Ejesv1n3 10 11 2009

European Journal

of

Educational Studies

Volume 1, Issue 3 October 2009 Examination Malpractice In Secondary Schools In Nigeria: What Sustains It? Jimoh, Basil Olatunbosun Virtual Teams For New Product Development – An Innovative Experience For R&D Engineers Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Zahari Taha A Psychological Postulation For The Understanding Of Classroom Emotional Abuse Okoza Jolly, Oyaziwo Aluede And A.I Ojugo Impact Of A Planned Museum Tour Designed Via The Employment Of The Museum Education Pack On The Primary School Students Ayşe Güler and Serap Buyurgan A Study On Professional Ethic Perceptions Of Teachers And School Principals A., Esra, ASLAN, Nurhayat ÇELEBİ, Bülent AKDAĞ, Müge YÜKSEL , A.Nilgün CANEL, Seval İMAMOĞLU,Selma DÜNDAR

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Volume 1, Issue 3, Octoberber 2009 ISSN 19446-6331

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Managing Editor Ali Ozel, Dumlupinar University Publication Coordinator Taskin Inan, Dumlupinar University

Editorial Board

Gerald S. Greenberg, Ohio State University, USA

Mihai Maxim, Bucharest University, Romania

Hakki Yazici, Afyon Kocatepe University, Turkey

Ibrahim Atalay, Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey

Hayati Akyol, Gazi University, Turkey

Ibrahim S. Rahim, National Research Center, Egypt

Hayati Doganay, Ataturk University, Turkey

Janet Rivera, NOVA University, USA

Laurie Katz, Ohio State University, USA Ramazan Ozey, Marmara University, Turkey Lisandra Pedraza, University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico Lutfi Ozav, Usak University, Turkey James F. Petersen Texas State University San Marcos, TX USA

Samara Madrid, Northern Illinois University, USA Samia Abdel Aziz-Ahmed Sayed, National Research Center, Egypt Thomas M. Kontuly The University of Utah

Web: http://www.ozelacademy.com E-mail: editorejes@gmail.com Copyright Š 2008 Ozean Publication, 2141 Baneberry Ct. 43235, Columbus, Ohio, USA

USA

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Volume 1, Issue 3, October 2009 ISSN 19446-6331

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Examination Malpractice In Secondary Schools In Nigeria: What Sustains It? Jimoh, Basil Olatunbosun Virtual Teams For New Product Development – An Innovative Experience For R&D Engineers Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Zahari Taha A Psychological Postulation For The Understanding Of Classroom Emotional Abuse Okoza Jolly, Oyaziwo Aluede And A.I Ojugo Impact Of A Planned Museum Tour Designed Via The Employment Of The Museum Education Pack On The Primary School Students Ayşe Güler and Serap Buyurgan A Study On Professional Ethic Perceptions Of Teachers And School Principals A., Esra, ASLAN, Nurhayat ÇELEBİ, Bülent AKDAĞ, Müge YÜKSEL , A.Nilgün CANEL, Seval İMAMOĞLU,Selma DÜNDAR

Web: http://www.ozelacademy.com E-mail: editorejes@gmail.com Copyright © 2008 Ozean Publication, 2141 Baneberry Ct. 43235, Columbus, Ohio, USA

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European Journal of Educational Studies 1(3), 2009 Europen Journal of Educational Studies 1(3), 2009 © 2009 Ozean Publication

EXAMINATION MALPRACTICE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA: WHAT SUSTAINS IT? Jimoh, Basil Olatunbosun E-mail address for correspondence : jimohbasil_2009@rocketmail.com Dept Of Educational Foundations And Management Faculty Of Education Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

________________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract : In Nigeria, the last two decades have witnessed an alarming rate of increase in incidents of examination misconduct especially at secondary school level. Evidences abound of increasing incidents of examination malpractice by students, teachers and parents. Examination malpractice has become so widespread that there is virtually no examination anywhere at all levels and even outside the formal school system that there is no one form of sharp practice or the other. Every examination season witnesses the emergence of new and ingenious ways of cheating. This paper addresses the problem of examination malpractice in secondary schools in Nigeria, what sustains it, the consequences of examination malpractice and the ways through which examination malpractice could be curbed in order to give credibility to the examination process in the country.

Keywords: Examination malpractice; sustain; anomie _____________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION The value and functionality of any educational system lie in its ability to actualize the goals of education. In educational systems, world over, the examination process makes the difference. The goals of national educational systems and indeed national development become like mirage if examination ethics is not encouraged and instituted (Nwadiani, 2005). Till date, examinations still remain the best tool for an objective assessment and evaluation of what learners have achieved after a period of schooling. Hence, any action that undermines examinations poses a great threat to the validity and reliability of examination results and certification.

Unfortunately, the process of examination in Nigeria secondary schools has become a “contemporary shame” (Nwadiani, 2005). This is because of the phenomenon of examination malpractice that has become endemic in the educational system. The Examination Malpractice Act (1999) explains examination malpractice as any act of omission or commission by a person who in anticipation of, before, during or after any examination fraudulently secure any unfair advantage for himself or any other person in such a manner that contravenes the rules and regulations to the extent of undermining the validity, reliability, authenticity of the examination and ultimately the integrity of the certificates issued. Oluyeba and Daramola (cited in Alutu & Aluede, 2006) remarked that examination malpractice is any irregular behaviour exhibited by a candidate or anybody charged with the conduct of examination before, during or after the examination that contravenes the rules and regulations governing the conduct of such examination.

In Nigeria, the last two decades have witnessed an alarming rate of increase in incidents of examination misconduct.

Evidences abound of increasing involvement in examination malpractice by students, teachers and parents (Vanguard, 2005; Weekend Pointer, 2005; Daily Independent, 2004). The incidence of examination malpractice has become so widespread that there is virtually no examination anywhere at all levels and outside the formal school system that there is no one form of sharp practice or the other. The incidences of examination malpractice are common everywhere and every examination season witnesses the emergence of new and ingenious ways of cheating.

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Though examination malpractice is neither a recent phenomenon nor is it peculiar to Nigeria or Africa (Awanbor, 2005), the alarming rate of increase is a global issue. The alarming rate of increase in examination malpractice in secondary schools in Nigeria calls for concern from all stakeholders in the education sector. It has been widely reported that parents and teachers aid and abet examination malpractice directly or indirectly. (Vanguard, 2005; Weekend Pointer, 2005; Daily Independent, 2004 Nigerian Tribune, 2009). Parents go to the extent of bribing their way through to ensure that their wards get unearned grades while teachers encourage examination malpractice because they lack the zeal to work but want to be praised for job not done (Alutu & Aluede, 2006). According to Omoluabi and Uzoka (cited in Alutu & Aluede, 2006), the value system in Nigeria has broken down completely and so adults and youths alike act without moral scruples. This is the reason why examination malpractice still thrives despite its grave consequences on the social political and economic structures of the nation.

Examination Malpractice Act No. 33 of 1999 stipulates a minimum punishment of fifty thousand naira (#50,000.00) and a maximum of five years imprisonment, without option of fine, for violators of the offences stipulated in the Act. The offences are: cheating at examinations, stealing of question papers, impersonation, disturbances at examination, obstruction of supervision, forgery of result slip, breach of duty, conspiracy and aiding, etc. Government, examination bodies, and other concerned citizens have made a lot of efforts to forestall the incidences of examination malpractice and the problems associated with the conduct of examinations in Nigeria. Although the efforts seem to be yielding some results, yet incidences of examination malpractice still feature prominently in the school system. In 2006, the Federal Ministry of Education blacklisted and derecognized 324 secondary schools across the nation as centres for conducting public examinations from 2007 to 2010. The distribution of the schools that were found guilty of examination malpractice is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Examination Malpractice in Nigerian Secondary Schools Zone

No of schools involved

%

North-Central

54

16.6

North-East

08

2.5

North-West

12

3.6

South-East

48

14.8

South-South

116

36.0

South-West

86

26.5

Total

324

100.0

Source: Week End Times, 17th & 18th February, 2007, p. 4 Table 1 shows the prevalence of examination malpractice in secondary schools in Nigeria. It occurs in all geo-political zones in the country. The South-South zone has 116 schools, followed by South-West zone with 86 schools. The NorthEast zone has 8 schools which is the least in the six zones.

The phenomenon of examination malpractice seems to be aggravated by the large scale and shameful involvement of dishonest and greedy teachers, school heads, parents and all those who take part in examination administration (Ijaiya, 1998). The prominence assumed by this malady in the school system has become a source of concern to stakeholders in the education industry. Every examination season witnesses new and ingenious methods of cheating. The examination process has become endangered to the extent that certification has almost lost its credibility in the country. Certificates no longer seem to reflect skill and competence. Accusing fingers have been pointed at teachers, school heads, parents, students, examination officials and even security agents as those responsible for examination malpractice in the school system. It is against this background that this paper discusses the conditions that sustain examination malpractice in Nigeria and the ways though which this problem can be resolved.

Conditions that Sustain Examination Malpractice in Nigeria The phenomenon of examination malpractice is influenced by many factors. According to Ivowi (1997), lack of confidence as a result of inadequate preparation, peer influence, societal influence, parental support and poor facilities in schools are some of the factors responsible for examination malpractices. Writing in the same vein, Badmus (2006), Awanbor (2005), Nwandiani (2005), Okafor (2006), Ayua (2006), Azare (2006) and Aminu (2006) identified school programmes, teaching learning environment, the teacher, the student, over value of certificates, decadence in the

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Nigerian society and parental support as some factors responsible for examination malpractice in the Nigerian educational system. As to what sustains examination malpractice in the country, the writer holds the opinion that societal apathy, which is summed up in the term “anomie” is what sustains examination malpractice in Nigeria.

Anomie and Examination Malpractice Anomie is conceived as a breakdown in the cultural structure due to disjunction between the cultural norms and goals and the socially structured capacities of members of the group to act in accord with them (Merton, 1968). In this conception, cultural values may help to produce behaviour that is at odds with the mandates of the values themselves.

Anomie gives birth to aberrant behaviour and non-conformity, which is a symptom of dissociation between culturally prescribed goals and socially prescribed means for realizing these goals. A society that places exceptionally strong emphasis on goal achievement without a corresponding emphasis on institutionalized means of achieving these goals is bound to exert pressures on some members of the society that may eventually resort to the use of any technically expedient means in achieving these goals irrespective of whether the means employed is legitimate or not. The process whereby exaltation of the end generates a de-institutionalization of the means to the end occurs in many societies where the two components of the social structure are not highly integrated.

Contemporary Nigerian society places great emphasis on success goals without equivalent emphasis on institutional means of attaining these goals. The society is characterized by a heavy emphasis on success and wealth without a corresponding emphasis on legitimate means and avenues to be used in achieving success. Everything in Nigeria these days is driven by the desire for success irrespective of the means used in achieving success. The country has become a commercial venture and no longer a place for selfless service. Everyone is out to make quick money and patriotism is endangered. There is a disjunction between the culturally acclaimed goals and the institutional procedures for achieving these goals. The attenuation of this over time is the anomie that now characterizes the Nigerian society. The society, as it is constituted today, is founded on faulty/fragile education, political, economic, physical and social environment that cannot produce a better tomorrow (Ojeikere, 2004). The country is bedeviled with social and economic ills such as cultism, moral decadence, embezzlement, social injustice, corruption, and so on. It has become a society where the custom is to decorate miscreants, knaves, scam artists and violators of national trust with national honours and appoint them to exalted public offices (Ndibe, cited in Ojeikere, 2004).

The social vices bedeviling the society have permeated the entire segments of the education sector. The manifestations are moral decadence, loss of family values, cultism and examination malpractice that has become endemic the education system of the country. The societal emphasis on success-goals, irrespective of the means employed in achieving these goals, has pressurized some participants in the education industry to strain toward anomie. Such participants have resorted to the use of illegitimate procedures in achieving success in examinations. The disjunction between culturally acclaimed goals and the institutionalized means of achieving these goals coupled with the cultural context of great emphasis on success-goals without equivalent emphasis upon institutional means of attaining these goals have created an environment that predisposes some students, teachers, parents and others to examination malpractice. Students are involved because they want to achieve success; parents are involved because they want good grades for their wards; teachers and others are involved because of the financial, material and other intangible gains derivable from involvement in examination malpractice.

Examination malpractice, a variety of corruption is sustained by whatever sustains corruption in the country. Capitalism has eroded the moral values of the Nigerian society. Social, economic, political, religious and educational vices are celebrated and rewarded in the country while virtue is punished. How can students, teachers and others shun examination malpractice when they “see criminals being set free through legalisms and court room gymnastics or worse, through wretched and criminal influence peddling?” (Aminu, 2006).

Closely related to the moral decadence in the society is the greed for money. The monetary rewards accruing to participants of examination malpractice is enormous and unimaginable. If the police can openly accept bribe on the highways, why would those involved in the conduct of examinations not accept monetary incentives to subvert the conduct of examinations? Parents and guardians are ready to give encouragement and pay costs because they desperately want their children and wards to acquire certificates.

Furthermore, there is the issue of over-value of certificates. The problem of over value of certificates could be traced to the colonial past when the colonial masters issued certificates as testimonials to the natives who had undergone some

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form of instruction in administration. Such administrative certificates instantly catapulted the holders from life ordinary and transformed them into local economic and social superiors. Certificates or similar credentials became instant means of considerable social and economic leverage and opportunities for future political power. Ever since, the value system had placed emphasis on certificates because of their assumed transformational power. This inherited notion has dominated and suffused the Nigerian school system so much so that the product of the system preferred to flaunt certificates and credentials rather than knowledge, skill and competence. Consequently, students engage in short-cut means of acquiring these certificates during examinations. In the same vein, parental indiscipline and abuse of wealth sustain the phenomenon of examination malpractice. Many parents believe that with their wealth they can catapult their children to any heights in the society even if it involves buying question papers and bribing teachers and invigilators to ensure that their children pass examinations.

The introduction of the Global System of Mobile Telephones (GSM) in the country has revolutionized examination malpractice in the school system. The emergence of technological devices has spawned new and more sophisticated approaches to dishonest conduct during examinations. A lot of academic information is stored in handsets for direct use in examination halls or for onward transfer via SMS to other students any where in the country Students with personal digital assistants or cell phones can beam or call data silently from across a classroom, or with a cell phone from anywhere off the school environment. The society does not have control over its communication system.

Dangers and Consequences of Examination Malpractice Examination malpractice is a social evil that can damage society to the extent of possibly leading to a failed state. It has very serious economic, political and social consequences. In the last ten years alone, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) had to cancel the results of 814, 699 candidates in its May/June Examinations (Aminu, 2006).

Considering the cost of buying examination forms alone, this amount to a waste of about 2.5 billion naira. Apart from direct wastage of money, there is also wastage in the form of opportunity costs to the nation and society.

Examination malpractices render the goals of education invalid. The actualization of the goals of education will continue to be a mirage if the scourge of examination malpractice is not eradicated from the system. The country will end up producing graduates who lack the knowledge, skill and competence to exploit the resources of the nation.

Besides, the graduates will lack the right type of values and attitude needed for survival in a globalized economy.

Malpractice leads to irreversible loss of credibility. A country that becomes noted for examination malpractice losses international credibility. The implication is that documents emanating from such country will be treated with suspicion.

Consequently, certificates awarded by such country’s educational institutions are disbelieved. Such country’s educational institutions are as good as dead as far as international cooperation in education is concerned.

The fight against corruption cannot succeed if examination malpractice continues to be endemic in the educational system. As leaders of tomorrow who have gone through a school system characterized by academic fraud and dishonesty, the youths of the country will sow and nurture this fraudulent behaviour in any organization they find themselves. They will be destined to a life of crime, fraud and corrupt practices. The consequences of examination malpractice are grave as elaborated above. What is the way out of this educational quagmire?

