İLKÖĞRETİM OKULU YÖNETİCİLERİNİN VE ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN SENDİKALARA İLİŞKİN GÖRÜŞLERİNİN FARKLI DEĞİŞKENLERE GÖRE İNCELENMESİ: MALATYA İL MERKEZİ ÖRNEĞİ

In this study, which is in a descriptive research design, it is aimed to determine the perceptions of teachers and administrators working at primary schools about the educational unions according to various variables. The population of this study consists of primary school teachers and administrators working at Malatya downtown at 2007-2008 academic years. The sample of this study consists of 323 teachers and 43 administrators working at 24 primary schools that were selected randomly from the population. In comparisons, (unrelated) t test, variants analysis, Krusskall-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U test have been utilized for independent samples. The results of this study showed that there were meaningful differences between the views of trade union member and nonunion at all items. While there were meaningful differences between the views of teachers according to the variables of gender, branc, seniority, and education level, there were not meaningful differences between the views of teachers only according to the variable of type of task.Democracy requires participation, consensus, equalitarianism and pluralism (Özdemir, 1987). Trade unionism is a complementary element of democracy and also an integral part of democracy. Free and independent trade unions are supportive parts of democracy (Tortop, 2005: 142). In our country, teachers have a special place among civil servants. With teachers’ large share in the total number of civil servants, teacher unions’ will possibly be more and more important. Although teacher unions suffer from the lack of experience in this country, they are expected to make serious contributions to education life. For this reason, it is important to put forward teachers’ views on trade unionism. The purpose of this paper is to determine the perceptions of teachers and administrators working at primary schools about the educational unions according to various variables. In this study, a survey based descriptive design was used. After the related literature was examined, the theoretical framework was constructed and the questionnaire was drafted. The instrument used for data collection in this study was originally developed by the researcher. Before this draft was administered, the opinions of specialists, administrators and teachers were taken about the content and the language of this questionnaire and the necessary improvements were made. According to the results, Cronbach Alpha Coefficient was 0,8564 for the overall questionnaire. This study was carried out in Malatya city centre (total 3508 administrators and teachers who work at 163 primary schools) in 2007-2008 academic year. Using stratified sampling method, 43 administrators and 323 teachers working at 24 schools were selected randomly. A total of 366 questionnaires were validated and evaluated. The questionnaire that has 24 items was administered to these administrators and teachers. Data were analyzed by SPSS program. In comparisons, T-test and Mann-Whitney U test (for the variables of gender, branch, type of task and being a member of the union), One Way ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests (for seniority and education level) were utilized to analyze the data. The results of this study showed that there were meaningful differences between the views of the trade union members and the ones that have no membership. While there were meaningful differences between the views of participants according to the variables of gender, branch, seniority and education level, there were not meaningful differences between the views of participants only according to the variable of type of task. According to the T-Test results (which has been made between males: N=238 and females: N=128), there were meaningful differences between the views of the men and women trade union members at the first item. At the first item, the ideas of women were more negative than the ideas of men. According to the T-Test results (which has been made between class teachers: N=219 and branch teachers: N=147), there were meaningful differences between the views of participants. At the items of 5 and 21, branch teachers have more positive opinions than class teachers. According to the One-Way ANOVA results (which has been made between the education levels of associate degree: N=77, undergraduate: N=274 and graduate: N=15), there were meaningful differences among groups at the item of 22. Scheffe test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the groups of associate degree and undergraduate at the item of 22. According to the results of Kruskall Wallis test, there were meaningful differences among education level groups at the items of 2 and 5. Kruskall Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the groups of associate degree and undergraduate at the items of 2 and 5. Kruskall Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the groups of associate degree and graduate at the item of 5. Participants were divided into three tenure groups: (1) 1-10 year, N= 119; (2) 11-20 year, N=153; (3) 21 year and above, N: 94. According to the One-Way ANOVA results, there were meaningful differences among tenure groups at the item of 5. At this item, less tenured participants had more positive opinions about educational unions. Scheffe test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the tenure groups of 1-10 year and 20 year and above at the item of 22. According to the results of Kruskall Wallis test, there were meaningful differences among tenure groups at the items of 6 and 22. Kruskall Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the tenure groups of 1-10 year and 20 year and above at the items of 6 and 22. Kruskall Wallis test showed that there was a significant difference between the opinions of participants in the tenure groups of 11-20 year and 20 year and above at the item of 6. T test and Mann Whitney U test showed that there were meaningful differences between the views of the trade union members and the ones that have no membership at all items except for the item of 23. The results of this study showed that most of the educational staff viewed trade unionism in this country as insufficient. Both the members of the unions and the ones that have no membership shared this view. There were meaningful differences between the views of the trade union members and the ones that have no membership, as it was found similarly at Gemici’s (2008) research. As Yıldırım’s (2007) and Aldatmaz’s (2002) researches revealed, the results of this study showed that they want a legislative regulations that facilitate striking and collective bargaining. The results of this study also showed that women do not give much importance to unionization as it was found similarly by Boyacı (1994), Çınar (2008) and Aldatmaz (2002). Results imply that trade unions are not independent in their relationships with political entities.