School administrators and teachers' views on the reflections of unionization on school climate

People take part in various organizations whether they are in their student years or in their working life. Schools and educational institutions are one of these organizations. The success of education in schools may vary depending on whether the school is in a healthy structure or not. The existence of a healthy school climate is an indispensable parameter in creating a healthy school environment because in schools where there is a successful school climate, education and training activities proceed in a more motivated way and knowledge transfer is easier. Organizational climate is an indispensable element in the success of educational organizations and their sustainability. Unions and union rights are also an indispensable element of democratic societies. Diversity in unions is directly related to the concept of giving place to different views in democracy. Unions are one of the important social organizations where employee rights and the concept of democracy related to these rights come to life. Education workers are also able to convey their requests or criticisms to wider masses with these unions of which they are members, and they can take stronger decisions about education with the work of these unions. The diversity in education unions in schools affects many concepts such as teacher rights, student rights, the importance of education, the decisions taken about education and the school climate. The aim of this research is to examine the reflections of unionization on the school climate according to the opinions of administrators and teachers. In this study, which was conducted with the qualitative research method, a single case design was used. For this reason, this research was conducted in an official high school, which is one of the largest schools in Ankara. The data were obtained from 6 administrators and 14 teachers working in this official high school in Ankara. The study group in the research was determined by the maximum diversity method and a semi-structured interview form was used to collect the data. As a result of the research, it has been revealed that the views of teachers and administrators on the reflections of unionization in high schools on the school climate are effective, ineffective and neutral, and their perceptions are largely not very effective. Under the effective views, the defense of the personal rights of the education workers by the unions took place under the highly supported views. In addition, it is among the results that unionization increases solidarity and cooperation at school. Most of the findings in the ineffective results indicated that unionization creates a political structure in schools, and accordingly creates personal and political disagreements at school. As a result, it has been revealed that the reflections of unionization in high schools on the school climate vary.