The Way Forward Examination malpractice, which started in Nigeria as a minor misdemeanour has not only assumed a frightening dimension, it seems to have become a permanent feature of Nigeria education system. Efforts by governments, examining bodies, institutions, individuals and concerned groups towards eradicating it have not yielded meaningful results. Rather, the situation has become worse in recent times. The new trend involves an organized system of the supervisors, invigilators, teachers, and in some cases heads of schools. There is therefore the need for a team effort to stem this social malaise that has become inimical to educational development in the country. Since previous approaches aimed at curbing this hydra-headed problem seem to have yield no dividends, the writer advocates the following strategies for curbing the problem:

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Sincere Implementation of Legislation by Government and Other Agencies In the past and even recently, decrees, laws, edits (Decree No. 27 of 1973, Special Tribunal (Miscellaneous Offences) Act Cap 410, Examination Malpractice Act No. 33 of 1999) have been promulgated and enacted with sanctions and penalties spelt out for offenders and participants in examination malpractice. But these penalties have not been effectively enforced by the authorities and bodies initiating them because of the Nigerian factor. In addition, these laws lack institutional framework for the implementation of their provisions (Orbih, 2006). Since earlier approaches have not curbed examination malpractices, the writer is of the view that a more pragmatic approach to the problem should be adopted. Experience in the fight against corruption in Nigeria has shown that only the creation of a special commission (such as ICPC and EFCC) can address adequately this crisis facing the education sector. To this end, an Examination Malpractice Commission should be created to address this social malaise. According to Orbhi (2006), such a body should be independent and empowered to have its team of investigators and prosecutors. In order to facilitate its quick dispensation of justice, a schedule of rules should be made to side tract the prevailing procedural rules that often lead to inordinate delays. In addition, such a body should be independent, devoid of government interference, and provision for it’s funding backed by law.

Empowerment of Teachers Teachers cannot provide experience and activities that guide students’ progress towards understanding of ideas if they themselves do not know what these ideas are; neither can they provide experiences that challenge students understanding if they themselves share the same misunderstanding. The implication of this is that greater emphasis should now be placed on teacher professional development within a whole school development or improvement strategy alongside a greater focus on curriculum, instruction and performance standard of pupils (Badmus, 2006). Such programmes should be funded by government agencies and mounted by suitable learning units/centres. Teachers continuing education programme must be linked to curriculum change and practices that can influence learners’ achievement. Teacher empowerment should not be limited to professional development alone; it should cover his reward system and job environment. A special welfare scheme should be introduced for teachers at all levels. In fact, teachers should have a robust salary structure. In addition to this, his job environment should be enlarged and enriched to make his job interesting and worthwhile. These put together will enhance the teacher’s image and commitment to his job.

Less Emphasis on Certificates and Paper Qualification Nigeria’s education system is largely certificate oriented. So much value and emphasis are placed on certificates instead of knowledge, skills and competence. According to Nwandiani (2005), the market place value and reward for the level and face value quality of certificates promote tendencies for and acts of cheating in the process of certification. Many school leavers and dropouts have certificates without knowledge and skills. Most of the social maladies like manufacture and sale of fake drugs by pharmacists, collapse of buildings, massive fraud in banks and miscarriage of justice are consequences of over emphasis and value on certificates. And if this trend is allowed to continue, the country will end up with doctors who cannot differentiate between vein and artery, lawyers who cannot differentiate between an accused person and the complainant and teachers who may not be able to spell the names of their schools correctly (Orbih, 2006). It is high time the nation took certificates no more as passports to jobs or higher education; more emphasis should be placed on the competence and skill acquisition. The implication of this is that assessment of students should no longer be based on one almighty examination; rather, it should be continuous, from the very first day at school to the very last day. Continuous Assessment should be properly implemented. In addition, there should be reorientation in the value system of the country.

Improved Funding of the Education Sector The education sector in Nigeria is grossly under funded. The inadequate funding of the public school system is the cause of other problems that have undermined quality in the sector. Nigeria’s funding efforts of education is low, and its budgetary priority for the education sector is even lower. In 2003, out of a national budget of 765.1 billion naira, only 13.9 billion was allocated to education, representing, 1.83% (Post Express, 2003) as against UNESCO’s 26%

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recommendation. Studies have shown that space facilities and equipment are in short supply at all levels of education (NAE, 2004; Omoifo et al, 2002 and Okobia, 2006). The Nigerian Academy of Education Report (2004) showed that teacher commitment was severely affected by their level of job satisfaction. Teachers were most dissatisfied by their workload, school facilities and services, professional development and reward system. In the same vein, graduates and other professionals from tertiary institutions reported poor study conditions in their institutions (Omoifo, et al cited in Badmus (2006)). One of the consequences of this is involvement in academic fraud to cover the deficiency of under funding. With space facilities in short supply, examination halls will always be over crowded. An improvement on the current funding efforts will provide conducive teaching and learning environment devoid of academic fraud and other sharp practices associated with the assessment process in the school system.

Campaigns and Seminars on the Dangers of Examination Malpractice To be able to curb examination malpractices, there should be continuous grassroots campaigns and seminars organized by all stakeholders in the education sector on the dangers associated with examination malpractices. This will help to sensitize and conscientize the people. These campaigns will help the people to internalize the true values of life, and over time shed the vices associated with their existence. As the attitudes of the people change, external misbehaviours will also be positively affected. The examination Ethics Project (a non-governmental organization) will make large scale and far reaching impact in this regard. In addition, these seminars and campaigns will help restore the lost cherished moral values of honesty, hardwork, dedication and uprightness that hitherto characterized the Nigerian society.

Special Welfare Package for Examination Officials In addition to the above measures, a special welfare package should be put in place for examination officials to discourage them from financial and material inducements from students, parents and others who may want to subvert examination process. These examination officials include teachers who invigilate examinations, supervisors who oversee the conduct of examinations in schools, officers of examination bodies who monitor the conduct of examinations and law enforcement agents who in charge of security in examination centres.

Conclusion Examination malpractice is a social problem that has wrecked unimaginable havoc to the entire fabric of Nigeria. It is a hydra headed problem that requires a multidimensional approach to its resolution. Any effort aimed at resolving this problem must be collaborative, that is, involving all stakeholders in the education sector, if not, such effort will end up being an exercise in futility.

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REFERENCES Alutu, A. N. G. and Aluede, O. (2006), “Secondary school students’ perception of examination malpractices and examination ethics”. Journal of human ecology, India: Kamlar-Raj Enterprises 20 (4).

Aminu, J. (2006). “Examination malpractice in Nigeria: roots, sustenance, endemicity, dangers and assailance”.

Keynote Address Delivered in a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16, 2006.

Awanbor, D. (2005). “Credentialing process in the Nigerian educational system”. Keynote Address Presented at the First Annual Conference of the Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, November 10-12, 2005.

Ayua, I. A. (2006) “Confronting legal issues in examination malpractice: the law, prosecution and judicial processes”.

Speech Delivered at a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16, 2006.

Azare, G. D. (2006) “Accountability in teaching\learning environment and examination malpractices”. A Paper Presented at a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16, 2006.

Badmus, G. A. (2006) “Acountability in teaching\learning environment and examination malpractices”. A Paper Presented at a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16, 2006.

Daily Independent (2004). Principal arrested for impersonation at exam hall, 28 September 2004.

Ejiogu, A. (2003) Decentralization as panacea for Nigeria’s education misadventure, A paper presented at the annual conference of Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning (NAEAP) at University of Ibadan, Ibadan, 29th-31st October.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) Examination malpractice act, Lagos: Government Press Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004). National policy on Education (Revised) Lagos: Federal Ministry of Education.

Ijaiya, N. Y. S. (1998). Eradicating examination malpractices: a macro-theoretical framework option. Nigerian Journal of Development Issues: Socio, Political Economic Development, 2 (2) pp. 72-85 Ivowi, U. M. O. (1997). Examination malpractices: profile, causes, warning signs, case studies, prevention and detection strategies in Onyechere, I. Promoting Examination Ethics: the challenges of a collective responsibility, Lagos: Potomac Books.

Merton, R. K. (1968) Social theory and social structure, New York: The Free Press Nigerian Academy of Education (NAE) (2004) Report of a study of educational problems in Nassarawa State of Nigeria. Lagos: NAE. Nigerian Tribune (2009) Students and exam malpractices, Lagos: Nigerian Tribune, 12th February.

Nwadiani, M. (2005) “Curbing examination malpractice in the Nigerian educational system. A lead paper presented at the First Annual Conference of the Faculty of Education, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, November 10-12.

Ojeikere, M. B. (2004) Examination activities in Nigeria: victims of social vices. Paper delivered at the WAEC Monthly Seminar, 10th September.

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A Paper Presented at a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16.

Okobia, E. (2006) An assessment of implementation of national junior secondary school social studies curriculum in Edo State.

Omoifo, C. N.; Badmus, G. A. & Awanbor, D. (2002) Education and achievement in the early career of the University of Benin graduates. Repot of a Tracer Study Sponsored by SIDA for Association of African Universities.

Oni, B. and Dabalen, A. (2003), Labour Market prospect for University graduates in Nigeria. Mimeograph report of World Bank / NISER. Weekend Pointer (2005) “Father writes GCE exam for son”, 6th August Vanguard (2005) “Rising exams malpractices” Vanguard Comment, 12th October.

Orbih, F. O. (2006) Confronting legal issues in examination malpractice: the law, prosecution and judicial process. A Paper Presented at a Two-Day Summit on Examination Malpractice in Nigeria Organized by the House of Representatives Committee on Education Held at the Shehu Musa Yar’ Adua Centre, Abuja, August 15-16.

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VIRTUAL TEAMS FOR NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT – AN INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCE FOR R&D ENGINEERS

*Nader Ale Ebrahim, Shamsuddin Ahmed and Zahari Taha Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya (UM) Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia * E-mail address for correspondence: aleebrahim@perdana.um.edu.my ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract : New interaction tools such as internet allows companies to gain valuable input from research and development (R&D) engineers via virtual teams. Consequently engineers also get more expertise in diminutive timeframes. Virtual R&D teams present the key impetus to the technology acquisition process. The present knowledge-economy era is characterized by short product life-cycles. Virtual R&D teams may reduce time-tomarket, make available a large pool of new product know-how and provide greater flexibilities which are the key success factors in a competitive market. This comprehensive review contains almost 100 references and covers the recent literature with emphasis on topic. The review has focused on authentic and reputed publications and extracts the results. This article presents the type of virtual teams and their main features and explains how virtual R&D team can play a prominent role in developing new products. The article is evolved future study guideline and also illustrates how to apply virtual interaction tools and integrate engineers into the innovation process. Management of virtual R&D teams in new product development (NPD) processes in an innovative, effective and efficient is of a high importance, but the issue has been poorly addressed in the previous studies. Findings show that virtual R&D team provides valuable input for new product development and R&D engineers are able to attain virtual experience.

Keywords: Virtual R&D Teams, New Product Development, Virtual Experience, R&D Engineers _____________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION Information technology is providing the infrastructure necessary to support the development of new organizational forms. Virtual teams represent one such organizational form, one that could revolutionize the workplace and provide organizations with unprecedented levels of flexibility and responsiveness (Powell, Piccoli, & Ives, 2004). Virtual teams afford many advantages to organizations, including increased knowledge sharing (Pauleen, 2003) and employee job satisfaction and commitment, as well as improved organizational performance (Furst, Reeves, Rosen, & Blackburn, 2004). Virtual teams are believed to be an important element in future R&D organization (Gassmann & Von Zedtwitz, 2003). Many research and development (R&D) organizations and teams currently use a specialized knowledge portal for research collaboration and knowledge management (Lee, Kim, & Koh, 2009).

New product development (NPD) teams are integral components of firms that develop, manufacture, and sell technological offerings. Complex NPD tasks are difficult to solve, involving different functional departments, experience of engineers, judgment and tradeoffs (Enge, 2004). Given the complexities involved in organizing faceto-face interactions between team members and, leveraging the advancements in electronic communication technologies, firms are employing virtual teams in product development activities. Considering the lack of industrial experiences for engineering students, universities look for a suitable situation in which the students can perform a design project not limited to paper calculation. Virtual NPD team can be a solution to compensate the lack of industrial experience of engineer students.

This paper with a comprehensive review of literature and related resources covering the topic presents type of virtual teams, examples of uses of virtual team, and their benefits, draw back and main features and explains how virtual

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R&D team can play a prominent role in developing new products. The article also illustrates NPD and its relationship with virtuality and elaborates different NPD process and finally team effective virtual team will also be discussed.

Definition of Virtual Team Gassmann and Von Zedtwitz (2003) defined “virtual team as a group of people and sub-teams who interact through interdependent tasks guided by common purpose and work across links strengthened by information, communication, and transport technologies�. Another definition suggests that virtual teams, are distributed work teams whose members are geographically dispersed and coordinate their work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies (e-mail, video-conferencing, telephone, etc.) (Hertel, Geister, & Konradt, 2005), different authors have identified diverse. Along with Bal and Teo (2001) it could be concluded that a team will become virtual if it meets four main common criteria and other characteristics that are summarized in Table 1. Geographically dispersed teams allow organizations to hire and retain the best people regardless of location. The temporary aspect of the team appears less emphasized (Lee-Kelley & Sankey, 2008) although (Bal & Teo, 2001; Paul, Seetharaman, Samarah, & Peter Mykytyn, 2005; Wong & Burton, 2000) included temporary in virtual team definition but some authors like Gassmann and Von Zedtwitz (2003) use may be temporary for some team members.

Table 1 Common criteria of virtual team Characteristics of virtual team Common criteria

Descriptions 1.

2.

3.

4.

Other characteristics

1.

2.

3.

4.

Geographically dispersed (over different time zones) Driven by common purpose( guided by a common purpose) Enabled by communication technologies Involved in crossboundary collaboration It is not a permanent team Small team size Team member are knowledge workers Team members may belong to different companies

References (Dafoulas & Macaulay, 2002; Lee-Kelley & Sankey, 2008; Nemiro, 2002; Peters & Manz, 2007; Shin, 2005; Wong & Burton, 2000) (Bal & Teo, 2001; Gassmann & Von Zedtwitz, 2003; Hertel et al., 2005; Rezgui, 2007; Shin, 2005) (Bal & Teo, 2001; Lee-Kelley & Sankey, 2008; Nemiro, 2002; Peters & Manz, 2007) (Bal & Teo, 2001; Gassmann & Von Zedtwitz, 2003; Precup, O'Sullivan, Cormican, & Dooley, 2006; Rezgui, 2007) (Bal & Teo, 2001; W F Cascio & Shurygailo, 2003; Leenders, Engelen, & Kratzer, 2003; Paul et al., 2005; Wong & Burton, 2000) (Bal & Teo, 2001) (Bal & Teo, 2001; Kirkman, ROSEN, TESLUK, & GIBSON, 2004) (Dafoulas & Macaulay, 2002; Leenders et al., 2003)

A summary of definition of virtual team may be taken as: small temporary groups of geographically, organizationally and/or time dispersed knowledge workers who coordinate their work predominantly with electronic information and communication technologies in order to accomplish one or more organization tasks (Ale Ebrahim, Ahmed, & Taha, 2009b).

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Types of Virtual Team Generally, we can differentiate various forms of “virtual” work depending on the number of people involved and the degree of interaction between them. The first is “telework” (telecommuting) which is done partially or completely outside of the main company workplace with the aid of information and telecommunication services.”Virtual groups“ are composed of two or more teleworkers engaged in a lasting relationship, pursuing a common interest and each member reports to the same manager (Ahuja, Galletta, & Carley, 2003). In contrast, a “virtual team” exists when the members of a virtual group interact with each other in order to accomplish common goals. Finally, “virtual communities” are larger entities of distributed work in which members participate via the Internet, guided by common purposes, roles and norms. In contrast to virtual teams, virtual communities are not implemented within an organizational structure but are usually initiated by some of their members (Li, 2004). Examples of virtual communities are open source software projects (Hertel et al., 2005). Teleworking is viewed as an alternative way to organize work that involves the complete or partial use of ICT to enable workers to get access to their labor activities from different and remote locations (Martinez-Sanchez, Pérez-Pérez, de-Luis-Carnicer, & Vela-Jiménez, 2006). Telework provides cost savings to employees by eliminating time-consuming commutes to central offices and offers employees more flexibility to co-ordinate their work and family responsibilities (Johnson, Heimann, & O’Neill, 2001).

