Contribution
Description: This study aims to compare school management practices in the US and Turkey in light of the two distinct administrative paradigms: Anglo-Saxon and Napoleonic Traditions. In the paper the historical evolution of Anglo-Saxon and Napoleonic administrative traditions and how these traditions influenced the education systems of the US and Turkey are discussed. The study also examines the reflection of these education systems to the school management practices in the two schools of both countries. The study was conducted both in the US and Turkey in order to analyse their systems of school administration in terms of administrative processes (motivation, leadership, decision-making, communication and organizational change) and the organizational structure. The following research questions guided the study:1. What are the general characteristics of administrative processes in the selected case schools in the United States and Turkey?2. What is the organizational structure of the selected case schools in the United States and Turkey?
Methodology: The comparative case study method was used to carry out the study. The study was conducted in one basic education school (grades 1-8) located in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey and in an elementary school (grades 1-5) located in Madison, the capital city of the state of Wisconsin in the US. As data collection instruments interview schedules, and observations were used. The sample of the study comprised 14 teachers and 4 administrators in the Turkish case and 10 teachers and one school principal in the American case. The researcher chose maximum variation sampling as a sampling strategy. This sampling strategy enabled the researcher to work with teachers having different demographic characteristics (i.e, working experience, their subject areas, gender). The researcher transcribed tape-recorded interviews verbatim without making any changes on them and used narrative methods in observing and recording what was seen in the school buildings. The reseracher used content-analysis technique to determine where the greatest emphasis lied on the data (Marshall & Rossman, 1999).
Conclusions: Findings of the study revealed that in the Turkish school, school management practices were not carried out effectively mainly due to the centralized system influenced by the Napoleonic administrative tradition, poor physical conditions of the school, lack of participatory and collaborative understanding of the staff members, and lack of communication among the staff. On the other hand the management practices in the American school were implemented more successfully owing mainly to the school's embedded decentralized structure influenced by the Anglo-Saxon administrative tradition, participatory understanding among the school staff, and effective communication strategies of the principal.
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