The relationship between initiative levels and problem solving skills of school administrators

This research aims to examine the relationship between initiative taking levels and problem solving skills of school administrators. The research was designed as a descriptive and relational study. The population of the study consists of preschool, primary, secondary and high school administrators working in public schools in Tokat. The initiative taking levels of school administrators were measured by the Personal Initiative Measurement Tool in School Principals, which consisted of 32 items developed by U. Akın in 2012. The problem solving skills of the school principals were measured with the 35-item Problem Solving Inventory, which was developed by P. P. Heppner and C. H. Peterson in 1982 and adapted to Turkish by N. Şahin, N. H. Şahin and P. P. Heppner in 1993. Data were analyzed with SPSS program. In the analysis of the data, t-Test, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Correlation Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis were used. School administrators take a high level of initiative in terms of self-starting, proactivity and persistence. It was concluded that the variables of gender, age, place of residence, professional seniority, seniority of administration, number of students and teachers in the school did not cause a significant difference in school administrators' initiative taking behaviors. School principals take more initiatives than assistant principals in all sub-dimensions of taking initiative. Administrators with graduate education degree have higher level of initiative in the self-starting dimension. The results of the research showed that school administrators had high problem solving skills in reflective, monitoring, problem solving confidence and planfulness dimensions but impulsive and avoidant problem solving skills of school administrators are low. Gender, age, place of residence, professional seniority, education level, number of students and teachers in the school do not cause significant differences in problem solving skills of school principals. However, it was concluded that the problem solving skills of the school principals were better than the vice principals and that the differentiation according to seniority was meaningful. There is a negatively moderate relationship between the impulsive and avoidant approaches of problem solving and all sub-dimensions of taking initiative. While the relationship between the reflective, monitoring and planfulness approaches of problem solving with the initiative taking sub-dimensions was positive, moderate and significant, it was concluded that the problem solving confidence approach had a positive, meaningful and high level relationship with the sub-dimensions of the personal initiative. As a result of multiple linear regression analysis, it was concluded that reflective, monitoring and problem-solving confidence approaches predict school administrators' self-starting, proactivity and persistency behaviours. The most powerful predictor of taking initiative is self-confident problem-solving approach. Key Words: School Administrator, Personal Initiative, Problem Solving