The opinions of the school principals on their job who are working in rural schools

It is inevitable that schools which are the most important element of the education and training process, are affected by the dynamics of the social and economic environment they are located in. School, as a system, is interacting with the environment constantly. The demographic structure of the school's environment, the geographical conditions of the region, the distance to the city center, and human capital affect the quality of education and training directly or indirectly. In this context, it is known that schools outside the city center have different dynamics, needs and problems compared to the schools in the cities. This distinctive demographic, geographical, social and economic structure of the rural region, different from the urban area, requires an examining with a different approach to the education and training processes in rural areas. Accordingly, the views of school principals working in rural areas about their duties become important. In this study, the views of school principals working in rural schools about their duties were tried to be determined. In this study, which was designed in the form of qualitative research, interviews were made with seven principal working in schools located within the boundaries of Izmir city center and Aliağa rural areas. Semi-structured interview technique was used as data collection method. The data obtained in the research were resolved by making content analysis. According to the results of the research, school principals in the rural areas struggle with financial difficulties and try to cope with many school problems at the same time. It has been observed that there are economic, social and educational problems that demoralize the motivation of managers. The school principals, participated in the study, stated that they had problems due to the physical infrastructures and technical equipment, the school buildings were old and neglected, and some parts of the school such as the toilet were below the standards. It has been determined that in schools with a combined-classroom training, the duty of administration and the duty of teaching is difficult to carry out together. All of the participants stated that they did not receive enough support from their school environment.