Examples of Uses of Virtual Team Working in today’s business world is like working in a world where the sun never sets. Rezgui (2007) investigates the effectiveness of virtual teams, and any other suitable form of virtual collaboration, in the construction sector, and explores the factors that influence their successful adoption. May and Carter (2001) in their case study of virtual team working in the European automotive industry have shown that enhanced communication and collaboration between geographically distributed engineers at automotive manufacturer and supplier sites make them get benefits are better quality, reduced costs and a reduction in the time-to-market (between 20% to 50%) for a new product vehicle. New product development (NPD) requires the collaboration of new product team members both within and outside the firm (Martinez-Sanchez et al., 2006; McDonough, Kahn, & Barczak, 2001; Ozer, 2000) and NPD teams are necessary in almost all businesses(Leenders et al., 2003). In addition, the pressure of globalization competition companies face increased pressures to build critical mass, reach new markets, and plug skill gaps , NPD efforts are increasingly being pursued across multiple nations through all forms of organizational arrangements(Cummings & Teng, 2003). Given the resulting differences in time zones and physical distances in such efforts, virtual NPD projects are receiving increasing attention (McDonough et al., 2001). The use of virtual teams for new product development is rapidly growing and organizations can be dependent on it to sustain competitive advantage(Taifi, 2007).

Benefits and Draw Back of Virtual Team The availability of a flexible and configurable base infrastructure is one of the main benefits of virtual teams (Ale Ebrahim, Ahmed, & Taha, 2009a). Virtual R&D teams which members do not work at the same time or place (Stoker, Looise, Fisscher, & De Jong, 2001) often face tight schedules and a need to start quickly and perform instantly (Munkvold & Zigurs, 2007). As a drawback, virtual teams are particularly vulnerable to mistrust, communication break downs, conflicts, and power struggles (Rosen, Furst, & Blackburn, 2007). On the other hand, virtual teams reduce time-to-market (May & Carter, 2001). Lead time or time to market has been generally admitted to be one of the most important keys for success in manufacturing companies (Sorli, Stokic, Gorostiza, & Campos, 2006). Table 2 summarizes some of the main advantages and Table 3 some of the main disadvantages associated with virtual team. We are in a transient phase that is pushing out beyond the envelope of team fundamentals into a space where we begin to lose track of reality (Qureshi & Vogel, 2001). Clearly the rise of network technologies has made the use of virtual teams feasible (Beranek & Martz, 2005).

Finally organizational and cultural barriers are another serious impediment to the effectiveness of virtual teams.

Many managers are uncomfortable with the concept of a virtual team because successful management of virtual teams may require new methods of supervision (Jarvenpaa & Leidner, 1999).

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Table 2: some of the main advantages associated with virtual team Advantages Reducing relocation time and costs, reduced travel costs (Virtual teams overcome the limitations of time, space, and organizational affiliation that traditional teams face (Piccoli, Powell, & Ives, 2004)) Reducing time-to-market [Time also has an almost 1:1 correlation with cost, so cost will likewise be reduced if the time-to market is quicker (Rabelo & Jr., 2005)]

Able to tap selectively into center of excellence, using the best talent regardless of location Greater degree of freedom to individuals involved with the development project Greater productivity, shorter development times Producing better outcomes and attract better employees, Generate the greatest competitive advantage from limited resources.

Optimize the contributions of individual members toward the completion of business tasks and organizational goal Better team outcomes (quality, productivity, and satisfaction) Higher team effectiveness and efficiency

Reference (Bergiel, Bergiel, & Balsmeier, 2008; Biuk-Aghai, 2003; Boudreau, Loch, Robey, & Straub, 1998; Wayne F. Cascio, 2000; Fuller, HARDIN, & DAVISON, 2006; Kankanhalli, Tan, & Wei, 2006; Lipnack & Stamps, 2000; Liu & Liu, 2007; McDonough et al., 2001; Olson-Buchanan, Rechner, Sanchez, & Schmidtke, 2007; Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002; Rice, Davidson1, Dannenhoffer, & Gay, 2007) (T.-Y. Chen, 2008; Ge & Hu, 2008; Guniš, Šišlák, & Valčuha, 2007; Kankanhalli et al., 2006; Kusar, Duhovnik, Grum, & Starbek, 2004; Lipnack & Stamps, 2000; May & Carter, 2001; Mulebeke & Zheng, 2006; Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002; Shachaf, 2008; Sorli et al., 2006; Sridhar, Nath, Paul, & Kapur, 2007; Zhang, Shen, & Ghenniwa, 2004) (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Boudreau et al., 1998; Boutellier, Gassmann, Macho, & Roux, 1998; Wayne F. Cascio, 2000; Criscuolo, 2005; Fuller et al., 2006; Furst et al., 2004; Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002; Samarah, Paul, & Tadisina, 2007) (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Ojasalo, 2008; Prasad & Akhilesh, 2002) (McDonough et al., 2001; Mulebeke & Zheng, 2006) (T. Y. Chen, Chen, & Ch, 2008; Martins, Gilson, & Maynard, 2004; Rice et al., 2007)

(Samarah et al., 2007)

(Gaudes, Hamilton-Bogart, Marsh, & Robinson, 2007; Ortiz de Guinea, Webster, & Staples, 2005; Piccoli et al., 2004) (May & Carter, 2001; Shachaf & Hara, 2005)

Table 3: some of the main disadvantages associated with virtual team Disadvantages Decrease monitoring and control of activities Vulnerable to mistrust, communication break downs, conflicts, and power struggles Challenges of determining the appropriate task technology fit Cultural and functional diversity in virtual teams lead to differences in the members’ thought processes. Develop trust among the members are challenging Sometimes requires technological applications

complex

References (Pawar & Sharifi, 1997) (Baskerville & Nandhakumar, 2007; Wayne F. Cascio, 2000; Kirkman, Rosen, Gibson, Tesluk, & McPherson, 2002; Rosen et al., 2007; Taifi, 2007) (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Bell & Kozlowski, 2002; Griffith, Sawyer, & Neale, 2003; Ocker & Fjermestad, 2008; Pawar & Sharifi, 2000; Qureshi & Vogel, 2001) (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Bell & Kozlowski, 2002; Boutellier et al., 1998; Griffith et al., 2003; Jacobsa et al., 2005; Kankanhalli et al., 2006; Munkvold & Zigurs, 2007; Paul, Seetharaman, Samarah, & Peter Mykytyn, 2005 ; Poehler & Schumacher, 2007; Shachaf, 2005) (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Bergiel et al., 2008)

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New Product Development Product development definition used by different researchers with slightly different ways but generally it is the process that covers product design, production system design and product introduction processes and start of production (Johansen, 2005). New product development (NPD) is widely recognized as a key to corporate prosperity (Lam, Chin, Yang, & Liang, 2007). The product life cycle of goods grows shorter every year. Today, leading-edge firms can exploit global asset configurations to customize existing products and services, and they also have the ability to combine their resources with an expanding knowledge base to create a continuous stream of new products and services (Miles, Snow, & Miles, 2000). With the needs to respond quickly to dynamic customer needs, increased complexity of product design and rapidly changing technologies, the selection of the right set of NPD is critical to a company’s long-term success (H. H. Chen, Kang, Xing, Lee, & Tong, 2008) . Also combination of factors such as ever changing market needs and expectations, rough competition and emerging technologies among others, challenges industrial companies to continuously increase the rate of new products to the market to fulfill all these requirements (Sorli et al., 2006).The ultimate objective of all NPD teams is superior marketplace success of the new product (Akgun, Lynn, & Yilmaz, 2006). In light of the above product innovations are central in securing a firm’s competitive advantage in international markets (Jeong, 2003). NPD is vital and needs to be developed both innovatively and steadily (H. H. Chen et al., 2008).

NPD and virtuality New product development (NPD) has long been recognized as one of the corporate core functions (Huang, Soutar, & Brown, 2004). During the past 25 years NPD has increasingly been recognize as a critical factor in ensuring the continued existence of firms (Biemans, 2003).The rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past years and this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace (González & Palacios, 2002). Particularly for companies with short product life cycles, it is important to quickly and safely develop new products and new product platforms that fulfill reasonable demands on quality, performance, and cost (Ottosson, 2004). The world market requires short product development times (Starbek & Grum, 2002) therefore in order to successfully and efficiently get all the experience needed in developing new products and services, more and more organizations are forced to move from traditional face-to-face teams to virtual teams or adopt a combination between the two types of teams(Precup et al., 2006). Given the complexities involved in organizing face-to-face interactions among team members and the advancements in electronic communication technologies, firms are turning toward employing virtual NPD teams (Badrinarayanan & Arnett, 2008; Jacobsa et al., 2005; Schmidt, Montoya-Weiss, & Massey, 2001). New product development requires the collaboration of new product team members both within and outside the firm (Martinez-Sanchez et al., 2006; McDonough et al., 2001; Ozer, 2000) and NPD teams are necessary in almost all businesses(Leenders et al., 2003).

In addition, the pressure of globalization competition companies face increased pressures to build critical mass, reach new markets, and plug skill gaps , NPD efforts are increasingly being pursued across multiple nations through all forms of organizational arrangements(Cummings & Teng, 2003). Given the resulting differences in time zones and physical distances in such efforts, virtual NPD projects are receiving increasing attention (McDonough et al., 2001). The use of virtual teams for new product development is rapidly growing and organizations can be dependent on it to sustain competitive advantage(Taifi, 2007).

New product development process Today’s uncertain and dynamic environment presents a fundamental challenge to the new product development process of the future (MacCormack, Verganti, & Iansiti, 2001). New product development is a multi-dimensional process and involves multiple activities (Ozer, 2000). Several authors proposed different conceptual models for the NPD process, beginning from the idea screen and ending with the commercial launch. Kusar al. (2004) summarized different stage of new product development which in earlier stages , the objective is to make a preliminary market, business, and technical assessment whereas at the later stages the propose is to actually Design and develop.

1- Definition of goals ( goals of the product development process) 2- Feasibility study ( term plan, financial plan, pre-calculation, goals of market) 3- Development ( first draft and structure of the product, first draft of components, product planning and its control processes) 4- Design ( design of components, drawing of parts, bills of material)

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The model of Cooper Figure 1, called the Stage-Gate System is one of the most widely acknowledged system in NPD (Rejeb, Morel-Guimaraes, & Boly, 2008). The Stage-Gate System model divides the NPD into discrete stages, typically five stages. Each stage gathers a set of activities to be done by a multifunctional project team. To enter into each stage, some conditions and criteria have to be fulfilled. They are specified in the Gates. A Gate is a project review in which all the information is confronted by the whole team. Some criticism of the method has surfaced, claiming that the steering group assessment in the gate step halts the project for an unnecessarily long time, making the process abrupt and discontinuous (Ottosson, 2004). A closer integration of management through virtual team in the process might be a solution for avoiding such situations.

Stage-Gate process is a method of managing the new product development process to increase the probability of launching new products quickly and successfully. The process provides a blueprint to move projects through the different stages of development: idea generation, preliminary investigation, business case preparation, product development, product testing, and product introduction. This process is used by such companies as IBM, Procter & Gamble, 3M, General Motors, and others. The process is primarily used in the development of specific commercial products, and is more likely to be used in platform projects than in derivative projects.

Figure 1 The Stage-Gate system model (source Cooper (2006)) Development Stage-Gate System in NPD process: The new products plan will support the strategic objectives of the firm and make the best use of its strategic competencies. As it is illustrated in Figure 2, the development stages of the NPD process include the generation of new product ideas, the development of an initial product concept, an assessment of its business attractiveness, the actual development of the product, testing it within the market, and the actual launch of the product in the marketplace. Alongside each of these stages, an evaluation takes place, essentially to determine whether the new product should advance further or be terminated (Tzokas, Hultink, & Hart, 2004).

Effective Virtual Team A review of the literature shows the factors that impact on the effectiveness of virtual teams are still ambiguous.

Many of the acknowledged challenges of effective virtual team working, focus on ensuring good communication among all members of the distributed team (Anderson, McEwan, Bal, & Carletta, 2007). For example, Jarvenpaa and Leidner (1999) found that regular and timely communication feedback was key to building trust and commitment in distributed teams. Lin et al.(2008) study indicates that social dimensional factors need to be considered early on in the virtual team creation process and are critical to the effectiveness of the team.

Communication is a tool that directly influences the social dimensions of the team and in addition the performance of the team has a positive impact on satisfaction with the virtual team.

For teams moving from co-location to virtual environments, an ability to adapt and change can be a long process riddled with trial and error scenarios. This process is seen as necessary to encourage effective virtual teams(Kirkman et al., 2002). Despite weak ties between virtual team members, ensuring lateral communication maybe adequate for effective virtual team performance. In terms of implementation, lateral communication in both virtual context and composition teams can be increased by reducing the hierarchical structure of the team (i.e. a flatter reporting

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structure and/or decentralization) and the use of enabling computer-mediated communication tools(Wong & Burton, 2000).

Malhotra and Majchrzak’s (2004)study of 54 effective virtual teams found that creating a state of shared understanding about goals and objectives, task requirements and interdependencies, roles and responsibilities, and member expertise had a positive effect on output quality. As criteria, effectiveness ratings were Hertel et al.(2005) collected from the team managers both at the individual and at the team level. The results of the field study showed good reliability of the task work-related attributes, teamwork-related attributes, and attributes related to telecooperative work.

Shachaf and Hara (2005)suggests four dimensions of effective virtual team leadership: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Communication (the leader provides continuous feedback, engages in regular and prompt communication, and clarifies tasks); Understanding (the leader is sensitive to schedules of members, appreciates their opinions and suggestions, cares about member’s problems, gets to know them, and expresses a personal interest in them); Role clarity (the leader clearly defines responsibilities of all members, exercises authority, and mentors virtual team members); and Leadership attitude (the leader is assertive yet not too “bossy,” caring, relates to members at their own levels, and maintains a consistent attitude over the life of the project).

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Figure 2 Development stages and evaluation gates in the NPD process ( Source: (Tzokas et al. (2004)).

CONCLUSION Competitive business environments and social pressures are driving the adoption of virtual team working. This paper with a comprehensive review of literature and related resources covering the topic, find that success in implementing virtual team working is more about processes and people than about technology. Organizations are

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often naive about the advantages, problems and disadvantages of virtual team working. Virtual teams offer many benefits to organizations striving to handle a more demanding work environment, but also present many challenges and potential pitfalls. With comparing Table 2, with Table 3 it is clearly obvious that advantages of utilize virtual teams are far from its disadvantages so dealing with it can bring new findings. Virtual teams are a new and exciting work form with many fascinating opportunities. Due to these opportunities, virtual teamwork becomes increasingly popular in organizations and institutions. A suitable situation in which the students can perform a design project not only limited to paper calculation but also earn industrial experiences is working as a virtual NPD team member.

Future research would now seem to be essential for developing a comprehensive study, combining literature survey with case study in different size of companies (e.g. multinational companies and small and medium enterprises) and various type of activities (e.g. research and development and new product development). Such a study would provide an assessing what patterns, practices, or types of activities must virtual NPD teams carry out to achieve effectiveness in the competitive environment?, How such teams should be managed? What types of process structure and technology support should be provided for facilitating such teams?, What different methods of virtual team are uses today and how effective are they?, What benefits and problems arise as a consequence of the creation of virtual team? What is role of different collaborative technologies in supporting the virtual team? and How to make the transition from a more traditional team structure to the more distributed team structure?. These questions and many other practical questions wait for future empirical investigation.

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A PSYCHOLOGICAL POSTULATION FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF CLASSROOM EMOTIONAL ABUSE Okoza Jolly, *Oyaziwo Aluede And A.I Ojugo Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, Nigeria *E-mail address for correspondence : oyaziwoaluede@yahoo.com ______________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract : Emotional abuse of secondary school students by teachers is an active label for describing the violations of students’ rights. It is a strong school violence that can impede students’ development and productivity. This work portrays how emotional abuse can destroy self –concept of students in the classroom in concordance with Rogerians’ theory. In line with Rogers’ theory, emotional abuse is undue pressure from teachers. Such pressure can stifle students’ development. This work recommends that since emotional abuse destroys growth promoting climate in the classroom, teachers should internalize the principles of unconditional positive regard as enunciated by Rogers that is characterized by genuineness, sympathy and empathy. These are ingredients that can facilitate students learning and development. ______________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION Emotional abuse, which is a subtype of abuse and neglect, is a problem affecting all races, religions, and socioeconomic groups. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around the world, 40 million children suffer from abuse or neglect and need health and social intervention (WHO, 1999). Emotional abuse is a concerted attack by an adult on a child’s development of self and social competence, a pattern of psychically destructive behaviour (Garbarino, Guttman & Seeley, 1986).

