Organizational results of formal and informal group relations of teachers at schools

The aim of this study is to determine the organizational results of formal and informal group relations of teachers at schools. In accordance with this aim, case study pattern out of qualitative research patterns and holistic multiple case pattern out of case study patterns, which makes it possible to evaluate different situations both individually and comparatively have been utilized. In accordance with the holistic multiple case pattern, study group of the research has been selected on the basis of volunteerism and maximum diversity sampling out of purpose sampling methods. The group consists of 12 teachers from 3 elementary schools, displaying the features of a central school, a school with a low socio-economic status and a village school in Muratpaşa, Kepez and Aksu towns of Antalya province, respectively. In order to obtain the data, individual interviews have been conducted with 12 teachers using semi-structured individual interview form. Focus group interviews have been conducted in groups formed with 4 teachers from each school using semi-structured focus group interview form. Decision books in all 3 schools have been examined and formal groups in these schools have been identified. Descriptive analysis, which is used in researches whose conceptual structure is clearly defined beforehand, has been used in the analysis of the qualitative data. Consistency testing has been utilized to increase the internal reliability (consistency) of the qualitative research. Two independent researchers (educational science experts) have been asked to code the interview records of the two randomly chosen teachers, corresponding to 12.5 percent of the 12 teachers constituting the study group of the qualitative research. In order to determine the reliability of the comparative agreement between the researchers, The Kohen Kappa consistency coefficient has been calculated as meaningful with the level of 0.818. The Kohen Kappa coefficient is interpreted as a perfect match between 0.81 and 1.00 and thus the coding has been concluded as reliable. According to the results gained from the research, "having the same viewpoint / worldview" is the most considered variable when teachers are involved in a group or when they get close to their colleagues. When groups come together, they mostly talk about the school and the students. According to the participants, "informal groups" are the most effective factor in the formation of formal groups and the second is the "merit". Teachers think that their informal group relations create positive results in terms of professional, personal and organizational perspectives. It has been found that group relations increase organizational commitment and job satisfaction and decrease stress in teachers. Teachers get support from the friends in their groups to cope with stress. Moreover, because of the good friendship relations, they feel committed to the school and are less willing to relocate. However, there are participant views indicating negative results of group relations for the organization. Negative influences of conflicts between different groups on individuals and organizational climate, disruption of works when group members join the individuals who slow down the work, resistance to the management's decisions through one or more groups' acting together are some of the examples. According to the participants' views, another negative effect of the group relations is that group members have to comply with the group norms. People contradict themselves when they agree with the group norms which they actually do not adopt and experience stress when they have to display behaviors that they do not want. When they refuse to agree with the norms that they do not adopt, they are left alone by the group. In this study, affective commitment levels of teachers have been found higher than those of continuance commitment and normative commitment. The highest commitment type is the affective commitment dimension, while the lowest one is the normative commitment. Identification with the organization, which is the most basic determiner of the affective commitment, has been fulfilled by the participants. According to the participants' views, it has been observed that the most effective factor in job satisfaction is relations with the other workers and perceived social support. The most common sources of stress among the participating teachers are the school administrators and higher administrators in the National Education. Participants have been observed to use emotion-focused coping strategy in the first place. In this study, it has been observed that while relations with the group mates increase teachers' organizational commitment and job satisfaction, they are also their most influential assistant in struggle against stress and help reduce the stress levels. These outcomes are the desired outcomes in all organizations and achieving them by developing group relations is much less costly than other solutions. Managers should treat groups not as a threat to themselves but as an opportunity and should collaborate with them to benefit from them effectively.