Analysis of the correlation between unionization of teachers and decision making and communication processes at the school

The present study aimed to determine the impact of unionization of teachers, who are one of the interest groups at schools, on school administration in providing quality education, which is one of the most important factors in the future of the society. For this purpose, the views of the teachers and administrators on the relationship between unionization of the teachers and decision making and communication processes were identified. The present study is designed both as descriptive and correlational research. A causal comparative model, which aimed to describe the views of the teachers and administrators on the correlation between unionization of the teachers and school administration process, was used in this study. In addition to correlational model, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used in the present study. Thus, the objective was to investigate the research topic in depth. The "interview" technique, which is one of the data collection methods in qualitative studies, was used. The quantitative study data was collected by a scale developed by the author. To collect the study data, a scale was developed for application to teachers in order to investigate the study objectives after a literature review was conducted. The study population included teachers and school administrators working at state primary, middle and high schools in Battalgazi district in Malatya province in Turkey during the 2015-2016 academic year. The research was conducted in two dimensions. The study sample was determined with purposive sampling, a non-random sampling method, for both dimensions. The qualitative study data were collected between 01/09/2016 and 20/01/2017. Semi-structured interview technique was utilized in the qualitative data collection phase. The quantitative study data were collected between 20.04.2015 and 01.01.2016 after the receipt of the "Governor's Approval" which was obtained from Malatya Governorship through the Malatya Provincial National Education Directorate, allowing to conduct the research applications related to the present study. The scales were distributed and collected to the teachers employed in the schools included in the sample by the researcher. A scale was developed by the author to collect the quantitative study data. A literature review was conducted to determine the items that would be included in the scale, which aimed to determine the teacher views on the relationship between teachers' unionization and the school administration process [The Impact of Unionization on School Administration Processes Scale - IOSAPS]. Literature review led to a draft item pool that included 83 items which aimed to measure the impact of unionization of the teachers on the school administration process. The draft scale was presented to 30 teachers for examination of the items for face validity. In addition, the views of two Turkish language teachers were obtained for spelling and grammar of the scale. Furthermore, interviews were held with these 30 teachers on the comprehensibility of the items included in the form. Meanwhile, the scale was presented to four faculty members in the Department of Educational Administration and Supervision at Inönü University Faculty of Education ( Doç. Dr. Mehmet Üstüner, Doç. Dr. Hasan Demirtaş, Doç. Dr. Niyazi Özer, Doç. Dr. S. Nihad Şad ) and some items were removed and certain others were edited based on the expert recommendations. As a result, 2 items were removed and the scale was finalized. The scale questions were constructed as a five-point Likert type scale; "It does not affect" option was scored with 1 point, "It somehow affects" option was scored with 2 points, "It moderately affects" option was scored with 3 points, "It mostly affects" option was scored with 4 points, and "It always affects" option was scored with 5 points. In the present study, construct validity of the IOSAPS was determined with exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability was determined with internal consistency coefficient (Cronbach Alpha) and the scale item-total correlations were calculated. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the data obtained with the pilot scheme applied to 405 teachers employed in different provinces (Bitlis, Gaziantep, Malatya). The confirmatory factor analysis of scale including the communication dimension with 30 items and decision-making dimension of 15 items obtained with exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the dataset which was formed by random selection of 300 teachers out of available 405 teachers. The results obtained in the confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that the model-data fit was acceptable. The data obtained in confirmatory and exploratory factor analyzes provided evidence that confirmed the construct validity of the Impact of Unionization on School Administration Processes Scale. Thus, the scale was used to collect the data required for the quantitative dimension in the study. The data analysis was conducted separately for quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Qualitative data was initially analyzed by determining the categories and sub-categories that represented the main themes in the data. The properties and dimensions of these categories were then determined. All data were coded based on the determined categories. The categories were then associated with subcategories based on a specific axis. The associations were conducted based on the category properties and the dimensions of these properties. The descriptive analysis technique was used for the data obtained from school principals with interviews. In the analysis process, notes taken during interviews and transcripts of the interviews audio recordings were used. After the transcription, the audio recordings were reviewed for the second time and the conducted analyzes were controlled. After this phase, the transcripts were sent to each interviewed school principle to confirm the records. During the transcription, a code number was assigned (in abbreviated form such as M1, M2) to each interviewed principle representing the individuals. To determine the consistency among the codes assigned by the author, the agreement rate [Reliability = Agreement / (Agreement + Disagreement)] was calculated. Analysis results demonstrated that the reliability coefficient for the agreement between the coders was .79. This finding demonstrated that the coders had almost similar views on the conceptual categories. The analysis of the obtained data showed that the mean teacher view on the relationship between unionization of teachers and school administration processes of decision making and communication was at the moderate level for the decision making dimension, however it was low for the communication dimension. Teachers stated that unionization influenced the decision-making process a little more than the communication process. It was determined that there was no significant difference between the effect of membership of the teachers in unions that serve educational, instructional and scientific services industries on the decision making and communication processes in the school based on union membership, gender, tenure, type of the school of employment and type of the union of membership variables. In the interviews conducted with school administrators, general views of school administrators on unionization were obtained initially. The vast majority of school principals believed in the necessity of unionization of teachers and considered the development positive. The principles who considered it positive indicated that organization was important, and effective and efficient work can be achieved only through organization. Some school principals indicated that unionization was not necessary since the teachers were not adequately informed about union membership, and that unions are mostly after political goals instead of improving the rights of teachers. The analysis of the administrator views on the effect of teachers' unionization in education, instruction and science services branch unions on decision making process in school demonstrated that a significant number of administrators (32%, f = 8) considered that unionization promoted collaboration among teachers. Secondly, 20% (f = 5) of school administrators stated that unionization promoted cooperation. 28% (f = 7) of school administrators who reported negative views stated that unionization led to factions/conflicts among teachers and 12% (f = 3) indicated that unionization led to oppression/susceptibility. It was determined that some school administrators considered the effect of the unionization of the teachers on decision making in the context of collaboration. There were also principles who stated that in cases where a large number of teachers are the members of a single union, these for factions against other teachers. There were school administrators who argued that if the members of the same union are the majority at school and the school principal is not a member of this union and then the factions are more rigid and it could be understood immediately. This was voiced by the school administrators M16, M15, and M3. School administrators also stated that susceptible behavior were also very effective in such situations. As a measure, they recommend being normative. However, they stated that if the school administrators and most teachers are the members of the same union, it led to collaboration and cooperation in decision-making. Administrators M 1, M 4, M 16 were of the opinion that unionization of the teachers was associated with school administration process dimension of communication based on factionalism and political identity. It can be argued that this was mostly related to the fact that the unions were associated with political identities. Differences based on political identity lead to factions in schools. The presence of factions hinders the communication among the teachers and affects the school administration. If the union where the majority of the teachers are members and the union where the school administrator is a member are different, naturally this fact negatively affects the communication between the principal and the teachers. Neutrality of public school administrators is important in Turkey where there are some significant social differences. However, this diversity in society cannot be observed among school administrators. The rates observed in the qualitative section of the present study demonstrated that 88% of the school administrators were members of an union. This inhibits pluralism at schools. Union activities are expected to promote pluralism instead of suppressing it. As such, the disadvantages such as factions and exclusion can be eliminated. The correlation between the union membership of the teachers and administration processes can be investigated in future studies in Turkey. The impact of union membership on decision making and communication dimensions of school administration processes can be investigated with engaged observation in selected schools.