İLKOKUL VE ORTAOKUL ÖĞRETMENLERİNİN ÖĞRETMENLER ODASINA YÖNELİK GÖRÜŞLERİ

Introduction Teachers' room can be defined as a place where the teachers perform studies about lesson-preparation, make meetings, rest, contact each other and chat together. At the same time, the teachers' room is one of the most used place except for the class. According to TS9518 – TS12860 standarts, teachers' room is a place which is necessary for the education and teaching environments (Türe ve Karaküçük, 2011). Teachers' room is defined as a place where the teachers firstly work about education, then contact each other, make cooperation, rest mentally and physically. (Yeşil ve Korkmaz, 2012). Most of the teachers meeting in the teachers' room at break times and interacting each other are observed. (Negiş-Işık ve Gürsel, 2013). Even though the teachers' room is defined as one of the important places at school (Yeşil ve Korkmaz, 2012), the studies directly about the teachers' room are very few (Yeşil ve Korkmaz, 2012; Töremen, 2004; Tatlıdil, 2003; Dinç ve Onat, 2002). When these studies were analyzed, it was observed that the matters mentioned in the teachers' room and the agenda are about the social capital of the schools and the architectural design of teachers’ room. In addition, there are some studies about the shortcomings of the teachers' room as well (Bağışlar, 2006; Bulut ve Karakaya, 2013; Taşdan, Tösten, Bulut ve Karakaya, 2013). Based on all of these, making a study about the teachers' room provides benefits for the schools and the studies which will be done. So, the general aim of this study is to determine the primary and secondary teachers' thoughts about the teachers' room. In this context, with this study, an answer was researched for this question: '' What are the thoughts of the primary and secondary teachers about the teachers' room?'' Method This study was done with phenomenological design which was one of the qualitative research designs. The participants of the study were determined with the maximum variation sampling model which was one of the purposeful sampling modalities. The participants of the study were twenty teachers who worked in primary and secondary schools in 2012. The participants of the study worked in different cities. Their majors were primary school, English, science, physical education, primary mathematics, social studies, psychological counseling and guidance, religious culture and moral studies. The data of the study was collected with semi-structured interview technique. While collecting the data interview form, which was prepared by the researchers, was used in this study. The data collected was analysed with the content analysis approach. So as to see the validity of the study data was represented and reported in detail and detailed information was given to reach the obtained solution. For the reliability of the study, after two researchers made coding separately, researchers came together, compared analyses and made agreement.Findings and Conclusion The data of the study were collected with nine subjects as the goal of using the teachers' room; the frequency of using the teachers' room; the reason for not using the teachers' room; the expectation of having social relationships in the teachers’ room; the expectation of physical equipment from the teachers' room; the topics which were talked about in the teachers' room; the effects of the speeches which were done in the teachers' room; the topics which were preferred to mention in the teachers' room; the necessities in the teachers' room and suggestions. In accordance with the findings of the study, teachers' goals of using the teachers' room were vital needs, communication and studies about education and teaching. When the thoughts about the goals of using the teachers' room were analyzed, it was found that the teachers use the teachers' room for mostly vital needs. When we look at the frequency of the teachers' using the teachers' room, the half of the teachers use the teachers' room for every break time and the another half of the teachers use the teachers' room once-twice a day and third-forth times a day. The reasons for not using the teachers' room are the studies about the school and the students, the indifference against the social place and problems about the physical status of the setting. The teachers' expectations about the teachers' room were having respectful and sincere conversation, sharing and professional communication. As for the teachers' expectations of the physical equipment; a comfort place, technological equipments, equipments for the professional needs and for a successful sitting plan for communication were determined. Among the subjects, which are talked about in the teachers' room, there were educational subjects, actual subjects, personal subjects and the professional problems. The dialogues, which were made in the teachers' room, effected some teachers positively in terms of sharing the information and experiences and also socialization; effected some others negatively in terms of tension while not effecting the others in any way. Within the subjects, which could be talked about, there were school and the students, personal needs and interests and the education and teaching. The needs and suggestions for the teachers' room were put forward as comfort and tidiness, furniture, technological equipments, positioning, printed, visual and auditory publications and social interactions. Discussion and Suggestions According to the results of the study, which was done by Yeşil and Korkmaz (2012) about the agenda of the teachers' room, the teachers talk about the school environment, their academic development and the subjects about the education and teaching "quite often". At the same time, the teachers talk about the personal subjects, social, economical and political subject "occasionally". Additionally, among the subjects about the school, the subject of the teacher-tutor relations was the most frequently mentioned. Among the subjects about the education and teaching, the most mentioned subject was effect of the students' economical status on the education and teaching. According to the results of the study, which we conducted, the subjects talked by the teachers in the teachers' room were, in turn, the subjects about education and teaching, current and personal subjects and professional problems. And this is consistent with the results of the study mentioned. The results of the study which was carried out, by Töremen (2004), about the social capital, which the primary schools have, showed us that the teachers don't feel comfortable in the teachers' room, not totally share their knowledge, believe that the spoken subjects are transferred to the school administration at a certain degree, don't think that the teachers' room is boring and unlikeable and there isn't much friction or argument. According to the results of our study, some of the teachers was using the teachers' room rarely. Among the reasons of this situation, there is indifference against the social environment. It can be said that the result the teachers’ not feeling very good is also similar to the one in this study. At the same time, most of the teachers' using the teachers' room at every break time actively is found out. According to this study, the teachers' not find the teachers' room boring and unlikeable can be interpreted as the teachers use the teachers' room frequently. Based on all of these, the results of these two studies are consistent with each other. According to the results of the study, which was done by Tatlıdil (2003), about the subjects talked about in the teachers' room, the most frequent ones, there were the professional problems and the teachers always talked about the students' behavioral disorders. As a result of the study, the professional problems, which were among the subjects talked in the teachers' room, were rarely seen. So, this is not consistent with the result of the study. The reasons for this could be thought as studies’ being conducted in different schools; every school's having specific features and the communication’s being in different dimensions among teachers at school. According to a study, which was done by Dinç and Onat (2002), about the program and design of a primary school building, it was stated that the teachers' room should be in the central location and connected to the school administration and just one teachers' room is preferred. Besides, it was suggested that, the size of the teachers' room, in terms of having different study resting and opportunities, should be determined not just considering the needs, at the same time considering the conditions of the comfort. According to the study which we conducted, it was determined that the teachers suggested that the teachers' room should be far away from the students and quiet. However, according to this study, the teachers' room should be in the central location. The reason for this difference between these two studies can be the teachers' desire to use the teachers' room in order to rest. Because one of the basic functions of the teachers' room is about the education and teaching, the teachers' room's location's being near the students is thought to be necessary. In addition, according to our study, in terms of the teachers' expectations' about the comfort is being high, is consistent with the study. According to the results of the study, because there was a few studies about the teachers' room, more studies should be done about it. Moreover, because it was thought that reviewing the teachers' rooms in the schools and providing the needs of the teachers' room effect the process of the education and teaching positively, making studies to resolve the defectiveness, paying attention to the teachers' interests and requests are suggested. The importance of the communication in the teachers' room should be noticed by everyone in the school and the communication is suggested to be in a healthy and sincere environment. Finally, as it is thought that integrating the teachers with the whole school, via taking necessary precautions to remove the teachers’ difficulties about using the teachers’ room, will have positive effects, it is suggested to make the necessary arrangements.