Investigation of the relationship between the levels of professional professionality and political skills of school managers

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the professional professionalism levels and political skills of school principals working in public schools based on gender (female, male), School Stage (Primary School-Middle School-High School), Graduation (Bachelor-Master's Degree), Branch (Social Sciences-Science Sciences). ) To examine the Total Service Time in Teaching and Management according to demographic variables. In the research, the relational screening model was used. 286 male and 73 female school principals working in public schools within the borders of Adana Metropolitan Municipality (Çukurova, Seyhan, Yüreğir and Sarıçam) participated in the research. Personal information form was used to determine the demographic characteristics of the managers participating in the research, "Vocational Professionalism Scale" was used to determine their professionalism levels, and "Political Skills Scale" was used to determine their political skills. In the analysis of the research, since the data showed normal distribution according to the normality test results for the totals and sub-dimensions of the scales, independent samples t test was used in comparisons involving two groups, and analysis of variance test was used in comparisons involving three or more groups. Relationships between variables were examined with Pearson correlation analysis. As a result of the research findings, it was determined that there was no significant statistical difference between the professional professionalism level of school principals and their political skills, and that the scores received by school principals from the professional professionalism scale and political skills scale did not show a significant difference according to the variables of graduation, branch, school type, and total service time, but the professional professionalism scale did not show a significant difference. The mean scores of the sub-dimensions of participation in decision-making, professional ethics, and professional autonomy showed statistically significant differences according to the total service period, and the scores obtained from the sub-dimensions of the professional professionalism scale, professional development, and the level of sincerity in the political skill scale sub-dimension, showed a statistically significant difference according to the length of service in management. It was concluded that they differed as follows.