School administrators' and teachers' views on the use of interview technique in school administrator appointment process in Turkey

There are significant doubts about the effectiveness of the interview technique used in government schools in Turkey. There are widespread debates that school principals are under the influence of non-objective factors such as the appointment process, political and ideological approaches, union relations, and gender discrimination. The purpose of this research is to analyze the interviews of school administrators and teachers, regarding the interview technique used in the process of appointing administrators to state schools, and to develop recommendations regarding the problems that arise in this process. The research was designed with a case study pattern. Within the scope of the research, the data were collected by semi-structured interview technique. With the data collection tools prepared by the researcher, interviews were held with 10 school principals, 11 deputy principals and 22 teachers working at different levels in the 2022-2023 academic year. Content analysis approach was used in the analysis of these collected data. According to the research findings; school principals, vice principals and teachers generally do not find the interview technique objective. In addition, the prevailing opinion is that school principals, political and ideological influences, union relations and gender discrimination negatively affect the interview process. However, while all participants believe that the interview is generally not suitable for merit and competence, suggestions such as impartiality, transparency and a written exam come to the fore in jury selection. In the light of the research findings, it is recommended that policy makers consider reviewing the regulations that would make the interview processes more objective, transparent and meritocratic, and adopt strategies that would minimize the political, union and ideological factors that may be effective in this process.