The research of pre-school teachers' participation in the school management

The purpose of this study is examining the views and suggestions of the school directors and pre-school teachers about participation in the school management. Qualitative research method has been used in this study. The participants of the research are 25 school directors and 30 pre-school teachers working in public primary schools in Çekmeköy-İstanbul. The views of teachers and school directors participated in this research have been obtained with the help of semi-structured interview technique based on voluntariness..Pilot scheme has been carried out while developing the interview form. A draft interview form including 25 open –ended questions was applied to 10 teachers and a draft interview form including 12 open-ended questions was applied to 10 school directors. By examining the results of data obtained through pilot scheme, an interview form including 10 questions, suitable for the purpose of the research was prepared again and was applied to 55 participants. As a result of the examination, it was seen that the pre-school teachers working in primary schools are insufficient in participating in the school management. The existence of traditional management view in schools, failure in internalization of management consiousness are the factors that block the pre-school teachers' participation in the school management. The situations limiting the participation in school management are the limited rights given to pre-school teachers and absence of breaks in working hours. Due to the fact that the pre-school education is not free of charge, the pre-school department is seen as a source of income. The negative perception of school directors about pre-school education causes them to see pre-school education as a game and the pre-school teacher as a baby sitter. The department of pre-school teaching and the pre-school teachers are school's important components. As a result of research, it is needed to have a democratic, contemporary, trustworthy management view that is adopting the ethical principles, preserving the human rights and appreciating people and also a school management having good human relations. Furthermore, It has been concluded that the teachers graduated from pre-school education departments should participate in management staff in primary schools. According to the research findings, pre-school teachers must be encouraged to participate in school management and their authorisation field must be enlarged and changings that enlarge teachers' authorisation must be done in legislation. Moreover, teacher's career development must be supported and teachers should be encouraged about taking master degree. It can be useful to present opportunities to pre-school teachers about taking part in school management and provide them pre service and inservice trainings. Keywords: Participation, Pre-School Teacher, Making decisions, School Management, Principal