ve Şentürk, 2011;Yaylacı, 2004;Atalay, 2005;Ünal, 2003;Tan, 2006;Polat, 2007;Aydın ve Kepenekçi, 2008;Polat ve Celep, 2008;Yılmaz ve Taşdan, 2009;Titrek, 2009;Yılmaz, 2010;Oğuz, 2011;Gök, 2014;Kılıç ve Demirtaş, 2015;Terkeş, 2015). Diğer bir ifadeyle araştırmaya katılan öğretmenlere okullarında kendilerine karşı genelde adil davranıldığı, kurum içerisinde eşit davranıldığı sonucu elde edilmiştir.…”

School Administrators as Legitimation Agents: Linking Perceived Organizational Legitimacy and Legitimation Strategies

“…On the other hand, strategies for protecting the past accomplishments involve organizational efforts to transform short-term legitimacy into long-term effort (Patriotta, Gond, & Schultz, 2011). In addition, despite the fact that it is primarily considered as one of a reactive strategy, making apologies and promises not to repeat the problems might satisfy stakeholders and serve as a protective strategy by resolving trust issues caused by instances of mismanagement (Aydın & Karaman-Kepenekçi, 2008).…”

The social justice imperative in transforming a secondary school

“…On the basis of descriptive criteria a distinction can be made between schools that are socially just and those that are not. Some of the attributes of schools that are unjust entities are that they expose members of the school community to inequalities and hurtful experiences of injustice [4], restrict freedom and inflict psychological harm through exposure to racist words, hate speech and, social oppression [3] and, allocate resources unequally thus engendering resentment, resistance, discipline problems and student low self-esteem [6]. On the other hand, schools that are socially just promote inclusion and equity, hold high expectations for all learners, develop reciprocal community relationships, and have direct social justice education and intervention [8].…”