Examination of the relationship between teachers' classroom management style and classroom climate

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between teachers' classroom management styles and classroom climate according to the perceptions of middle school students. In line with this purpose, this research, which uses quantitative research methods, was designed with a descriptive and correlational model. The population of the study consists of 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade middle school students studying in public middle schools in Ağrı province in the 2023-2024 academic year. The research sample was determined through convenience sampling. Secondary school students' responses to the survey questions were examined and after the missing or incorrect answers were eliminated through analysis, the analysis of the research was carried out with the data obtained from 580 students studying in 6 different secondary schools. The research data were obtained through "Personal Information Form", "Classroom Management Styles Scale" and " Classroom Climate Perceived by Students Scale (CCPSS) ". In the study, teachers' classroom management styles were analyzed through authoritarian and democratic classroom management styles. The data were analyzed using SPSS (21) and AMOS (21.0.0) softwares. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was used to test the validity of the measurements and Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient was used to test reliability. According to the findings of the study, it was determined that there was a negative and weak level correlation between students' perceptions of authoritarian classroom management and classroom climate (r= -.22), and positive and strong level correlation between students' perceptions of democratic classroom management and classroom climate (r= .63). It was determined that students' perceptions of their teachers' authoritarian classroom management style were at the level of "Moderately Agree" (X̄= 2.62), their perceptions of their teachers' democratic classroom management style were at the level of "Mostly Agree" (X̄= 3.45), and their perceptions of classroom climate were at the level of "Mostly Agree" (X̄= 3.59). Compared to female students, male students perceived their teachers as having a more authoritarian classroom management style and had a more negative classroom climate perception. It was determined that authoritarian and democratic classroom management styles together explained 40% of the variance of classroom climate but authoritarian classroom management style was not a significant predictor of classroom climate. Based on the findings, it can be said that adopting a democratic classroom management style will contribute to making the classroom climate more positive. Keywords: Classroom Management Styles, Democratic Classroom Management Style, Authoritarian Classroom Management Style, Classroom Climate.