The 21st century skills of the school administrators and the expectations of teachers

In this study, the 21st century skills of school administrators working in schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in Niğde province were investigated. The study was carried out using explanatory sequential design within the framework of mixed research method. In the first stage of the research, the level of showing the 21st century skills of school administrators was determined according to the perceptions of the teachers by using the quantitative method and descriptive scanning model. In addition, the findings obtained; The differentiation status according to gender, age, education level, professional seniority and branch variable was examined. In the qualitative part of the study, using the phenomenology design, teachers' perceptions of the concept of skill, teachers' expectations from school administrators within the scope of 21st century skills, the effects of school administrators' level of showing 21st century skills and their views on how these skills can be increased were tried to be revealed. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was seen that teachers' perceptions of the concept of skill were at a high level and that school administrators believed that 21st century skills should be changed in this century. In addition, although teachers generally perceive school administrators' 21st century skills (learning and innovation skills, life and professional skills, and literacy skills) at "moderate" level, they perceive only literacy skills as "less" among the sub-dimensions of these skills. It has been observed that the gender variable has no effect on the teachers' attitudes in terms of any skills, but the age, professional experience, education level and branch variable cause differentiation in terms of some skills. It has been observed that especially young and less senior teachers perceive the level of 21st century skills of school administrators at a lower level. It has been revealed that the results obtained from the first stage of the research and the results obtained in the second stage of the research are partially consistent. In the interviews, teachers stated that technology literacy, effective communication, flexibility and adaptability skills are the skills they most expect from school administrators, among the 21st century skills they perceive at the lowest level. Apart from the skills mentioned within the scope of 21st century skills, teachers expect the skills of leadership and collaboration, problem solving, being entrepreneurial, being creative and productive, being innovative, giving importance to collective mind, analytical and critical thinking, being able to motivate, being creative, guiding, acting strategically, having vision and mission, and information literacy from the school administrators. According to the teachers, showing the 21st century skills of school administrators will have some contributions in terms of students, teachers and the education system. It has been concluded that these contributions will be seen on learning, motivation, physical ability and self-confidence for students. In terms of teachers, school administrators' showing their 21st century skills will contribute to motivation, productivity, positive school climate, active education and physical opportunity. In terms of the education system, it will contribute to quality education, academic success, reaching world standards, and democratic and cooperative education. Teachers made some suggestions for the emergence of these contributions and for increasing the 21st century skills of school administrators. Among these, the most frequently mentioned suggestion was in-service trainings, which were built on successful examples, where experiences could be shared, which included practical programs and which were supported by structured group studies.