School administrators' discriminatory practices as experienced by teachers

The aim of this study is to identify the discriminatory practices that teachers are exposed to by school administrators and how they cope with discrimination. The study employed a qualitative research design based on the phenomenological method. The study group consisted of 20 teachers with varying levels of professional seniority working in the city centre of Tokat. Data were collected through interviews and analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that participants interpreted discriminatory practices of school administrators mainly through the lens of inequality, rather than directly referencing identity-based factors that typically underpin discrimination. The discriminatory practices experienced by teachers were mostly related to professional matters and tended to be concentrated in decisions concerning the educational process. One prominent example includes the assignment of high-performing classes to teachers who are close to the school administration. Participants perceived that discrimination occurred based on factors such as field of expertise, political views, physical appearance, clothing, and gender, proximity to administrators, seniority, union membership, and structural aspects of the education system. These discriminatory practices were found to have negative impacts on teachers' individual, professional, and social well-being. Most participants indicated a tendency to adopt passive coping strategies rather than actively resisting discriminatory behaviour. Based on the findings, it is recommended that in-service training and guidance activities be organized to improve teachers' awareness and capacity to cope with discrimination. Furthermore, it is suggested that discriminatory practices affecting educational personnel (teachers and administrators) be examined using larger sample sizes and mixed research methods. Keywords: Discrimination, Teacher, Administrator, Othering