A thematic analysis on articles published in the field of educational administration between 2000 and 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify trends and tendencies emerged in educational administration in Turkey and abroad after the 2000s. In this direction, it is aimed to analyze 503 articles published in the journal of Educational Administration: Theory and Practice (KUEY) and 475 articles published in the journal of Educational Administration Quarterly (EAQ) as well as 766 articles published in the journal of Educational Management Administartion and Leadership (EMAL) form a thematic perspective and to draw comparative results. With the thematic analysis of the articles published in these foreign and local journals which are considered important in the field of education management, it is aimed to be made a general assessment of the situation by uncovering the trends in Turkey and in the world and examining the similarities and differences in these trends. Method: In this study, case study method which is one of the qualitative research methods was used. A limited set of research on educational administration around the world has been identified and a systematic search has been made in literature. The relevant publications were downloaded and the information obtained from the articles and the current trends were analyzed and the results were synthesized. This has made it possible to analyze the change patterns in the literature on educational management in the last two decades around the world. Findings: The local and foreign articles examined within the scope of the research were examined under 14 categories. The highest education and learning and teaching (n = 165, 32,8 percent) category was examined in the KUEY magazine published in our country. Leadership is the most frequently used category in EAQ (n = 121, 25,4 percent) and EMAL (n = 305, 39,8 percent) journals. In these articles, it is seen that there are not enough studies about educational management. However, this theme has been handled more in foreign articles than in local ones. This was followed by theme categories of school improvement and development (n = 292), management and school psychology (n = 273), administrative structure and processes (n = 221). In the articles published in the KUEY magazine examined within the scope of the research, university management (n = 28) was the most frequently studied theme. Leadership was the most frequently discussed theme in the articles published in the EAQ (n = 34) and EMAL (n = 87) journals. While the themes such as racism, equality, women managers and gender differences were among the most examined themes in the foreign articles, the situation was the opposite in local articles. In local articles, resolving organizational conflicts and ensuring unity of organization, the members of the organization being attached to the organization, maintaining the order of school and classroom, and ensuring student discipline were given importance. In Turkey, more importance is given to the issue of ensuring discipline, while issues such as the provision of school cooperation, regulation of school relations, development of the school and professional development have become more important in foreign countries Discussion and Conclusion: As a result of this research, it was found that the researches produced in the field had deficiencies and the number of original researches was insufficient. When the articles written in the field are examined in terms of theme, it is seen that there is a clutter in themes such as university management (n = 28), organizational commitment (n = 14), conflict management (n = 17), student development (n = 17), school culture (n = 17), student development (n = 17), scientific studies (n = 16), educational management (n = 15), organizational citizenship (n = 13), teacher competence (n = 13), administrator competence (n = 13), classroom management (n = 13), school management (n = 12), burnout (n = 12), administrator attitudes (n = 12), assessment and evaluation (n = 12), student discipline (n = 12), educational management (n = 11), and important themes such as leadership (n=4) are mentioned with very little frequency. Although there are similar and common themes in local and foreign articles, the frequency of using some themes differs from each other. In line with the research findings and results, it is expected that the situation of the field of educational administration put forth in Turkey and abroad will give direction to the work to be carried out in the area. Keywords: Educational Administration Quarterly, Educational Managemenet Administration and Leadership, Educational Administration: Theory and Practice, Educational Management.