Today, school violence is one of the most important problems facing children and their families, since growing number of students perceive their school context as an unsafe environment (Aluede, 2004). In some family settings, inappropriate and abusive parent will denigrate and insult the child, express conditional love and ambivalent feelings towards the child, and will emotionally or physically reject the child’s attention (Alfandary, 1993). Children who found themselves in such situation either in their school or family circle are likely to suffer damage to their self-esteem and their internalization of positive role models and adaptive interactional patterns. This state of psychological maltreatment experienced by students is perceived as a socio-economic malaise by all and sundry in our society. Such experience will impact negatively on the mental abilities of a child such as intelligence, memory, recognition and attention, feelings and capacity to develop relationships (O’ Hagan, 1993).

Psychological abuse or mental injury and other forms of abuse may have informed the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) to insert in her constitution, section 34 which states the Rights to dignity of human persons.

In addition, subsection (1) of section 34 states further that every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his human person and accordingly: (a) no person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment. The foundations for good mental health are laid in the emotional development that occurs in infancy and later childhood and appears to be dependant upon the quality of and frequency of response to an infant or child from a parent or primary caregiver (O’ Hagan, 1993). If a parent inadvertently or deliberately engages in a pattern of inappropriately emotional responses, the child can be said to have experienced emotional abuse.

The term abuse conjures up images of violence and cruelty. It infers a deliberate action, an intention to harm and to damage. It is an active label for the violations of one person’s rights by another. But in order to be able to talk about emotional abuse, we need to recognize that the term also describes what is not being done, what is being omitted, neglected and denied and most importantly, how it is done unintentionally, out of ignorance, indifference or distress (Alfandary, 1993)

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Emotional abuse is as difficult to detect as it is damaging. It is an invisible wound. It is often ignored as its recognition may leave us feeling enraged, impotent and devastated. We may try to protect ourselves from it as adults by denying its emotional impact, projecting our feelings and down-playing its significance. But in later years, we become morally indignant when confronted with the extreme examples of its consequences such as juvenile delinquency (Alfandary, 1993). This denial, (Polansky, 1981) is putting democratic society in great danger. Students in secondary school may experience some forms of emotional abuse such as rejecting, isolating, terrorizing, ignoring, controlling, etc, that may have effects on their passage through the three major developmental stages of infancy, childhood and adolescence (Garbarino, et al, 1986).

Like other forms of violence, emotional abuse is based on power and control. Emotional abuse of children can result in serious and /or behavioural problems, including depression, lack of attachment or emotional bond to a parent or guardian, low cognitive ability and educational underachievement, and poor social skills (McEachern, Aluede & Kenny, 2008). Children who experience rejection are more likely than accepted children to exhibit hostility, aggressive or passive- aggressive behaviour, to be extremely dependent, to have negative opinions of themselves and their abilities, to be emotionally unstable or unresponsive, and to have negative perception of the world around them.

Most extant literature has focused more on physical abuse and sexual abuse, than the prevalence of emotional abuse in Nigeria’s school system. There is rarity of empirical studies on emotional abuse by the teacher on students in Nigeria. Even though teachers serve not only as educators, but also, as important socializing agents who fulfill basic socio-emotional needs, such as belongings and self- esteem. This fact is supported by research evidence that teacher - child relationship exerts a major influence on the children’s social, behavioural, emotional and academic adjustment (Pianta, 1999). Put simply, teachers act in “loco parentis” in the school to nurture children. But, teachers who consistently communicate a negative sense of identity to the child and refuse to accept and respond to the child’s needs for human contact and attachment cannot be said to be promoting the developmental needs of the child. This action by the teacher amount to rejection, a form of emotional abuse.

Some teachers are unaware of the impact of their behaviour upon children. It is possible that teachers are also unaware that emotional abuse is a form of child abuse that has serious damaging consequences on the development of children. They may perceive emotional abuse as a means of molding and shaping children’s behaviour. Teachers may also lack alternatives in dealing with children who misbehave in schools.

In the classroom, the importance of children’s mental health should not be underestimated. Emotional abuse can affect it. Children must survive as psychologically intact individuals. It is apparent that a chronic pattern of psychological maltreatment destroys a child’s sense of self and personal safety. This leads to adverse effects on intrapersonal thoughts, emotional health, social skills, learning impairments, and physical health (Nesbit & Philpot, 2002). A child may recover from physical pain and injuries, but may never recover from the terror, degradation, humiliation or breach of trust involved in emotional abuse (Briggs, 1995; Briggs & Hawkins, 1997).

Although individual acts can be abusive, emotional abuse usually describes an ongoing interaction. It is a repeated pattern of damaging interactions between teachers or parents and the child that becomes typical of the relationship (Glaser, & Prior, 1997). The severity of emotional abuse should not be underestimated, and hence Geffner (2007) points out that emotional abuse can be thought of as the non-physical abuse of the self and spirit, which degrades worth and interferes with human development and productivity. The thrust of this paper is to evolve a theory that capture emotional abuse of students by their classroom teachers.

This, Rogerian’s self- concept theory is particularly indicated to be relevant.

Rogers’ Theory The central concept in Rogers’s theory is the self, an organized, consistent set of perceptions of and beliefs about oneself (Rogers, 1959). Once formed, plays a powerful role in guiding our perceptions and directing our behaviour. Rogers believed that our behaviour is not a reaction to unconscious conflicts, but a response

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to our immediate conscious experience of self and environment (Rogers, 1951). Rogers (1951) believed that, without undue pressure from others, individuals naturally move toward personal growth, selfacceptance, and self-actualization, which is the fulfillment of their potential for love, creativity, and meaning. Emotional abuse is an undue pressure that can stifle such fulfillment in the life of children.

Rogers (1902-1987) began his inquiry about human nature with people who were troubled. Rogers (1961) examined the conditioned, controlling world that kept them from having positive self-concept and reaching their full potential as human beings. Under the stress of pressure from society and family, however, people can develop rigid and distorted perspectives of self and can lose touch with their own values and needs.

This can lead to emotional distress, unhealthy behaviour, and even loss of touch with reality. Emotional abuse will remove genuineness, acceptance and empathy that are the water, sun and nutrients that enable people to grow like vigorous oak tree. For “as persons are accepted and prized, they tend to develop a more caring attitude towards themselves” (Rogers, 1980, p. 116).

Rogers theorized that at the beginning of their lives, children cannot distinguish between themselves and their environment. As they interact with their world, children begin to distinguish between the “me” and “not me.” The self-concept continues to develop in response to our life experiences, though many aspects of it remain quite stable over time (Passer & Smith, 2001). Once the self – concept is established, there is a tendency to maintain it, for it helps us to understand ourselves in relation to the world. We therefore have needs for self-consistency (an absence of conflict among self –perceptions) and congruence (consistency between self – perceptions and experience). The self is a whole, consisting of one’s self – perceptions (how attractive I am, how well I get along with others, how good a scholar I am) and the value we attach to these perceptions (good / bad, worthy/ unworthy for example). Self –concept refers to individuals’ overall perception of their abilities, behaviour, and personality. In Rogers’s view, a person who has an inaccurate self-concept is likely to be maladjusted. It is believed that emotional abuse can cause such maladjustment in children. A child who is abused emotionally will suffer severe anxiety, depression, withdrawal, selfharming behaviour or aggressive behaviour towards others.

Furthermore, the degree of congruence between self-concept and experience helps define one’s level of adjustment. The more rigid and inflexible people’s self – concepts are, the less open they will be to their experiences and the more maladjusted they will become. If there is significant degree of incongruence between self and experience, and the experience are forceful enough, the defenses used to deny and distort reality may collapse, resulting in extreme anxiety and a temporary disorganization of the self – concept.

Rogers distinguished between the real self – that is, the self as it really is as a result of our experiences – and the ideal self, which is the self we would like to be. The greater the discrepancy between the real self and ideal self said Rogers, the more maladjusted we will be. To improve our adjustment, we can develop more positive perceptions of our real self, not worry so much about what others want, and increase our positive experiences in the world (Santrock, 2000).

Rogers theorized on the need for positive regard. He believed that we are born with an innate need for positive regard – that is, for acceptance, sympathy, and love from others. Rogers viewed positive regard as essential for healthy development. Ideally, positive regard received from parents is unconditional – that is independent of how the child behaves. Unconditional positive regard communicates that the child is inherently worthy of love. Rogers stressed that we can help a person develop a more positive self-concept through unconditional positive regard, empathy and genuineness. He said that we need to be accepted by others, regardless of what we do. Furthermore, unconditional positive regard is Rogers’s term for accepting, valuing, and being positive toward another person regardless of the person’s behaviour. Rogers recognized that when a person’s behaviour is below acceptable standards, inappropriate, or even obnoxious, the person still needs the respect, comfort, and love of others. Rogers strongly believed that unconditional positive regards elevate the person’s self-worth (Passer & Smith, 2001; Santrock, 2000).

Rogers also said we can help other people develop a more positive self-concept if we are empathic and genuine. Being empathic means being a sensitive listener and sense what it is like to be the client at any moment and understanding another’s true feelings. Being genuine means being open with our feelings and dropping our pretenses and not hiding behind a facade. For Rogers, unconditional positive regard, empathy

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and genuineness are three key ingredients of human relations. We can use these techniques to get other people to feel good about themselves and the techniques also help us to get along better with others.

Another aspect of Rogers’ Theory is Conditional Positive regard. Conditional positive regard is Rogers’ term for love and praise being withheld unless the individual conforms to parents or social standards. The result is lower self – esteem. People need positive regard not only from others, but also from themselves.

We all want to feel good about ourselves. Thus a need for positive self –regard from parents and other significant people in the past teaches that they are worthy of approval and love only when they meet certain standards. This fosters the development of conditions of worth that dictate when we approve or disapprove of ourselves. Rogers believed that conditions of worth can tyrannize people and cause major incongruence: between self and experience, together with a need to deny or distort aspects of experience.

Rogers (1980) theorized on the fully functioning person and stressed the importance of becoming a fully functioning person – someone who is open to experience, is not very defensive, is aware of and sensitive to the self and external world, and for the most part has a harmonious relationship with others (NolenHoeksema, 2004). They feel a sense of inner freedom, self-determination, and choice in the direction of their growth. They have no fear of behaving spontaneously, freely, and creatively. Because they are fairly free of conditions of worth, they can accept inner and outer experiences as they are without modifying them defensively to suit a rigid self-concept or expectations of others (Nolen – Hoeksema, 2004). Rogers (1980) believed that a person’s basic tendencies are to actualize, maintain, and enhance life. He thought that the tendency for fulfillment – toward actualizing one’s essential nature and attaining potential – is inborn in every person.

By giving the self a central place in his theory, Rogers helped stimulate a great deal of research on the self – esteem and its effects on behaviour. Self – esteem (how positively or negatively we feel about ourselves) is a very important aspect of personal well – being, happiness, and adjustment. Self–esteem is related to many positive behaviours and life outcomes. People with high self –esteem are less susceptible to social pressure, have fewer interpersonal problems, are happier with their lives, achieve at a higher and more persistent level, and are more capable of forming satisfying love relationships.

In contrast, people with a poor self – image are more prone to psychological problems like anxiety and depression, to physical illness, and to poor social relationships and underachievement. Children develop higher self –esteem when their parents communicate unconditional acceptance and love, establish clear guidelines for behaviour, and reinforce compliance while giving the child freedom to make decision and express opinions within those guidelines.

THE RELEVANCE OF CARL ROGERS THEORY TO EMOTIONAL ABUSE Carl Rogers’s humanistic theory is relevant to research work on emotional abuse of students by teachers based on these reasons: Firstly, we are born with an innate need for positive regard – that is, for acceptance, sympathy and love from others, says Rogers. Emotional abuse of students will negate such fulfillments in students’ lives. A teacher who spurn, reject, ignore, hurts, and isolate children will stifle the fulfillment of Rogers’s species – specifics characteristics. Consequently, development and productivity of children may be hampered. It is therefore apparent that when we are abreast with Rogers innate tendencies of human needs, we may be able to conduct good classroom management that will foster positive interaction in teacher – children relationship and learning.

Secondly, self – concept is a central theme in Rogers’ and other humanists views. Self – concept is individuals’ total perceptions of their abilities, behaviour, and personality. Emotional abuse of students may adversely affect development of positive self-concept. Students who are verbally assaulted, denigrated, belittled will not thrive in developing positive self – concept. Self – concept is still being developed in childhood and adolescence, much more than in adulthood (Nolen – Hoekmsema, 2004). A period of significant experience of emotional abuse of students by teachers in the classroom while one’s self –

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It is obvious that any experience we may come across that will be at variance with our self – concept may predispose us to threat and anxiety. Emotional abuse is a key toxic ingredient in the development of such neuropsychiatric problems. Rogers’s theory serves as an awareness process in the avoidance of circumstances that will lead to emotional block in the lives of growing children.

Thirdly, Rogers Unconditional Positive Regard, empathy and genuineness should serve as guiding principles in classroom management. Rogers recognized that when person’s behaviour is below acceptable standards, inappropriate or even obnoxious, the person still needs respects, comfort and love of others. A classroom where there is incidence and prevalence of emotional abuse of students, these humanistic characteristics are conspicuously absent. To develop good classroom ambience, we need to cultivate the spirit of empathy, genuineness and good listening ability. When unconditional positive regard is given little attention and conditional positive regard is highly emphasized, it leads to lower self-esteem.

CONCLUSION Rogers’ theory is relevant to emotional abuse in that through his theory we know that for children to develop higher self – esteem, parents, teachers, and significant others should communicate acceptance and love, establish clear guidelines for behaviour, and reinforce compliance while giving the child freedom to make decisions and expression of opinions. Emotional abuse is based on power and control and carried out with words, gestures and policies. It can result in serious and / or behavioural problems, including depression, lack of attachment, low cognitive ability and poor social skills. To facilitate good human development and productivity, our classroom management should be guided by Rogers’ theory and deliberate and conscious efforts should be taken to avoid emotionally abusive learning environment.

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Alfandary, R. (1993). The emotional abuse of children. Retrieved November, 11, 2007 from http://inf.smkb.ac.il/home/home. exe/2710/3105.

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Briggs, F. (1995). From Victim to Offender: How Child Sexual Abuse Victims Become Offenders. Allen and Unwin St. Leonards, NSW. Briggs, F., & Hawkins, R. (1997) Child protection; A guide for teachers and child care professionals. St. Leonards, New South Wales, Australia: Allen & Uwin.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999). Constitution of the Federal republic of Nigeria. The Federal Government Press, Lagos, Nigeria.

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IMPACT OF A PLANNED MUSEUM TOUR DESİGNED VİA THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE MUSEUM EDUCATİON PACK ON THE PRİMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS1 *Ayşe Güler and **Serap Buyurgan *Şehit Mahmut Özdemir İlköğretim Okulu, Ankara, Türkiye **Gazi Üniversitesi, Eğitim Fakültesi, Güzel Sanatlar Eğitimi A.B.D., Ankara, Türkiye *E-mail adress for correspondence : ayse77guler@yahoo.com _____________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: The use of museum education packs involving various information leaves and activities helps the instructors plan more influential and effective museum visits. Such packs provide a long-lasting effect in learning presenting alternative joyful learning methods. In this study a museum education pack that can help the instructor prepare a programmed museum tour, planning all the activities before, during and after the museum visit. In relation with this, in the study, it is aimed to measure the impact of the museum pact developed for the Art Activities course on the accessibility and long-term duration. This study was conducted with the third-year students in the Sehit Mahmut Ozdemir Primary School in Ankara in the 2007-2008 academic year. In this research, a design with control groups and pretest and a posttest sessions was used. The group with 37 participants selected randomly is the experiment group, and the other group with 38 participants is the control group. The data were obtained with a success test (pretest-post-test-long-term duration). In data analyses, a t-test for unrelated samples and a single factor ANOVA test were used. At the end of the study, a significant difference between the experiment participants and students instructed with traditional methods in favor of the participants.

Keywords: Programmed museum tour, museum education pack, student museum guide, affective learning in the museum __________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION We can think about the museums as educational institutions designed for giving an aesthetic appreciation, respect for cultural inheritance and most preeminently the imagination of people. Working with real objects, comparing and relating them, investigating, passing from abstract observations to concrete concepts, generalizing departing from observations provide the realization of each thought (HopperGreenhill, 1999). In this regard, the educational aspect and the quality of museum tours are related with the duration of the tour and the planning of what to do before and after the visit. Woordward, indicates that the museum tors provide perceptive, inciting, and physical experiences and long-lasting learning, it is important in the recall, discussion, and evaluation of the experiences in the classroom after the tour, and otherwise, most of the acquired knowledge would be forgotten (as cited in Hooper-Greenhill, 1999).

