Opinions of retired education managers on the Turkish educational system policies and practices: A survey on subjective life (Phenemonology)

The aim of this study is to reveal the views and suggestions of retired education administrators regarding the Turkish education system, policies and practices. In the research, a subjective experience research (phenomenology) design, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The participants of the study consisted of 20 education administrators selected by snowball sampling method among retired education administrators who worked as administrators in educational institutions affiliated to the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Turkey. The interview technique in which open-ended questions specified in the semi-structured interview form were asked to the participants was applied. Before the interview, permission was obtained from the participants, and written documents and audio recordings were taken during the interview. The interviews were completed in approximately one hour to two and a half hours. The data obtained were analyzed and interpreted by descriptive and thematic analysis method, by showing the findings with tables created to answer each sub-problem. In this study, the views of retired education administrators who have no systemic expectations and concerns were evaluated. The findings are consistent with similar studies conducted in previous periods. The fact that no study has been conducted so far in the field of evaluating the views of retired education administrators on the education system, policies and practices of our country increases the importance of this research even more. This research is important in that it is a first in terms of method and study group. It can be thought that the important inferences to be obtained from this study will contribute to the development and implementation of education policies in accordance with our country's national values, contemporary and universal education understanding. Keywords: Education, Education System, Education Policy, Retired Education Manager.