A case study about the leadership perception of teachers and students: application on high schools and high school equals in Ankara province

Leadership and leaders exist since the date social life begins for the humanity. Leadership is a universal and social phenomenon. Leadership, about which many researches have been made, is a complex and culturally changing concept for which a new theory bring up everyday, Leadership is a very important factor to reach to the personal, organizational and social aims. Researches to answer the question ?what are the conditions affecting the leadership? should be made with the perspective of personal characteristics of leader and followers, conditional and behavioral factors, varying environmental conditions, aims, and the relation between the leader and organization. In this study, definition and historical development of leadership and leadership approaches are investigated. Also the application level of these approaches to Turkish National Education, leader training programs within the current system, leadership perception of teachers and students at the High Schools, the affect of school differences, social and demographical properties of the teachers and students on the leadership perception are studied. A case study is made to accomplish the goals of this study. A questionnaire was taken in four different high school (classical, professional, Anatolian and private high schools) in Ankara province. The questionnaire is given to the 155 teachers and 395 students and answered by 147 teachers and 393 students. Answers to the questionnaire of 145 teachers and 388 students are evaluated. According to the statistical results of the evaluation of the questionnaire; - Leadership perception is related with the school type, - Other social and demographical properties are not related with the leadership perception, - Teachers and students of the studied schools consider the director of the school as interactive leader, - This perception is more intensive at the teachers of the professional high school and students of private school and also it is stronger at the teachers when compared with the students. It is thought that this study is important for the determination of leadership profiles of the managers of the high schools and effectiveness of the current leader training programs. Keywords: 1. Manager 2. Leader 3. Director of school 4. Leadership 5. Training and education leadership