Schooltours organized to historical places is regarded as an award activity for the duties students perform at school. In fact, a serious planning is necessary for trips outside the school curriculum (Ata & Safran, 1998). Some aimless museum tours become boring and tiring both for students and teachers, since they are not tended to learning. Regarding this, it will be convenient for the teachers to work in collaboration with museum educators, use educational packs that include information and activities for developing the curricula of visits out of school efficiently.

Hooper-Greenhill‟s (1999) suggestion on conducting museum tours with the help of the museum personnel, and course instructors‟ requirement to organize museum tours by themselves led to the idea that the diffusion of museum pacts would be guides for instructors. The study leaflets organized and designed for these pacts underlie museum tours. Therefore, the prepared study leaflets lead to saving time and consequently finding out more clues on the external aspects of objects and information (Durbin,

_________________ 1

A study taken from a Ph.D. dissertation in the Gazi University Faculty of Fine Arts, Department of Painting

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1999). Planning a museum tour, one must focus only on the touring process. The instructors must think about the museum visit from each aspect. An effective museum visit consists of three parts, accordingly: the preparation of teachers/ instructors before the museum tour, responsabilities in the museum, and work to be done after the museum tour (Buyurgan & Buyurgan, 2007).

In this aspect, in the study, for rendering a museum more influential and effective, a museum education pack for teachers was developed during a course of 1st level Art Activities lesson for the third classes. In this pack, in addition to information leaflets regarding the museum for planning a museum tour before the museum visit, student activity leaflets, various activities, unit and diary plans to be applied after the museum tour were prepared for teachers in a detailed manner. Except for these, there is a museum guide for students in the pack. In this guide, there are studies on some games, information leaflets, a magnifying glass for the more detailed observation of objects in the museum, colored pencils, an eraser, and leaflets introducing the museum to be visited.

In the research concerning the museum pack for teachers that has been developed, it was aimed to determine whether there was a significant difference between the acquisition and long-term duration of the experiment participant and control group students. Within this scope, the answers to the following questions were tried to be given: 1-Is there a statistical significance between the pretest points of the control group and the participants?

2-Is there a statistical significance between the post-test points of the control group and the participants?

3-Is there a statistical significance between the long-term duration points of the control group and the participants?

MATERIALS AND METHODS Model of the Study In the study experimental design was used. For this reason, among the 1 st level third class primary school students some were selected to the experimental, and the others to the control group randomly.

Study Groups and Data Gathering Tools In this study, the unit of “Emotions I lived in the Museum” that is in the curriculum in the third class Art Activities course in the Sehit Mahmut Ozdemir Primary School in Ankara in the 2007-2008 academic year was applied to the class 3-C that forms the control group with 38 students in a traditional way, and to the class 3-E that forms the experimental group with 37 students in accordance with the activities of “museum education pact.” In this respect, a visit to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum was organized.

The success test (in APPENDIX 1) developed in accordance with the unit acquisition in the guide of the course of the Art Activities of Ministry of National Education is a tool for gathering data, and it consists of 40 questions. A pretest and a post-test were offered to both groups. A long-term duration test after 8 weeks after the end of the application were offered to both groups. During the application experimental operations related to the experiment group were realized as explained below; In the first lesson, the museum to be visited was examined by the students, as the teacher brought to class various copy works, and talked about “museum, museum types, collection, archeology, etc.” and tried to answer the question “why must we learn the life of people who lived in the past?” together with the students. In the second lesson, together with the students, the teacher played the „time capsule‟ game with the students, and it was aimed at that the students love the “museum” concept. In the successive lesson, in the Life Sciences lesson, the students were thought to have studied the units “Conscious Consumer” and “Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow,” and as the “coins” would be more interesting for the students, the Lydian Civilization who invented the money was decided to be studied. In the lesson in the fourth week, the students observed the museum guides distributed in copies in files, learned how to use these guides, visiting the museum, and the rules they had to obey in the museum. In the successive week, the planned museum tour was realized. In the planned program, the museum educator who was informed by the teacher previously, informed the students about the Lydian Civilization and the Coins as a continuation of the topics they learnt at school in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. The students printed their own reminiscent coins in the education atelier of the museum. After departing from the museum educator, the

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teacher following the museum education pact played some games with the students by herself, and helped them fill out the study leaflets in the museum guide. After the museum tour, the first lesson involved the evaluation of the museum tour and the ideas and feelings of the students. In the next week the students designed coins depicting the importance of the 23 rd April National Hegemony and Children‟s Feast. The materials of tooth picks, teaspoons, and clay were used. In the eighth lesson the students were requested to draw a picture entitled “Our Imaginary Museum.” In the last lesson of the research, a “Museum Pane” was prepared by the students so that they could exhibit their activities during all the unit and trip process in class. The students prepared the museum pane with the study leaflets in the museum guides, and choosing the pictures they appreciated most in class. On the other hand, regarding the control group students, they were subject to traditional teaching methods and went to a museum tour that lasted just half an hour. This trip was realized only for seeing all the works in the museum.

Data Analyses An Independent Samples t-test, a single factor ANOVA, and standard deviations were used in our statistical analyses. The validity was a p-value equal to 0,5 regarding the obtained data. The highest grade to be received was 100 / 100, as each of the 40 test questions was worth 2,5 points.

Findings Findings Related to the Control Group Participated to Traditional Applications Table 1. Scores of Pretest, Post-test, and Long-term Duration Test of the Control Group Test Pretest Post-test Long-term test

x

N 37

S 9,37

38,95

37 37

50,20

13,55

46,01

12,19

According to the points in Table 1, there is an increase in the performance of the control group students who were subject to the traditional methods, though, they had a low score on the success test testing longterm duration of the knowledge, and the knowledge acquired was not long-lasting. The ANOVA test results of the control group in the pretest, post-test, and long-term duration that indicate that there is not a statistical significance between these results are in Table 2.

Table 2. Single-Factor ANOVA Results of the Control Group Related to the Pretest, Post-test and Long-term Duration Test Scores Source of Sum of Mean of Statistical Variation Squares sd Squares F P<.01 Significance Between Participants Measurement

9290,369 2389,207

36 2

Error

5844,793

72

Total 1. Pretest

17524,369

258,06 1194,604

14,716

,00

1-2, 1-3

81,17

110

2. Post-test 3. Long-term Duration Test

In Table 2, we see that the pretest, post-test, and the test of validity scores are significantly different in the control group pretest and post-test and pretest and the long-term duration test. In other words, traditional methods led to a partial increase in the success of students after the application of museum activities and museum visits, however, there is not a statistical significance between the long-term duration test and the post-test.

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Findings Regarding the Experiment Group That Participated to the Applications Using the Museum Education Pack Table 3. Scores of Pretest, Post-test, and Long-term Duration Test of the Experiment Group Test Pretest Post-test Long-term Test

x

N 38 38 38

S 12,17 7,75 10,07

47,56 91,97 87,82

According to the scores in Table 3, for the unit “Emotions I lived in the Museum,” the students subject to the “museum education pack” in relation with the earnings in the course program realized a programmed and effective museum tour. The post-test and the long-term duration test scores after this process show the positive effect of the museum education pack, and the museum guide used in the museum tour on learning. The statistically significant ANOVA test results related to the experiment group‟s pretest, posttest, and long-term duration are given in Table 4.

Table 4. The Experiment Group‟s Pretest, Post-test, and Long-term duration ANOVA Test Results Source of Squares

sd

Sum of Squares

F

Mean of P<.01

Statistical Variation Significance

Between Participants 7691,447 37 207,87 Measurement 45731,250 2 22865,625 448,970 Error 3768,750 74 50,92 Total 57191,447 113 1. Pretest 2. Post-test 3. Long-term Duration Test

,00

1-2, 1- 3,2-3

The statistical significance between the pretest and post-test and pretest and long-term duration test related to the experiment group students, is indicated in Table 4. One can say that a museum visit planned and designed according to the activities included in the museum education pack increases the success level of the students and provides the long-term duration of the knowledge acquired.

Findings of success between the controll group and the experiment group Table 5. Findings Related to the Comparison of Averages of Control and Experiment Groups (t - test)

x

Group Control

n 37

38,95

s 9,37

Experiment

38

47,56

12,17

sd

t 73

P<.05 3,425

,001*

According to the standard deviation values in Table 5, we see that the control group is more homogenous than the experiment group (s=9,37). According to the t-test, there is a statistical significance between the pretest scores of the control and experiment groups [t(73)=3,425, p<.05].

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Table 6. Findings Related to the Comparison of the Means of the Scores of the Control and Experiment Groups in the Post-test (t-test) Group

n

x

s

Control

37

50,20

13,55

Experiment

38

91,97

7,75

sd

t

P<.05 73

16,431

,000*

Table 6 shows that the last test score of the experiment group (x=91,97) has a statistically significant difference from the last test score of the control group (x=50,20). Observing the standard deviations, it is seen that the experiment group (s=7,75) is more homogenous than the control group (s=13,55). According to the t-test results, there is a statisticallly significant difference between the last test scores of the control and experiment groups [t (73) = 16,431, p<.05]. The statistical significance between the scores of the control and experiment groups is important, as it shows the positive effect of the museum education pack on the students.

Table 7. Findings Related to the Comparison of the Means of the Scores of the Control and Experiment Groups in the Long-term Duration Test (t-test) Group Control Experiment

n 37 38

x 46,01 87,82

s 12,19 10,07

sd

t 73

P<.05 16,209

,000*

Table 7 shows that the score of the experiment group students in the long-term duration test (x=87,82) is much higher than that of the control group students (x=46,01). Observing the standard deviation value, we see that the control group (s=12,19) is more homogenous than the experiment group (s=10,07).

According to the t-test, there is a statistical significance between the scores of the control and experiment groups in the long-term duration test [t(73)=16,209, p<.05]. It is observed that the students who attended the activities in the museum education pack can keep in mind the knowledge taught for a longer time.

DISCUSSION Teachers and museum educators should collaborate for increasing the learning activities in museums, for museum tours planned in details related to the curriculum. Information giving in front of the works of art should be at a higher level of learning being fluent in answering the questions, supporting flexible and free thinking, and joyful activities among the students (Buyurgan, 2007).

Museum learning should support school education. Museums provide students with a better understanding of the events via their senses and leads to a totally active learning (Ad覺guzel, 1999). In museums where there is no educational unit, teachers should plan an efficient museum tour using museum education packs. For this reason, the contents of the museum education packs shoud be associated with the curricula. Each museum can send education packs that it has prepared for its own collection to schools without any charges or fees. In Turkey museums offer their education packs to educators keeping them available on their websites free of charge. These activities are happy developments, but they must be diffused.

Shuh (1999) implies that the most important thing is the education with real objects and living things, and insists that much should be learnt from children. One has to keep in mind that seeing different works belonging to different periods at the same time may cause confusion in small children, learning new things. If we consider that the tours the schools organize for seeing all the works in the museums render the visit inefficient, it will be convenient to focus just on a certain topic planned previously during the museum visit to be organized for just one museum per day.

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CONCLUSION In Turkey museum tours are just activities organized by schools during the Museum Week, and they are not related to the curricula (Tezcan, 2003). Moreover, Tezcan indicates that students in huge numbers are brought to museums without any planning and curriculum design, and efficient results are not obtained from an educational point of view.

In the 1st level third-class lesson of Art Activities, those who received training through the “teacher museum education pack” for a programmed museum tour got statistically significant higher scores in long-term duration test than those who were educated in traditional ways. In the research, according to the findings, the museum visits not included in or related to the curriculum do not positively affect the knowledge acquisition by students. The prepared museum education pack provides a teacher a program before the visit, during the visit, and after the visit. Therefore, the teacher who knows what to do during the process doesn‟t have any problems. According to Black (2005), there is a potential in each child‟s each experience. Activities including interpretation augment children‟s imagination power. Besides, the student museum guide prepared for use by the students during the museum tour has a positive impact on learning.

In other words, a planned museum tour provides an increase in learning. The fact that the scores in the posttest of the experiment group students is higher than the other group supports this information. In a museum tour programmed with the museum education pack, there is a statistical significance between the results of the long-term duration test of the two groups in favor of the experiment group. Furthermore, the fact that the teacher associates the activities in the pack with the courses in the curriculum increases the long-term duration of the knowledge. The association of plans of museum visits with the curriculum proves the necessity of the organization of courses reinforcing long-term learning and participation via visual and life-based education (Paykoc& Baykal, 1999).

Tours designed only for acquiring knowledge lead to the boredom of small children and confusion.

Museum tours without any scopes do not serve any purposes without any planning. Today one has faith in modern education and active learning. Although some students find oral education useful, the important is attiring the other student type. It is necessary to make kids refer to museums for the possibilities they may offer them, and help them study there in a joyful manner (Emeksizoglu, 2007). Hooper-Greenhill, (1999) defends that the nature of learning in the museums should be conceived and learning processes should be carefully planned. Accordingly, in a well-organized museum tour, the teacher of the experiment group observed that the least interested students were participating to discussions, were interested, voluntary to activities, and excited; this supports the positive impact of the learning strategies offered to them. Buyurgan (2004) indicates that a disinterested and unsuccessful student gets interested in the subject during the process of a planned museum visit.

REFERENCES Adıgüzel, Ö. (1999). Müze pedagojisinin Türkiye‟deki yansımaları ve müzelerdeki yaratıcı drama uygulamaları. 3. Uluslararası Tarih Kongresi içinde (s. 130-143). İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı.

Ata, B, & Safran, M. (1998). Okul dışı tarih öğretimi. Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 18(1), 87-94.

Black, G. (2005). The engaging museum (1st Ed.). USA: Routledge.

Buyurgan, S., Buyurgan, U. (2007). Sanat eğitimi ve öğretimi. Ankara: PegemA Yayıncılık.

Buyurgan, S. (2004). Effective learning at the museum. journal of cultural research in art education. USA: United States Society for Education Through Art (USSEA). 22, Spring, 99-115.

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Buyurgan, S. (2007). Tarih dersi kapsamında programlı bir müze ziyareti. 12–14 Mayıs 2007 Uluslararası Öğretmen Yetiştirme Politikaları ve Sorunları Sempozyumu içinde (s.725-729). Bakü, Azerbaycan.

Durbin, G. (1999). Improving worhsheets. Hooper-Greenhill, E. (Ed.), The educational role of the museum (pp. 92-98). USA, Routledge.

Emeksizoğlu, T. O. (2007). Polis müzeleri ve polis müzelerinde eğitimi. Tezsiz yüksek lisans bitirme projesi, Ankara Üniversitesi, Ankara.

Güler, A. (2009). Programlı ve etkili bir müze gezisi için geliştirilen müze eğitim paketinin etkililiğinin ölçülmesi (Ankara ili ilköğretim I. kademe 3. sınıf Sanat Etkinlikleri dersi örneği).

Yayınlanmamış doktora tezi, Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara.

Greenhill, E.H. (1999). Müze ve Galeri Eğitimi. (M. Ö. Evren & E. G. Kapçı, Çev.). Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Çocuk Kültürü Araştırma ve Uygulama Merkezi Yayınları.

Paykoç, F.&Baykal, S. (1999). Müze pedagojisi: kültür, iletişim ve aktif öğrenme ortamı olarak müzelerin etkinliğine ilişkin bir çalışma. 3. Uluslararası Tarih Kongresi: Müzecilikte Yeni Yaklaşımlar: Küreselleşme ve Yerelleşme içinde (s.102-113). İstanbul: Türkiye Ekonomik ve Toplumsal Tarih Vakfı.

Shuh,H. J. (1999). Teaching yourself to teach with objects. The Educational Role Of The Museum.

Hooper-Greenhill, E. (Ed.), (p. 80-91). USA: Routledge.

Tezcan, H. (2003). Eğitim ortamı olarak müzeler. Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Müzecilik Yüksek Lisans Programı Eğitim Ortamı Olarak Müzeler Konferansı içinde (s.26-28). İstanbul: Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Sanat ve Tasarım Fakültesi.

