The relationship between organizational learning levels of schools and teachers' organizational silence

This study aims to determine the relationship between organizational learning of schools and teachers' organizational silence behaviors. The universe of the research which is in relational screening model consists of 610 teachers working in Gediz district of Kütahya province in the 2019-2020 academic year; and the sample consists of 404 primary, secondary and high school teachers. Convenience sampling method has been adopted in the research. The research data have been collected with "Organizational Learning Scale" and "Organizational Silence Scale for Teachers". The data have been analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis, arithmetic mean, one-way analysis of variance, t-test, Pearson Product-Moment Coefficient and Multiple Regression Analysis. According to the results of the research, it is noticeable that teachers' perception levels of "continuous learning, transparency, cognitive processes, problem-orientation" pertaining to organizational learning in schools and their level of general application in schools are also high. The research also reveals that the perceptions of teachers towards organizational learning practices differ significantly according to the variables of professional seniority, duration of work at the same school, the level of schools they study at, and gender, but not significantly according to the number of teachers in the school. From the results related to the other variable of the research, it is understood that the perception levels of teachers towards "school environment and the source of silence" dimensions related to organizational silence in schools are low and their perceptions of "emotion, manager and isolation" dimensions are at medium level. It is seen that the teachers' perceptions of general existence of organizational silence in schools are low. While the organizational silence levels of the teachers have not shown a significant difference according to their genders, it has been found that there is a significant difference according to the variables of working time at the same school, seniority, school level, number of teachers in the school. When the relationship between the organizational learning level of the school and the organizational silences of the teachers is examined, a moderate negative relationship has been found between teachers' perceptions towards continuous learning, transparency, cognitive processes, being problem-oriented dimensions of organizational learning in schools and their organizational silences. Finally, it is clear in the research that teachers perceptions of transparency and problem-orientation towards organizational learning practices in schools have significantly predicted their organizational silence levels, but dimensions of continuous learning and cognitive processes have not significantly predicted teachers' organizational silence levels. Key words: Organizational Learning in Schools, Organizational Silence