Evaluation of classroom teachers' behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles according to the perceptions of school directors (Sample of Diyarbakır province)

In this study, it was aimed to research the adoption level of school teachers for the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles, based on the perceptions of school directors working in elementary schools (primary and secondary schools) containing classroom teachers. This study, which was designed in general screening model, consists of 544 school directors working in official elementary schools located in the central districts of Diyarbakır province (Bağlar, Kayapınar, Sur, Yenişehir) in the academic year of 2016-2017. Meanwhile, the sampling comprises 313 school directors who work in 196 elementary education institutions selected with the "criterion sampling" method which is among the aimed sampling methods. "Professional Ethical Principles Scale" comprising 6 factors and 71 items developed by Manalova (2010) was used for the research data. The data obtained from the study were analyzed by using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) package program. T-test, One-Way variance analysis (One-Way ANOVA), Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U tests were employed for independent samples in the analysis and interpretation of the data. The significance level was taken as ,05. The following results were obtained from the analysis of the data: Considering the general level of participation on the basis of the dimensions concerning the evaluation of the classroom teachers' behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles according to the perceptions of the school directors; it has been determined that the participation of school directors in all dimensions was at a high level. Furthermore, when a ranking is made according to the participation level on the basis of dimensions, it has been observed that it has a descending order; professional ethical principles for the school ( = 4,20), professional ethical principles for the community ( = 4,13), professional ethical principles for students ( = 4,13), professional ethical principles for parents ( = 4,05), professional ethic principles for jobs ( = 3.99) and professional ethical principles for colleagues ( = 3.86). It was found out that classroom teachers participated at the highest level in the items which are "They avoid using rude and insulting words against parents" ( =4,48) and "They maintain the dignity of students" ( =4,46) according to the perceptions of the school administrators on the basis of the items. On the other hand, it was seen that they participated at the lowest level in the items which are "Make constructive critism at colleague meetings" ( =3,48) and "Share educational information with colleagues" ( =3,51). Significant differences were found according to the variables of (1) age, (2) occupational seniority, (3) district where the school is located, (4) the place of the school, (5) management duration and (6) educational status among the demographic variables which are discussed in terms of evaluating the adoption level of school teachers for the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles, based on the perceptions of school directors. However, there was no significant difference according to the variables of (1) gender and (2) task type. When the data obtained according to the independent variables are examined; it was concluded that there was no significant difference in the gender variable, but the participation levels of the female school administrators towards the adoption of ethical principles by the classroom teachers in all dimensions were higher than the male school administrators. In the age variable, as the age of the school administrators increased, it was found that the perceptions of classroom teachers regarding the adoption level of the behaviors within the scope of the professional ethical principles was higher. In the professional seniority variable, it is thought that, as the school directors gain experience over the years in their jobs, the classroom teachers behave more suitably in compliance with the behaviors in the dimension of the professional ethical principles towards the society. However, it was observed that classroom teachers behave more suitably in compliance with the behaviors in the dimension of professional ethical principles towards the colleagues as the experience decreases by differing in the dimension of professional ethical principles towards the colleagues. No significant difference was detected in the perceptions of school directors for the task type variable, however it was concluded that classroom teachers' participation level towards all dimensions related to the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles was high. It was found for the variable of district where the school is located that the perceptions of school directors working in Yenişehir and Kayapınar districts, related to the adoption level of school teachers for the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles, were higher compared to the school directors who work in Bağlar and Sur districts. It was concluded for the variable of place where the school is located that the perceptions of school directors working in village schools, related to the adoption level of school teachers for the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles, were higher compared to the school directors who work in the center of districts. It was seen for the variable of management duration that the perceptions of school directors with longer management duration towards the society are significantly higher, in the meantime the perceptions of school directors with shorter management duration towards colleagues are significantly higher. It was concluded for the variable of educational status that as the educational status increases in parallel to the increase of expectations, graduate school directors' perceptions related to the adoption level of classroom teachers for the behaviors within scope of the professional ethical principles are higher.