APPENDIX A Success Test 1- Who invented the money? a) Lycians

b) Urartus

c) Lydians

2- What is the meaning of “barter”? a) A drum sounded with three sticks b) Exchange of an object with another c) Lending something of yours to your friend and getting it back in a short time

3- Where do people gather each type of collection, protect them, observe them and exhibit them for educating people? a) Fair

b) Museum

c) Historical work storage

4- What do people do in a mint? a) They build weapons (swords, arrows, etc.)

b) golden statues

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c) print Money

5- What does an archeologist do? a) S/he finds the belongings of people in the past and buries them. b) S/he excavates objects under the soil and water used in the past. c) S/he examines beautiful and expensive objects and sells them in the museums.

6-Which one of the following phrases defines “historical work”? a) Objects created by human beings on which there is a written date b) Contemporary photos, drawings, and every object. c) Awork, or product depicting an event in the past 7- If your teacher wants to show you the coins used by people who lived in very ancient times, where should s/he take you? a) To the bank

b) To the archeology museum c) To the museum of History of Nature

8- What does a coin consist of? a)Threads and fabric b)Wood(poplar,hornbeam,etc.) c)Metal(silver,gold,copper,brass,..)

9- What do you call a gathering of “objects you like (leaflets, stones, tissues, etc.)”? a) Collection

b) Treasure

c) Personal belongings

10- Who are the Lydians? a) A human society living a distant country today b) People who constructed the pyramids in Egypt in the past c) A civilization that existed in the past 11- What do you call the museums that exhibit objects “belonging to very ancient people found in excavations”? a) Museum of natural history

b) Archeology museum

c) Air museum

12- What do you call the act of receiving an object or propriety for another? a) Exchanging

b) Borrowing

c) Lending

13-What is a “coin”? a) A box in which people were hiding their money in the past b) Metallic coin used in shopping in the past c) A weapon used for hunting animals

14- What do museums serve? a) They gather objects, repair them, throw the broken ones, and exhibit the ones in good conditions.

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b) They gather each type of collection, protect each, sometimes lend them and exhibit them, and contribute to the human education. c) They collect only very old objects, repair them, and protect them.

15- Which of the following is true? a) We cannot learn which plants people plant from the pictures on a coin. b) The pictures and shapes on old objects were made only for aesthetic purposes c) We can learn how people were praying from the drawings on an old vase.

16- Which ones of the following objects that we still use today exist in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum? a) Carpets and old dresses

b) Radios and antennas

c) Safety pins and mirrors

17- Where were Lydians living in Anatolia in the past? a) In the Eastern Anatolia near Van Lake b) In the regions of Gediz and Little Menderes in the Western Anatolia c) Near the Salt Lake in the Central Anatolia

18- Which one of the below is not a museum type? a) History of Nature

b) Art gallery

c) Science

19-What is the most important reason why we protect our objects in museums? a) For making the same very precious and beautiful objects today b) For constructing a tie between the past and today c) For the objects in museums are well-protected and cannot be stolen

20- In what type of a museum a writing tablet or the statue of a deity belonging to the past can be stored? a) In the Science Museum b) In the Museum of Archeology c) In the Museum of the History of Nature

21- What is the name of the archeological museum in Ankara? a) Governmental Museum of Photography and Statues of Ankara b) Museum of Anatolian Civilizations c) Ankara Ethnography

22- Who is Karun (Krezus)? a) The youngest pharaoh who lived in Egypt b) The king of the Lydians c) The most famous king of the Urartus

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23- How people could have shopped before the invention of money? a) They were raising the things they needed in their own fields b) They were exchanging a sack of flour with a sack of corn? c) There was no need to go shopping, everybody had everything.

24- Which is the capital city of the Lydians? a) Tushpah

b) Sardes

c) Hattusash

25- What do you have to do for having more information from old objects? a) We must read newspaper articles and watch films on old objects. b) We have to see all the work in te museum we go, and read the label about each object, if we have time, we have to turn around the museum three times. c) We have to attend a planned museum tour with activities.

26- What can we learn observing coins? a) We can learn which songs people were singing and which games they were playing. b) We can learn how many children kings have. c) We can learn the temples people built, the queenâ&#x20AC;&#x;s hair style, and the variety of the raised plants.

27- Some information about museums is given below. Which one of the following is true? a) A museum can host every collection in it. b) Museums are named in accordance with the collections they have. c) Each object can be exhibited in the same museum. For instance, a computer a a writing tablet can be put in the same museum.

28- Which of the following is not a collectible item? a) Home and office collection

b) Metal coin collection

c) Keychain collection

29- At which field the Lydians were most successful? a) Wall paintings

b) Pottery

c) Goldmines and treasure

30- In the past people were using coins instead of paper money. Why? a) They did not know how to use paper money. b) Metal money was more precious and resistant. c) A false coin couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x;t have been produced and it could be kept as a memory.

31- Why do we have to look at an object (a historical work) in an archeological museum carefully? a) For finding the missing parts of the object and telling it to our teacher

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b) For knowing the people who lived in the past in a better way and understanding what they were doing c) Because the objects in the museums are very old and expensive.

32- The kings living in the past were putting their pictures on the coins. Why? a) Kings were showing how powerful they were to the public. b) Kings could show in which city they were living and the important historical events. c) They did so, as they people were afraid seeing their pictures.

33- When we go to a museum, why do we need to carry a museum guide with us? a) Because our trip can finish quickly, and we can return home. b) We can have more information about the museum we will visit and do a programmed visit. c) We can shop with this guid

34- We see various objects used for the same purpose in the museums; for instance, pottery, glasses, money, pots, vases, etc. There can be different ornaments and pictures on them. Why? a) As the ancient civilizations could not draw the same pictures again, they were drawing different pictures. b) Ancient people were using different colors and designs for selling the objects they made. c) Each civilization was reflecting its feelings, and knowledge to the objects they made.

35- Which one of the following is the symbol of Lydian kings? a) An eagle‟s paw

b) Lion head and claw

c) Tail of a dragon

36- Which of the following is true? a) You must be rich for forming a collection; for this reason, only adults can make collections. b) It is difficult to make a collection, only museums can do so. c) Making a collection, we also observe objects and look at them.

37- Which of the following are present in the “Museum Tour Guide?” a) Books on the museum. b) Films about the museum and its items. c) Paper on the museum and activities.

38- According to what are the collections organized in museums? a) The items in a museum must be organized from the biggest to the smallest. The small item and the big item cannot be put together. b) Organizing the items in the museum, the items belonging to the same time period and the same civilization must be put together. c) The items in the museum are not organized in a specific order, for this, everybody can do the same organization.

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39- We will go to the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. Why is this museum very important? a) Because too many tourists come to this museum. b) Because it teaches us the life styles and beliefs of the ancient civilizations c) Because the objects in the museum are full of with dresses made by humans.

40- Why are the collections in the museums are important? a) Too many people come to visit the collections, and the museums make lots of money. b) Because collections form museums. c) Because the collections are hidden in the museums, and nobody is allowed to steal them.

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Europen Journal of Educational Studies 1(3), 2009 © 2009 Ozean Publication

A STUDY ON PROFESSIONAL ETHIC PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHERS AND SCHOOL PRINCIPALS1 *#A., Esra, ASLAN, **Nurhayat ÇELEBĠ, *Bülent AKDAĞ, *Müge YÜKSEL *A.Nilgün CANEL, *Seval ĠMAMOĞLU,**Selma DÜNDAR *Marmara University, Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Goztepe Campus 34722 GoztepeISTANBUL-TURKEY **Marmara University, Educational Administration and Inspection TURKEY *#E-mail address for correspondence : aeaslan@hotmail.com __________________________________________________________________________________________ Abstract : This study is planned for recognition of the gap in ethical codes that will compose a reference for teachers and school principals in our country when performing their profession. At the study, the answer was sought for the question of how teachers and school principals “define the professional ethics” as detailed below.

Two different focus groups consisting of teachers and school principals were asked how they define the professional ethics and the received written responses were examined by content analysis and the findings were interpreted accordingly. The responses of teachers and school principals related to ethical concepts were gathered under 11 main topics for each focus group. These are “Sense of Duty, Human Sensitivity, Social Responsibility, Honesty, Virtuousness, Equality, Tolerance, Objectivity, Justice, Believing in Supremacy of Law and Non-code”. Later, the expressions gathered under these topics were compared with the ethical concepts in the philosophy literature.

According to the findings, it was observed that teachers and school principals do not regard the professional ethics concepts in the same meaning with the ethical concepts in the philosophy literature and that they do not perceive most of the concepts in the literature within the borders of professional ethics and as defined in the literature. Teachers and school principals associated ethics with irrelevant concepts instead of ethics-related concepts due to their lack of ethical knowledge that may prevent their compliance with the "ethical values" when performing their profession. These study findings give rise to thought that teachers and school principles lack some cognitive codes in abstract intellectual discussion and reference issues that would form a base when they face ethical dilemmas.

Keywords: Ethics, profession ethics, ethical codes of teachers, ethical codes of school principals. __________________________________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION Human is a creature developing conceptions and values; evaluates himself and everything around from this point of view. Therefore, one of the main problems of human is his search for conceptions and behaviors for life and himself (Gunay 2006). The individual‟s attitude against people he establishes relations with, and his decisions and behaviors reflect the direction attributed to his life. The direction attributed to life depends on how he evaluates the other person and himself.

Kucuradi (1998) explains this situation as follows: … In our relationships with people and ourselves, in our interest in our and others‟ actions and results; at the basis of our existence as a person with a certain integrity with our surroundings, era, past and future, ______________________ 1

This study is carried out by extent of EGT-Â- 060308-0051 number project which is decided on 06.03.2008 date

and 03/2008 number assembly of Marmara University Rector Science Resource Projects Commission Chairman

by Ass. Prof. Dr. Nurhayat Çelebi‟s leader 145

there is our sense of value and this sense of value is based on our sense of human – our expectations from human and ourselves…

Although values are easy-to-explain and comprehensible when handled on the basis of individual relationship, the fact that the human exists in a historical and cultural world requires handling the values along with their social views. As Gunay (2006) also mentions; the values may be contravened occasionally while those may be realized in actions and works of art of the people who are members of a society depending on historical conditions.

Ethics, as a value, is primarily the research and comprehension of life to be demanded. In other words; it means falling into place of all activities and purposes; knowing what will be or will not be done; what will be demanded or will not be demanded; what will be owned or will not be owned (Aydın 1998). Accordingly, ethics is a questioning field. Although it is morally agreed upon the question of “What is correct action/behavior?” which has been asked since ancient ages, questioning and discussing continue in ethics as the events, facts and objects change. Accordingly, it is seen that there are various definitions regarding ethics (Foucault, 2005; Tepe, 1998; Kuçuradi, 2000b).

The term „ethics‟ (ethos: the way of existence and behaving) was previously used in the meanings of customs, traditions and habits. Even in Ancient Greece, people discussed their individual freedoms within the concept of ethical problem.

Different expressions regarding ethical concepts may be mentioned as follows:  Aristotle, a philosopher in ancient age, sorts the sciences under three topics as “theoretical, practical and poetical”. Science is theoretical when it examines itself for “itself”; practical when it forms rules for behaviors; and poetical when it searches the useful, fine and good one. Ethics is included in practice; emphasizes on character analysis (Sonmez, 1998).  Ethics is also defined as systems of value judgment or behavior norms which are applicable generally or in a certain period, taken as a basis in interpersonal relationships (Kucuradi, 2000a).  Ethics is used in the meaning of morality, independently of a certain moral value (Tepe, 1998).  Another way of comprehending ethics is Hartmann‟s perspective “morals are many, ethics is single” (Diemer, Patzig, Feys, Heinemann, König, 1990).

The role of ethics as a discipline is not to develop a kind of moral and not to advise obeying this moral; but to discuss moral relations and to deliver an opinion regarding their nature. While moral describes what people do and believe in, ethics attributes a moral value to a reasonable behavior or belief (Jennings, 2003). In recent years, ethics is interpreted as “a philosophical discipline presenting or expected to present verifiable – falsifiable information regarding ethic problems of human” (Tepe, 1998; Gülenç, 2006). This comment on ethics is related to the “justification and grounding” of norms.

The basis we use in describing human relationships in society as true/false, good/bad is the ethical values.

Generally, it is believed that all rules and principles of ethics are not universal and some varies according to the society and cultures. However, there are some circumstances regarding ethical values, which should be perceived same in all cultures. Although institutional values vary for each corporation, those values should not contradict with universal values. For example, if honesty is a behavior pattern ethically, it should be perceived same all over the world. But some circumstances compatible or incompatible with honesty may vary according to the cultures (Aras, 2001). Criteria determining ethical behaviors vary by the time in parallel with the change in social dynamics. Therefore, ethical behaviors are dynamic (Akdoğan, 2003). There is an interrelation between moral life and ethics. Human does not possess a moral structure in birth. Therefore it needs an education process.

Education is essentially a moral activity; i.e. education may be regarded as an activity aiming to bring the individual to a maturity by presenting some values which are deemed important and aiming to approach to the perfection (Yayla, 2005). Thus, ethics has a special meaning in education since teachers and administrators are both surrounded by moral problems and undertook the responsibility of students, i.e. next generations for moral goodness (Haynes, 1998).

Teachers and school principals are liable to be a model in human relationships and to establish ethics referenced relationships within the school. In consideration of their significant roles in the society due to those functions, “how teachers and school principals define „professional ethics‟ and comparison of those definitions with the concepts in philosophy literature” constitute the main purpose of this study. This study is included within the

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borders of normative ethics1 since it questions the rules which are acceptable in ethical terms. All definitions trying to explain the business ethics comprise the applied ethical knowledge including the rules, standards and ethical principles regarding what is “true and false” under a specific condition. Conformity of a special behavior to ethics is determined not only by personal ethics and values of individuals, but also by the society including mass communications, interest groups and organizations (Ferrel ve Fredrich, 1994; Uslu, 2001; Valesquez, Andre, Shanks, Meyer, 1988). Besides, while business ethics includes ethical principles and standards that lead and guide behaviors in business world, and the applied ethical knowledge, professional ethics includes the recognized approaches, rules, attitudes and behaviors which must be considered and internalized by the related persons in performing a profession and which are shared by the persons in business life. Professional ethics is formed by a profession group; the efficiency of ethical principles depends on the strong formation of this group and adaptation of fundamental rules and values within the group (Durkheim, 1949‟cited in Özmen and Güngör, 2008; TDK, 2008). At this study, the responses of teachers and school principals regarding how they perceive the professional ethics in terms of general ethics are examined.

OBJECTIVES Objective of this study is to determine “how teachers and school principals perceive and define professional ethics”.

Sub-objectives developed in accordance with this objective are as follows: 1.

2.

3.

4.

How do the teachers define ethical concepts?

How do the school principals define ethical concepts?

Is there any similarity and difference between ethical concepts of teachers and school principals?

Is there any similarity and difference between ethical concepts of teachers and school principals and the ethical concepts in philosophy literature?

METHOD Qualitative method of research is preferred at this study. Although there is not a single definition for qualitative researches in the literature, those are the researches where qualitative data collection methods are used, such as observation, interview and document analysis, etc. and where a procedure is applied for presenting the perceptions and events as realistic and integrated in a natural environment (Yıldırım and ġimĢek, 2000). While introducing the perceptions and definitions for professional ethics of teachers and school principals, data is interpreted by inductive method in accordance with the nature of research objective. As Glaser and Strauss (1967, cited in Yıldırım and ġimĢek, 2000) mentioned, this study aimed to reveal the existing perceptions regarding professional ethics of teachers and school principals, a social and dynamic fact, in order to avoid the mistake of observing the facts from the same point of view in traditional quantitative methods.

MEANS OF DATA COLLECTION For the purpose of collecting data at the study, some open-ended questions were asked such as “In your opinion, what does professional ethics of teacher include?” to a focus group of public school teachers in various positions and branches in elementary and secondary school; and “In your opinion, what does professional ethics of school principal include?” to the school principals, and their written responses were requested.

