Comparison of School Administrators and Teachers' Understandings of Moral and Their Decision-Making Strategies

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine whether there is a relationship between the moral understanding adopted by school administrators and teachers and the decision-making strategies they use when they have to make a decision on any issue, and if there is a relationship, to determine the level of this relationship. In order to achieve the purpose of the research, data collection was carried out in the 2022-2023 academic year through a group of participants selected by purposeful sampling method among school administrators and teachers working in Sivas province. Exploratory sequential mixed method was used in the research. Qualitative data was obtained using a personal information form and open-ended survey questions, and quantitative data was obtained using the "School Administrators' and Teachers' Moral Understandings of Understanding Scale" and "Decision Strategies Scale". When the qualitative findings of the research are examined; Regarding what the concept of "morality" means, it is seen that the concepts of "justice", "honesty" and "equality" come to the fore. In terms of decision-making situations, it is seen that school administrators and teachers mostly express the concepts of "justice" and "fairness". When the quantitative findings were examined, it was concluded that school administrators and teachers' understanding of morality and some of its sub-dimensions and decision-making strategies and some of its sub-dimensions showed significant differences in terms of some of the variables of age, gender and union membership status.