The effect of school administrators' cultural leadership behaviors on school culture and climate according to teacher perceptions

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of school administrators' cultural leadership behaviors on school culture and climate according to teacher perceptions. Mixed research method, which has qualitative and quantitative dimensions, was used in the research. The quantitative part of the research consists of the teachers of 8 high schools selected by probabilistic sampling from 37 high schools in Ümraniye in the 2022-2023 academic year. Out of 330 scales sent to schools, 240 responses were received, and at the end of the evaluations, 216 questionnaires were determined to be usable. Within the scope of the research, a personal information form consisting of six questions, the "Cultural Leadership Scale of School Administrators" developed by Yıldırım (2001), the "School Climate Scale" developed by Canlı (2016) and the "School Culture Scale" developed by Terzi (2005) were used. The qualitative research questions of the study were compiled from the content of the research topic and the scales. In the research, convergent parallel design was used within the scope of the mixed pattern research method, which includes qualitative and quantitative research. Correlation analysis, independent T test, and normality test were used for the statistical analysis of the obtained data from the scales. In qualitative data analysis, theme analysis, descriptive analysis and content analysis were performed. In the evaluations, it was found out that there is a positive relationship between cultural leadership and school culture and climate. In addition, it was observed that teachers' perceptions of cultural leadership were high, there was a positive relationship between cultural leadership and school culture, a positive relationship between cultural leadership and school climate, and a positive relationship between school culture and school climate. It was seen that the teachers' perceptions of cultural leadership and climate did not change according to the school type variable. It was observed that school climate perceptions differed according to the school type variable. It has been determined that teachers generally have knowledge about cultural leadership, and half of the school administrators adopt this leadership type. Themes such as school success were frequently seen under the theme of school culture. The teachers concluded that the change of school administrators will change the school culture for the better and that the administrator has a role in the school climate. The findings and data obtained from the quantitative and qualitative data of the research were discussed together. In the scope of these discussions, it has been suggested that the leaders can be given theoretical and practical training on cultural leadership, school administrators should focus on success in their schools, and practical trainings can be organized for managers to control their personal emotions. In addition, suggestions were presented to researchers to conduct different studies on the effects of changing administrators in schools and the concentration of school climate perception on communication.