METHODS OF DATA ANALYSIS Among methods of qualitative research, content analysis is preferred for data analysis, and frequency analysis and categorical analysis are preferred technically. Fox (1969) defines the content analysis as the classification, summarization of verbal or written data for a specific problem or purpose, measurement of specific variables or 1

Since ethical behaviors are built on the value systems which would ground the individual and social life or easily destroyed because of not keeping up with the rate of speed at least, three separate types of ethics are mentioned, which are related to each other in terms of moral philosophy, nature of knowledge and history. Those

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concepts and classification of those upon scanning in order to derive a specific meaning (cited in TavĢancıl and Aslan, 2001). Categorical analysis generally means sorting of a specific message into units first, then classifying these units under categories according to the criteria identified before. Determination of intensity and significance may be preferred for the categories, as it is in message items (Bilgin, 1988).

Research Unit Research unit is built on decoding of written documents. Therefore, there is not any target population and sampling of the study since there is not any concern for generalization in accordance with the methods of qualitative research.

Some ethics-related “words” are based as research unit in order to analyze written documents. Sentences are reviewed by two separate coder groups for three times and the words mentioned in terms of ethics are listed.

Process The problem of “the perception of professional ethic codes related to the profession of teaching and education administration and formation of codes particular to our country upon comparing the equivalents of those perceptions in various countries”, which is observed in SWOT analysis2 within the strategic planning period of Marmara University applied prior to this research, is regarded as a problem which should be investigated.

Responses of teachers and school principals for research questions are listed by two separate coder groups and the concept or concepts representing the meaning of the sentence best are taken as “unit”. The categories obtained from written documents are classified by various groups for three times and general fields are formed in this way. Data obtained from the document presented by the respondents in writing as based on the method which is recommended under the title of “inductive analysis” in the literature are repeatedly reviewed in the manner of forming main themes (general fields) (Yıldırım and ġimĢek, 2000). Some specific sub-fields are formed within the general fields related to ethics and the concepts included in the general field categories are divided into specific sub-fields in order to enable the interpretation of data according to the meaning contained.

It is paid attention to evaluate the concepts included in the responses given by the participants in terms of case and to ensure they were in parallel with ethical concepts in philosophy literature during formation of general field categories. Then, frequencies and percentages are taken from the concepts included in general, specific subfield categories of teachers and school principals separately, and shown as tables. Ethical concepts shown in those tables are compared with the concepts related to ethics included in philosophy literature.

Reliability As the comments pertaining to the categories do not differ among the researchers or times, thus provide reliability which is a must for objectivity (TavĢancıl and Aslan, 2001), it is paid attention to the determination and definition of research categories clearly. Written documents are independently reviewed by two separate research groups and then discussed and classified according to the agreed general fields. Thereby, consistency is tried to be established between coders.

In creation of codes, an independent jury is preferred, consisting of various professions other than the research group of general fields (Research Techniques, Educational Sociology, Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Assessment and Evaluation, Training Programs, Educational Administration and Inspection, etc.) as another reliability condition. Role of this jury is to deliver opinion regarding compatibility of general fields in two separate meanings. First; is to deliver opinion regarding compatibility of general professional ethics fields and whether other fields are needed or not and the second is to arrange those codes according to the order of importance. Thirtyeight general fields derived from philosophy literature are reviewed again in accordance with 2

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threat.

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the jury feedbacks and conceptual discrepancies not corresponding to practical data are determined. For example; some concepts such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;task-duty, hedonism, utilitarianism, communicative ethics, confidentiality, willâ&#x20AC;? included in philosophy literature and the responses given by teachers and school principals and evaluated within the scope of specific sub-fields were not corresponding to each other or not related in any way. Thus, it is studied on total 11 categories consisting of 10 general fields and 1 non-code.

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Validity Three techniques were used during research in order to meet the validity condition of qualitative research: (a) (b) (c)

General fields basing on philosophy literature and the responses of the participants were subjected to the evaluation of jury.

The extent of correspondence between the concepts which were estimated to be included in general field and ethic concepts included in philosophy literature were examined as external criteria.

Teachers and school principals were coded by two independent jury consisting of research team and the results were compared accordingly.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Eighthundredtwentysix (N sentence= 826) “ethic related sentences” were observed among the expressions of 117 teachers and 167 “ethics related sentences” were observed among the expressions of 38 school principals participating to the research. Ethic relates sentences were analyzed as “unit” in consideration of the context and total 11 categories consisting of 10 separate general fields and 1 non-code were determined and shown as tables for both groups.

Findings and Interpretation Regarding Responses of Teachers General Fields Consisting of Teachers’ Expressions Regarding Professional Ethics and Interpretation.

Eleven general fields derived upon review of written responses given by teachers regarding the concept of “professional ethics” are given in Table 1.

Table 1.

General Fields of Professional Ethics of Teachers

1

Teachers /General field Sense of Duty

f 410

% 49,64

2

Human Sensitivity

120

14,53

3

Social Responsibility

81

9,81

4

Honesty

46

5,57

5

Virtuousness

43

5,21

6

Equality

34

4,12

7

Non-Code Expressions

31

3,75

8

Tolerance

23

2,78

9

Objectivity

22

2,66

10

Justice

12

1,45

11

Believing in Supremacy of Law Total

4

0,48

826

100,00

Note: Brief descriptions for the concepts included in Table 1 are given in Annex 1.

“Sense of duty” (f=410, 49,64%), “human sensitivity” (f=120, 14,53%) and “social responsibility” (f=81, 9,81%) were observed at maximum listed under general fields among the responses given by teachers regarding professional ethics. The expressions included in general field at minimum were “believing in supremacy of law” (f=4, 0,48%), “justice” (f=12, 1,45%) and “objectivity” (f=22, 2,66%).

According to the deontological perspective; “duty” is included within the major moral categories (Castell, 1964, cited in Luthans, Hodgets and Thompson, 1987). The reason why the concept of “sense of duty” is mostly mentioned may be attributed to the fact that there is a “duty-oriented” business perception in professional

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branches affiliated to the state in Turkey. This situation may be evaluated as an approach created in consequence of centralist management structure, state guarantee or authority.

On the other hand, it is seen that “believing in supremacy of law” is an ethical value which is mentioned at minimum. This result may be evaluated in parallel with any of the following factors:  The existence of “mistrust and skepticism” environment created by the recent law arguments in our country and the need for long period of time for attaining legal results complicate to perceive the relation between law concept and ethical values.  Amendments frequently made in law and regulations during the period of all governments could have prevented conceiving of law and ethics concept together.  Due to that the dominance of religious or moral components in our country precludes legal basis in perceiving the ethic codes, it is possible to consider that “law” is not included within ethical references.

Specific Sub-Fields Consisting of Teachers’ Expressions Regarding Professional Ethics and Interpretation.

Specific sub-fields created upon categorization of ethical expressions included in the general fields in first table are given and interpreted in Table 2 in detail.

Table 2.

Frequencies and Percentages of Specific Sub-Fields Within the Scope of Itself and General Field Regarding Perceptions of Teachers for Professional Ethics Ethical Contents Sentence (f)

Specific Sub-Fields Included in General Fields Created According to the Teachers‟ Expressions

Max.

1

Min.

Sense of Duty Professional Attitude and Practice Continuous Professional Development Personal Development, Professional Skill Communication with Student Professional Moral National Value Self-Confidence Total

Max.

2

Min.

Human Sensitivity Love / Respect Being Opposed to Violence Guidance Being Emphatic Human Rights Appreciation of Student Respecting Differences Understanding Style of Communication Awareness Ego-Language Self-Esteem Solidarity Environmental Conscious Total Social Responsibility Being Social Leader

3 Max.

151

General Field %

Specifi c SubField %

199 63 47 44 39 17 1 410

24,09 7,63 5,69 5,33 4,72 2,06 0,12 49,64

48,54 15,37 11,46 10,73 9,51 4,15 0,24 100

26 18 16 11 10 9 7 6 6 5 2 2 1 1 120

3,15 2,18 1,94 1,33 1,21 1,09 0,85 0,73 0,73 0,61 0,24 0,24 0,12 0,12 14,53

21,67 15,00 13,33 9,17 8,33 7,50 5,83 5,00 5,00 4,17 1,67 1,67 0,83 0,83 100

38

4,60

46,91

Min.

Max.

4

Min.

Max.

5 Min.

Max. 6

Min.

Max.

Min.

7

Social Development Patriotism Social Cohesion Social Status Responsibility For Parents Instructiveness Not Being Self-Seeker Social Interaction Total

8 8 7 5 4 4 4 3 81

0,97 0,97 0,85 0,61 0,48 0,48 0,48 0,36 9,80

9,88 9,88 8,64 6,17 4,94 4,94 4,94 3,70 100

Total

21 8 4 4 4 2 2 1 46

2,54 0,97 0,48 0,48 0,48 0,24 0,24 0,12 5,57

45,65 17,38 8,70 8,70 8,70 4,35 4,35 2,17 100

Total

11 7 6 5 5 3 3 3 43

1,33 0,85 0,73 0,61 0,61 0,36 0,36 0,36 5,21

25,58 16,28 13,94 11,63 11,63 6,98 6,98 6,98 100

Total

16 12 6 34

1,94 1,45 0,73 4,12

47,06 35,29 17,65 100

6 4 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0,73 0,48 0,24 0,24 0,24 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12 0,12

19,35 12,95 6,45 6,45 6,45 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23 3,23

Honesty Sincerity Consistency Truthfulness Trust Openness Equability Having Principles Not Gossiping

Virtuousness Appreciation Having Distinctive Personality Commitment to Profession Self-Devotion Self-Confidence Consciousness Reputability Optimism

Equality Legal Equality Not Discriminating Between Students Social Equality

Non-Code Expressions National Values Social Activities Joy of Living Kemalism Crowded Classes Criticism Specialization High Wage Hobby Conceptual Knowledge Quality Reason Seeking Not Being Boring Confidentiality Exploitation Questioning Being grateful Follow-up Common Sense

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Determining Problem

8

Max. Min.

9

10

Min.

Max. Min.

Justice Legal Justice Student-Oriented Justice

11

Max. Min.

1 31

0,12 3,75

3,23 100

Total

12 11 23

1,45 1,33 2,78

52,17 47,83 100

Total

10 7 3 2 22

1,21 0,85 0,36 0,24 2,66

45,45 31,82 13,64 9,09 100

Total

10 2 12

1,21 0,24 1,45

83,33 16,67 100

Total

2 1 1 4

0,24 0,12 0,12 0,48

50,00 25,00 25,00 100

N=826

100,00

Tolerance Being Tolerant Patience

Objectivity Neutrality Objectivity Against Students Objectivity In Teaching Objectivity In Assessment

Max.

Total

Believing in Supremacy of Law Being Democratic Independency Modernity

Total

As it is mentioned in Table 2, responses given by teachers regarding general field category of “sense of duty” is repeated for 410 (49,64%) times in 826 expressions. Sense of duty” may be defined as feeling the necessity of performing a duty. At this study, “sense of duty” is a concept related by approximately one of every two teachers with “professional ethics”. Under the general field of “sense of duty”, “professional attitude and practice” (f=199, 48,54%) at maximum and “self-confidence” (f=1, 0,24%) at minimum is collected as specific sub-field.

This finding proves that teachers give importance to the attitude and practices for performing their professions and consider those as an ethical principal. One of its reason may be the perception that the said role is intensively expected by the society. Besides, it is resulted from the fact that teachers attribute an important function to their professional attitudes and practices in determining the future of a child or human.

Expressions of teachers regarding general field of “human sensitivity” are repeated for 120 times (14,53%) and the specific sub-field of “love-respect” (f=26, 21,67%) is included in these general field expressions at maximum and “environmental consciousness” and “solidarity” (f=1, 0,83%) at minimum. The sub-field of “love-respect” which is mostly related to “human sensitivity” shows that teachers value human relationships and perceive this as an ethical attitude. The specific sub-field which is mentioned in the general field of “human sensitivity” at minimum is “environmental consciousness” and “solidarity”. It is a remarkable fact that environmental consciousness is related to the professional ethics at minimum level in today‟s world where environmental pollution, global warming issues remain on the agenda. It is possible to regard that mentioning of environmental consciousness at minimum within the scope of values reflect the condition of insensitivity.

Another specific sub-field which is mentioned at minimum is “solidarity”. Then, it is possible to conclude that the solidarity fact is not adopted as an ethical principle. This may be caused by rapid technological progress, that the economical and political changes as a result of globalization push people to loneliness and accordingly teachers do not consider traditional values such as “solidarity”, “cooperation”, etc. as related to the ethics.

The general field of “social responsibility” is repeated by teachers for 81 times (9,80%) and the specific subfield of “being social leader” (f=38, 46,91%) is included therein at maximum and “social interaction” (f=3, 3,70%) at minimum. Being prominent of “being social leader” role within the general field of “social responsibility” covering a sense of society-oriented duty may be caused by the fact that teachers consider themselves as a leader within their social environment. That the teacher having an important role in developing

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the sense of democracy mentions “social interaction” at minimum within the general field of social responsibility calls to mind the question of how much the teacher is aware of its mission apart from the sense of duty.

The general field of “honesty” is repeated for 46 times (5,57%). “Sincerity” is emphasized in this general field at maximum (f=21, 45,65%) and “not gossiping” (f=1, 2,17%) at minimum. This finding shows that teachers do not relate gossiping both with honesty and professional ethics directly although they relate the honesty concept with professional ethics in its general meaning; which means the “normalization” of an inappropriate attitude.

Expressions regarding “virtuousness” are repeated for 43 times (5,21%). Teachers mentioned the expressions including the concepts of “appreciation” (f=11, 25,58%) at maximum and the concepts of “consciousness”, “reputability” and “optimism” (f=3, 6,98%) at minimum in the general field of “virtuousness”. It is remarkable that the teachers do not use the word of “virtue” directly although the responses given by the teachers against the research question are collected under the general field of “virtuousness” by the researches basing on the philosophy literature. However, the concepts of ethics and virtue are often used together from different points of view according to the philosophy literature. For example, it is seen that the most fundamental and permanent response given in western discourse for the question of “what is good for person?” is related to the concept of “virtue” (Balanuye, 2001). The concept mostly mentioned by teachers within the context of “virtuousness” is appreciation, and followed by the expressions of “moral values must be paid attention, must have moral values, must be moral, well-behaved”, etc., this may be caused by the need for demonstration of behaviors related to these concepts.

The general field of “equality” is repeated for 34 times (4,12%). Teachers mentioned the expressions of “legal equality” at maximum (f=16, 47,06%) and “social equality” at minimum (f=6, 17,65%) within the general field of “equality”. The rate given in “legal equality” which is related by teachers with the concept of “equality” at maximum gives rise to the thought that they do not consider unequal and discriminatory behaviors as conflicting with ethics. However, the concept of equality must be thoroughly handled by teachers in order to be converted into a behavior practically (Gözütok,1995).

Thirtyone (3,75%) expressions which are included in 826 expressions given by teachers and not included in 10 categories are defined as “non-code”. The expression mostly repeated in non-code concepts is “national values” (f=26, 19,35%). The concepts which are mentioned at minimum in non-code expressions are “criticism”, “specialization”, “high wage”, “hobby”, “conceptual knowledge”, “quality”, “reason seeking”, “not being boring”, “confidentiality”, “exploitation”, “questioning”, “being grateful”, “follow-up”, “common sense” and “problem determination” (f=1, 3,23%). Responding to a question regarding professional ethics within the scope of national values is remarkable. This situation may be interpreted as particular to the agenda in our country and caused by the concerns regarding local/national values.

The general field of “tolerance” is repeated for 23 times (2,78%). The specific sub-field of “being tolerant” (f=12, %52,17) is mentioned at maximum and “patience” at minimum (f=11, 47,83%) in this general field.

“Tolerance” concept is correlated by teachers with ethics at minimum. This fact may bring the question of “does tolerance decrease nowadays?” up for discussion. On the other hand, tolerance is an important attitude for preventing violation of rights in relationships of profession members and a must for democracy.

Expressions regarding “objectivity” are repeated for 22 times (2,66%). “Neutrality” is mentioned at maximum (f=10, 45,45%) and “objectivity in assessment” at minimum (f=2, 9,09%) in this general field. Neutrality is perceived as accepting as it is and acting unbiased. This way of perception may be related with the sub-field of “legal equality” included in the general field of “equality”.

Expressions regarding “justice” are repeated for 12 times (1,45%). The expression of “legal justice” is mentioned at maximum (f=10, 83,33%) and “student-oriented justice” at minimum (f=2, 16,67%) in this general field. It is observed that teachers do not relate the concept of justice with student-oriented ethical behaviors although they regard it as a legal principle.

