An analysis of the relationship between school principals' leadership styles and innovation management based on the perceptions of preschool teachers

The objective of this study is to contribute to the literature by determining the level of correlation between school principals' leadership styles and innovation management based on preschool teachers' perceptions. This research was designed to be both a survey and a correlational study, two quantitative research types. The population of the study included 379 preschool teachers who worked in independent kindergartens and nursery classes in primary schools, all directed by the Ministry of Education in Küçükçekmece, İstanbul, in the 2014-2015 academic year. The researcher contacted 66.4% of the study population, aiming to include the whole population in the study sample. Yet the sample included only 252 preschool teachers who received permission to participate in the study and filled out the study forms completely after being informed about the study objective. The study data were collected using a teacher information form, Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) and Innovation Management at Schools Scale (IMSS). The study data were analyzed and interpreted with the SPSS 17.0 software package using Cronbach's alpha, percentage evaluations, ANOVA, t test, Kruskal Wallis test, Mann Whitney-U test, correlation analysis and post-hoc significance tests. Based on the results, the study found that the school principals, according to the preschool teachers' perceptions, obtained the highest score of total arithmetic mean and standard deviation on the "Transformational Leader" dimension, one of the leadership styles subdimensions of the MFLS. There was no significant difference between school principals' leadership styles according to preschool teachers' personal and professional characteristics including age, length of service in their current schools and professional seniority. However, there was a statistically significant difference between their styles according to preschool teachers' education level, type of school they worked in and the numbers of students and teachers. The study also found that the school principals, according to preschool teachers' perceptions, obtained the highest score of total arithmetic mean and standard deviation on the "Project Management" dimension, one of the innovation management subdimensions of the IMSS. There was no significant difference between school principles' innovation management styles according to preschool teachers' personal and professional characteristics including age, education level, professional seniority and length of service. However, there was a significant difference according to preschool teachers' type of school they worked in and the numbers of students and teachers. Based on preschool teachers' perceptions, there was a highly significant positive correlation between school principals' leadership styles and innovation management mean scores. Keywords: Preschool Teachers, School Principal, Leadership Styles, Innovation Management