Assessment of the relationship between the perceived leadership styles and level of occupational alienation of preschool managers (Sample: İstanbul province Anatolian side)

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the leadership styles and occupational alienation level among preschool managers, as perceived by fellow preschool teachers working at public or private kindergartens in Kartal and Maltepe counties on the Anatolian (eastern) part of Istanbul province. Relational scanning model was used in this study. The research population is composed of pre-school teachers working at public and private kindergartens authorized and mandated by the Ministry of National Education in Kartal and Maltepe counties on the Anatolian side of Istanbul province in 2013-2014 academic year. The study sample consists of 178 pre-school teachers selected through a disproportionate stratified random cluster sampling model. A "Personal Information Form" along with "Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ)" and "Preschool Occupational Alienation Scale" were used in the study. Research data was analyzed with SPSS program (version 20). Demographic variables of the research have been conducted to analyze the data on the frequency and percentage breakdowns. Afterwards, the arithmetic mean and standard deviation values of the scale and subscales were calculated. While resolving the research sub-problems, the leadership styles and their occupational alienation levels among preschool managers as perceived by preschool teachers have been examined in the context of the demographic variables. For this purpose, leadership styles and alienation levels perceived by groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney-U and Kruskal-Walli-H techniques. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between the subscales and total scores of leadership styles and alienation scales. The results of the study present a negative correlation between the sub-dimensions of MLQ scales of leadership styles and total scores of preschool teachers' occupational alienation. Analyses reveal that the leadership style sub-dimension with highest effect on teachers' alienation level is the award-based leadership, whereas individual support sub-dimension has the least effect on the parameter. The relationship between laissez-faire leadership subscale and the total scores of alienation scale was positively correlated. A negative correlation is found between the relationship between sub-dimensions occupational alienation scale and the total scores of MLQ leadership style scale of pre-school teachers'. According to the survey, powerlessness parameter has the highest level of correlation between sub-dimensions of alienation scale and MLQ leadership styles, whereas the self-alienation parameter has the lowest level of correlation. Considering that there is a significant relationship between the leadership styles of managers and the level of alienation of teachers, necessary arrangements are recommended to make sure managers are offered pre-service and in-service training to improve their leadership skills. Keywords: Leadership, Management, Leadership Styles, Occupational Alienation, Preschool teachers