A systematic review of educational leadership and management research in Turkey. Content analysis of topics, conceptual models, and methods
| Date | 04 November 2019 |
| Published date | 04 November 2019 |
| Pages | 731-747 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-01-2019-0004 |
| Author | Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş,Sedat Gümüş |
| Subject Matter | Education,Administration & policy in education,School administration/policy,Educational administration,Leadership in education |
A systematic review of
educational leadership and
management research in Turkey
Content analysis of topics, conceptual
models, and methods
Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş
Department of Educational Administration, College of Education,
Adıyaman University, Adıyaman, Turkey, and
Sedat Gümüş
Department of Educational Sociology, Danish School of Education,
Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Abstract
Purpose –While the current knowledge in the field of educational leadership and management(EDLM ) has been
primarily based on research produced in English-speaking Western societies, there have been significant efforts
by other societies to contribute to the knowledge production, especially during the past decade. The purpose of
this paper is to identify the contribution of Turkey to the international EDLM literature by investigating the
topical focus, conceptual frameworks and research designs of papers published by EDLM scholars from Turkey.
Design/methodology/approach –Descriptive content analysis method was employed to examine 315
empirical, review, conceptual and commentary papers published by Turkish scholars in core educational
administration and Web of Science journals. The time period of the review left open-ended. However, in
practical terms, it begins in the year 1994 when the first article from Turkey was published in any of the
selected sources and ends at the end of 2018. Information relevant to the research was extracted from each
article and was coded to facilitate quantitative analysis. Using Excel software, descriptive statistics including
frequencies and percentages were provided for each research question.
Findings –Results show that Turkish EDLM scholars mostly rely on survey based quantitative research
approach, employing advanced statistical techniques in the analysis of the data. However, mixed method and
qualitative studies are relatively less common. Organizational behavior, school leadership and emotions stand
out as most frequently used topics, while Turkish scholars are not interested in analyzing the educational
outcomes such as student achievement and school improvement. Consistent with the findings related to
topical foci, a large number of those who were interested in correlational studies examined the relationship
between leadership roles and organizational behaviors.
Research limitations/implications –The data set only included journal articles and excluded conference
proceedings, books and theses/dissertations. Nevertheless, the authors believe this review adds significantly to
previous reviews of local EDLM journals conductedb yTurkish scholars. The authors concluded that the Turkish
scholars should direct their future research to exploring and better understanding the practices of Turkish
principals in schools by: diversifying their research topics; incorporating more qualitative and mixed-method
designs; and taking into account specific features of the culture and educational system in Turkey.
Practical implications –Based on the current higher education context, reducingscholars’teaching load,
diversifying research funding opportunities, and modifying access to tenure tracks seem necessary
interventionsto support EDLM researchwith strong ties to practice and to the socioculturalcontext. In addition,
policy changes aiming professionalization of administrative positions and establishing some forms of formal
training for school principalship are needed. Suchchanges can help transfer the knowledge produced by the
Turkish EDLM researchers to the practice and providesolutions to problems related to schooladministration.
Originality/value –This paper will add to recent effort to identify how a developing nation outside Western
perspective approaches the field, and contributes to the global knowledge base.
Keywords Turkey, Educational administration, Educational leadership, Organizational behaviour,
Systematic review, Research design
Paper type Research paper Journal of Educational
Administration
Vol. 57 No. 6, 2019
pp. 731-747
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0957-8234
DOI 10.1108/JEA-01-2019-0004
Received 12 January 2019
Revised 6 April 2019
23 June 2019
Accepted 26 June 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-8234.htm
The authors would like to thank Prof. Philip Hallinger for his contribution to data identification process
and for his insightful feedback on the earlier version of the paper.
731
A systematic
review of
educational
leadership
Educational leadership and management (EDLM) emerged as an academic field at the end of the
nineteenth century, based primarily on the exchange of school administrators’practical
experiences. Production of knowledge within the field of EDLM accelerated with the emergence
of the theory movement in the 1950s and the field has since gradually strengthened as an applied
field of study (Eidel and Kitchel, 1968; Oplatka and Arar, 2016). Since the emergence of EDLM as
an independent discipline, studies conducted by English-speaking Western societies have
dominated the knowledge base. North America and the UK have played a crucial role in the
development of the field and the production of related knowledge. However, significant efforts by
researchers in non-Western societies have introduced a more international perspective, especially
since the turn of the millennium (Hallinger, 2019; Walker and Dimmock, 2002).
Several recent review studies have indicated that Turkey is one of the few non-Western
countries to have significantly contributed to the international EDLM literature (Gümüş
et al., 2018; Hallinger and Chen, 2015; Mertkan et al., 2017). Therefore, we believe that a
review of Turkish EDLM literature can offer vital insights into the strengths and
weaknesses of this research, which can help channel future efforts by EDLM scholars, both
from Turkey and other countries where EDLM is emerging as a field of research, in the right
direction. Furthermore, such a review serves an important purpose in highlighting to an
international audience the contribution of a non-Western society at a time when there is an
emphasis on developing an international EDLM knowledge base.
The present study employed tools of systematic research review (Cooper and Hedges,
2009) to identify and synthesize features of the Turkish EDLM literature. This review is
primarily interested in providing a descriptive profile of the educational administration
research in Turkey, rather than detailed synthesis of substantive research findings. The
authors therefore compiled a comprehensive database of 315 journal articles published
between 1994 and 2018. The review addressed the following research questions:
RQ1. Which research topics predominate in Turkish EDLM research?
RQ2. How are these topical foci organized in terms of conceptual models?
RQ3. What is the distribution of methods, statistical analyses, and data collection tools
used in the relevant research?
The Turkish EDLM context
Located at the crossroads of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, Turkey offers a unique and
rich cultural, social, and religious context. Despite this diversity, Turkey has adopted a
highly centralized and hierarchical education system (Çelik et al., 2017). Therefore, the
Ministry of National Education (MoNE) has borne the primary responsibility for the
assignment and development of school administrators. Over the years, MoNE’s policies in
this area have received considerable criticism concerning the lack of consistency over time
and the paucity of the requirements for those in administrative positions to complete
any formal training, certification or relevant degree (Korkmaz, 2005). In general, school
administration is not seen as a profession in Turkey, but is rather perceived as a temporary
assignment for teachers (Beycioğlu et al., 2018).
Framing school principalship as a temporary position that all teachers can perform without
any additional formal training has led to low demand for EDLM degree programs and therefore
limits the influence of universities on the professional development and training of principals.
This situation, however, has not prevented the development of EDLM as a research field in
Turkey. Several Turkish scholars, most of who had some degree of graduate-level education at
universities in North America, introduced the field of EDLM to Turkey in the 1950s and 1960s.
Therefore, the impact of the “theory movement”in the USA at that time reinforced the positivist
paradigm among Turkish EDLM scholars (Balcı, 2008; Şimşek, 1997). Since then, Turkish
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