Understanding chaos in education organizations

The purpose of this study is to understand how chaos is experienced in schools based on teachers' perceptions and to reveal the structure of chaotic conditions. Chaos, as a phenomenon frequently encountered in dynamic structures such as education, was investigated regarding how it manifests in the educational field, its structure, and level. In line with this objective, an "exploratory sequential design" among mixed-method research designs was used, comprising two phases: qualitative followed by quantitative. In the qualitative phase, data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews with 24 participants using an interview form and analyzed using descriptive analysis techniques. In the second phase, grounded in the qualitative phase, the "Chaotic Situation Scale" was developed. The scale was administered to a total of 513 participants, and its reliability and validity were supported through analyses. Findings revealed that chaos is a negative phenomenon defined by uncertainty, complexity, and institutional instability; however, schools exhibit a structure at the threshold between order and chaos. This research holistically demonstrated the relationship between the "perception of intensely experienced chaos" in qualitative findings and the "order-chaos threshold-inclined structure" in quantitative findings. The obtained data proved that chaos is predominantly perceived as a reflection of daily dissatisfactions and a phenomenon viewed as problematic, without considering the chaotic level reflecting all phases of chaos (cosmos-chaos). This situation reveals the importance of evaluating subjective perceptions (through qualitative data) and objective perceptions (through quantitative data) together in educational research. Within the scope of the study, recommendations for practitioners and researchers were provided based on the research results.