Experiences of school principals and teachers on encouraging teachers

The concept of courage has been seen as a virtue that contributes to the progress and development of human beings since ancient times. It is also important to encourage teachers in schools, which are institutions that will ensure the progress and development of society. It is thought that encouraging teachers by school principals will contribute to students, schools and the new generations to be raised. This study aims to reveal the experiences of school principals and teachers regarding encouragement, the purposes of encouragement, and their effects. The participants of the study consisted of twelve teachers and six school administrators working in official secondary education institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education that accept students based on points in the 2023-2024 academic year. In the research, phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research designs, was used. The participants included in the study were determined by criterion sampling (branch, professional seniority, school type) and convenience sampling methods sampling methods. Data were collected with a semi-structured interview form. A semi-structured interview form was used for data collection. The obtained data was analyzed by content analysis. According to the findings of the study, the concept of encouragement is evaluated positively by teachers and principals, and they interpret encouragement as providing motivation, encouraging, gaining self-confidence, supporting professional skills, and providing support in activities. It was concluded that there are differences between encouraged teacher behaviors and non-encouraged teacher behaviors. Encouraged teachers are evaluated as having positive relationships, being assertive, autonomous, motivated and self-confident, while teachers who are not encouraged are evaluated as teachers who interact little, have low professional skills, are unmotivated, do not like their jobs and exhibit passive behaviors. The purpose of school principals' encouragement of teachers has been determined as ensuring the success of students, teachers and the school, strengthening communication within the institution, making teachers more enthusiastic, increasing their self-esteem, providing a positive school climate and making students more self-confident. Encouraging teachers ensures the professional development of teachers individually, makes them happier and more committed to their profession. It also ensures school success organizationally, increases activities and positive communication. School principals encourage teachers to receive training, develop their specialized skills, support their psychological well-being and communication skills, provide resources, and behave ethically. While encouraging teachers, school principals use psychological strategies such as communication, behaving ethically and sharing outside the school, as well as motivation, valuing, providing trust and verbal encouragement. It was also determined as a result of the research that the common feature of the participants' encouragement metaphors included a positive perception. In order to strengthen the positive perception of teachers and encourage them, school principals can involve them more in the decisions made and support their motivation and self-efficacy perceptions. They can encourage teachers by increasing their effectiveness in school and helping them develop their professional skills.