Expressions regarding the general field of believing in supremacy of law” are repeated for 4 times (0,48%) and the specific sub-field of “being democratic” is mentioned at maximum (f=2, 50,00%) and “independency” and “modernity” are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 25,00%) within this scope. This result shows that the specific subfield of “believing in supremacy of law” is related with professional ethics at minimum level.

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Findings and Interpretation Regarding Responses of School principals General Fields Consisting of School principals’ Expressions Regarding Professional Ethics and Interpretation. Results regarding frequency and percentage distribution of general fields which are formed on the basis of school principals‟ expressions regarding “professional ethics” (N=167) are given in Table 3.

Table 3.

General Fields Regarding Professional Ethics of School principals School principals/ General Field

f

%

1

Sense of Duty

51

30,54

2

Human Sensitivity

37

21,16

3

Objectivity

18

10,78

4

Equality

16

9,58

5

Believing in Supremacy of Law

9

5,39

6

Non-Code Expressions

9

5,39

7

Justice

8

4,79

8

Virtuousness

6

3,59

9

Social Responsibility

5

2,99

10

Honesty

4

2,40

11

Tolerance

4

2,40

167

100,00

Total

As it is seen in Table 3, general field consisting of written responses of school principals regarding professional ethics are classified in 11 categories. Expressions regarding professional ethics are categorized in “general field” as “sense of duty” (f=51, 30,54%), “human sensitivity” (f=37, 21,16%) and “objectivity” (f=18, 10,78%) at maximum. The expressions which are emphasized at minimum are “social responsibility” (f=5, 2,99%), “honesty” and “tolerance” (f=4, 2,40%). This result shows that school principals believe that they should pay attention to objectivity and human sensitivity as a sense of duty for their task, primarily for managerial purposes.

When considered from this point of view, a school principal behaving in accordance with ethics is expected to make a decision by looking after others‟ interests, to delegate others, acting in solidarity with students, to be a responsible person for all issues at the school.

On the other hand, it is observed that school principals do not correlate between professional ethics and the concepts of “social responsibility”, “honesty” and “tolerance”. It is remarkable that the concept of honesty is emphasized by school principals at minimum level although it is one of the major concepts for professional ethics.

Specific Sub-Fields Consisting of School principals’ Expressions Regarding Professional Ethics and Interpretation. Specific sub-fields created upon categorization of ethical expressions included in the general fields in third table are given and interpreted in Table 4 in detail.

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Table 4.

Frequencies and Percentages of Specific Sub-Fields Within the Scope of Itself and General Field Regarding Perceptions of School principals for Professional Ethics Specific Sub-Fields Included in General Fields Created According to the School principalsâ&#x20AC;&#x; Expressions

Max.

1 Min.

Sense of Duty Professional Competence Professional Responsibility Democratic Participation Education-Oriented Problem-Solving Professional Discipline Professionalism Total

Max. 2

Min.

Max. 3 Min.

Max. 4 Min.

Max. 5

Min.

Max. 6

Min.

Human Sensitivity Considering Differences Regarding Human as a Value and Attaching Importance

General Field %

Specific Sub- Field %

10 10 8 7 6 6 4 51

5,99 5,99 4,79 4,19 3,59 3,59 2,40 30,54

19,60 19,60 15,69 13,73 11,77 11,77 7,84 100

12

7,19

32,43 24,32

9

Total

6 4 4 2 37

5,39 3,59 2,40 2,40 1,98 22,16

16,22 10,81 10,81 5,41 100

Total

10 4 2 1 1 18

5,99 2,40 1,20 0,60 0,60 10,78

55,55 22,22 11,11 5,56 5,56 100

Total

8 3 3 1 1 16

4,79 1,80 1,80 0,60 0,60 9,58

50,00 18,75 18,75 6,25 6,25 100

Total

4 3 1 1 9

2,40 1,80 0,60 0,60 5,39

44,44 33,34 11,11 11,11 100

Total

4 2 1 1 8

2,40 1,20 0,60 0,60 4,80

50,00 25,00 12.50 12.50 100

Showing Love and Respect Being Optimist Attaching Priority To Student Adaptability

Objectivity Neutrality Acting Unbiased Acting According to the Fact Neutrality in Practice Neutrality in Planning

Equality Legal equality Personnel-Oriented Equality Managerial Equality Equality in Task Distribution Parents-Oriented Equality

Believing in Supremacy of Law Commitment to Law Commitment to Government Respecting Human Rights Respecting Labor Rights

Non-Code Expressions Kemalism Calmness Extravagance Being Talented

156

Ethical Contents Sentence (f)

Max. 7 Min.

Max. 8 Min.

Max. 9 Min.

Max. 10 Min.

11

Max. Min.

Justice Legal Justice Managerial Justice Personnel-Oriented Justice Total

5 2 1 8

2,99 1,20 0,60 4,79

62,50 25,00 12,50 100

Total

2 1 1 1 1 1 7

1,20 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 0,60 4,20

28,57 14,28 14,28 14,28 14,28 14,28 100

Total

2 1 1 1 5

1,20 0,60 0,60 0,60 2,99

40,00 20,00 20,00 20,00 100

Total

2 1 1 4

1,20 0,60 0,60 2,39

50,00 25,00 25,00 100

Total

3 1 4

1,80 0,60 2,39

75,00 25,00 100

167

100,00

Virtuousness Being Reliable Reputability Being a Model Self-Devotion Having Distinctive Personality Being Hardworking

Social Responsibility Conformity to Society Conformity to Education Being Model to Environment Social Association

Honesty Sincerity Openness Defending Truthfulness

Tolerance Tolerance Constructiveness

Total

Expressions regarding “sense of duty” is repeated for 51 times (30,54%) within 167 expressions given by the school principals and the expressions of “professional competence” and “professional responsibility” (f=10, 19,60%) pertaining to specific sub-fields are mentioned at maximum and “professionalism” (f=4, 7,84%) is mentioned at minimum in this general field.

Expressions regarding “human sensitivity” are repeated for 37 times (22,16%). “Considering differences” is mentioned at maximum (f=12, 32,43%) and “conformity” is mentioned at minimum (f=2, 5,41%) in this general field. Human sensitivity is a concept including protection of all items vital for human. This concept is mentioned by approximately a quarter of school principals. Especially, being prominent of “considering differences” subfield may be regarded as a tendency expected from administrators. The fact that the “compatibility” is the subfield which is mentioned by school principals at minimum in the general field of “human sensitivity” gives rise to the thought that the behaviors covered by the concept in terms of social relationships are not related with ethics.

Expressions regarding “objectivity” are repeated for 18 times (10,78%). The specific sub-field of “neutrality” is mentioned at maximum (f=10, 55,55%) and “neutrality in planning and practice” at minimum (f=1, 5,56%) in the general field of objectivity. That the school principals frequently mention the concept of “objectivity” shows that they attach importance to behaving everybody at an equal distance as a principle in organizational management. However, the fact that they mention the specific sub-field expressions of “neutrality in planning” and “neutrality in practice” at minimum level gives rise to the thought that they regard the objectivity with the meaning of “neutrality” and disregard the meaning of “object-, fact-, event-oriented”.

Griffiths (1959, cited in Starratt, 2003) emphasizes the importance of fulfilling the objectivity and rationality duties by the administrator. Rationality and objectivity ensures that the administrator makes professional

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decisions in following the targets of organization. It will create a strong ethical reference point for the school principals during decision-making process.

Expressions regarding “equality” is repeated for 16 times (9,58%). “Legal equality” is mentioned at maximum (f=8, 50,00%) and “parents-oriented equality” and “equality in task distribution” are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 6,25%). It is possible to state that “equality” perceptions of school principals are close to their “objectivity” perceptions.

The characteristics of school principals such as respecting to all individuals, communicating correctly and honestly basically require being aware of all individuals‟ values and respecting those values accordingly (Akbaba and Altun, 2003).

Expressions regarding “believing in supremacy of law” are mentioned for 9 times (5,39%). The sentences categorized as “commitment to law” is mentioned at maximum (f=4, 44,44%) and “respecting human rights” and “respecting labor rights” are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 11,11%) in this general field. The concept of “supremacy of law” includes showing respect to all individuals by all organizations and elements affiliated to the government in accordance with the laws and norms previously set forth and guarantees the course of laws and norms. This is a democracy principle preventing “arbitrary” attitudes and treatments of both individuals and government.

When considered from general point of view, school principals mentioned the expression of believing in supremacy of law at minimum level within professional ethics since they regard it as a part of their fundamental duty.

The expressions, belonging school principals regarding professional ethics, not conforming to any general field topic are defined as “non-code” (f=8, 4,80%). It is estimated that the relation between those concepts and ethic codes would be controversial. Under the general field of “non-code”, “Kemalism” is mentioned at maximum (f=4, 50,00%) and “extravagance” and “being talented” sentences are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 12,50%).

Expressions regarding “justice” are repeated for 8 times (4,79%). Among those specific sub-fields, “legal justice” is mentioned at maximum (f=5, 62,50%) and “personnel-oriented justice” is mentioned at minimum (f=1, 12,50%) in this general field. These values give rise to the thought that school principal hold himself responsible for being “fair”.

Among the expressions under the general field of “virtuousness”, “being reliable” is mentioned at maximum (f=2, 28,57%), and “reputability”, “being a model”, “self-devotion”, “trust”, “having distinctive personality” and “hardworking” specific sub-fields are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 14,28%). It is observed that school principals do not use the word of “virtue” directly and instead of this, relate it with the concepts included in specific sub-fields indirectly, although virtue is an important concept within the scope of ethics.

Expressions regarding “social responsibility” is repeated for 5 times (2,99%) by the school principals. Within the scope of this general field, the specific sub-fields of conformity to society” is mentioned at maximum (f=2, 40,00%) and “social association”, “being model to environment” and “conformity to education” are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 20,00%). It is understood by the concept of “social responsibility” that “socio-economic, cultural and ecological concerns are regarded by the organizations, companies and individuals as a part of their own fields of activity”. Accordingly, it is remarkable that the school principals mention the expressions regarding “social responsibility” at minimum level. This finding gives rise to the thought that administrators are not willing to fulfill their social responsibilities in educational organizations which are established as an open system.

School principals repeated the expressions regarding “honesty” for 4 times (2,39%). Under this general field, “sincerity” is mentioned at maximum (f=2, 50,00%), and “openness” and “defending truthfulness” are mentioned at minimum (f=1, 25,00%) as specific sub-fields. According to TDK (2008) glossary; “honesty” is defined as “truthfulness”, “being straight as a die”, “reflecting the events as it is”, “not hiding the facts”. It is remarkable at the study that only four of 167 school principals relate the “honesty” with ethics and the remaining 163 administrators did not relate so. This finding is consistent with the results obtained from the general field of “virtuousness”.

School principals repeated the expressions regarding the general field of “tolerance” for 4 times (2,39%).

“Tolerance” is mentioned at maximum (f=3, 75,00%) and “constructiveness” is mentioned at minimum (f=1,

158

25,00%) as expressions belonging to specific sub-fields. “Tolerance” is defined as not restricting others in their acts, actions and decisions; showing patience to the opinions which are contrary to the opinions of us and the majority (TDK, 2008). It may be thought that school principals do not make a general relation between “tolerance” and “ethics” due to their obligation in enforcing the regulations “correctly”. This finding also corresponds to the fact that school principals mostly emphasized the “sense of duty” expression among their responses given regarding professional ethics.

Comparison of the Professional Ethics Concepts Expressed by Teachers and School principals and the Ethics Concepts Expressed in Philosophy Literature When the philosophy literature is examined; 38 ethics related concepts are deemed to be related to the objectives of this research. In this context, the concepts taken as the basis to compare the ethics perceptions of teachers and school principals is given in Table 5.

Table 5.

Ethics concepts in Philosophy Literature Row No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Good Bad Optimism Pessimisms Freedom Responsibility Virtue Conscience Duty Morals

Row No 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Row No 21 22 23 24

Sense of Moral Moral Judgment Moral Act Moral Law Universal Moral Law Eudemonism Eudemonia Justice Determinism Indeterminism

25 26 27 28 29 30

Egoism Personal Morals Social Morals Value Judgment Deontology Mental Ethics Hedonism Nihilism Will Voluntarism

Row No 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Character Moral Person Altruism Common Sense Respect Intuitionism Solipsism Utilitarianism

Source: B. Akarsu, (1979). Philosophy Glossary. Ankara: Turkish Language Institute Publications; S. H. Bolay, (1997). Philosophy Text Book. Istanbul: Yuva Publications.

Whereas in Table 6; 11 general fields (10 general fields and 1 non-code) concepts defined by the teachers and school principals in the context of professional ethics are compared and matched up with the ethics concepts taking place in the philosophy literature.

159

Table 6.

Comparison of Professional Ethics Concepts of Teachers and School principals with the Ethics Concepts in Philosophy Literature.

Professional Ethics Concepts of Teachers 1

2

Ethics Concepts in Philosophy Literature

Sense of Duty (6), (9), (38)

Responsibility (6) Duty (9) Utilitarianism (38) Human Sensitivity Good (1) (1), (6), (8), (33), (35), Responsibility (6) (38) Conscience (8) Altruism(33) Respect (35) Utilitarianism (38) Social Responsibility Responsibility (6) (6), (23) Social Morals (23)

1

Honesty (1), (7), (18), (26)

Professional Ethics Concepts of School principals Sense of Duty (6), (9), (38)

Ethics Concepts in Philosophy Literature Responsibility (6) Duty (9) Utilitarianism (38) Good (1) Responsibility (6) Conscience (8) Altruism (33) Respect (35) Utilitarianism (38) Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Responsibility (6) Social Morals (23)

2

Human Sensitivity (1), (6), (8), (33), (35), (38)

3

Objectivity (1), (7), (18), (26)

Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Virtuousness (1), (7), Good (1) (18), (26) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Equality Good (1) (1), (7), (18), (26) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Non-Code Expressions (-)

4

Equality (1), (7), (18), (26)

5

Believing in Supremacy of Law (6), (23)

6

Non-Code Expressions (-)

-

7

Justice (1), (7), (18), (26)

8

Tolerance (1), (3)

Good (1) Optimism (3)

8

Virtuousness (1), (7), (18), (26)

9

Objectivity (1), (7), (18), (26)

9

Social Responsibility (6), (23)

10

Justice (1), (7), (18), (26)

10

Honesty (1), (7), (18), (26)

11

Believing in Supremacy of Law (6), (23)

Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Responsibility (6) Social Morals (23)

Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mental Ethics (26) Responsibility (6) Social Morals (23)

3

4

5

6

7

11 Tolerance (1), (3)

160

Good (1) Virtue (7) Justice (18) Mentality (26) Good (1) Optimism (3)

Explanation: The notations inside brackets (…) in the columns of professional ethics concepts of teachers and school principals are written in tandem with the row numbers of “Ethics Concepts in Philosophy Literature “ in Table 5.

As seen in Table 6, the definitions of teachers under the “sense of duty” general field correspond to the “Responsibility”, “Duty” and “Utilitarianism” ethics concepts in philosophy literature. This shows that teachers allow expressions fundamentally orientated towards practice and application to take place rather than concepts based on theory and principles. When considered cognitively, responsibility is anticipation and intentional acceptance of the possible results of each step taken (Dewey, 1996). This conclusion seems also valid for “social responsibility” and “human sensitivity” general fields. Because, “social responsibility”, as professional ethics code, is associated with “responsibility” and “social morals” in the context of ethics concepts in philosophy literature. Whereas “Human Sensitivity” general field is used by teachers in a manner to cover “good”, “virtue”, “altruism” and “respect” apart from “responsibility” and “utilitarianism”. This finding shows that while executing their duties, teachers attaching value to human beings is application oriented and a concrete result, and bear tendency towards applying the theoretical concepts such as basic human rights and human value. Also, according to a research carried out by Can (2002); teachers rank the “sense of duty” in the first place as an ethical value.

On the other hand, “honesty”, “virtuousness”, “equality”, “objectivity” and “justice” general fields show projection with the ethics concepts in the philosophy literature such as “good”, “virtue”, “justice” and “mentality ethics”. In accordance with the level expressed as “traditional period” by Kohlberg (1970); this finding may be interpreted as being equivalent to the concept of acting in accordance with the criteria of having morals is important and necessary, otherwise may be outcasted from the society.

Also in the responses given, “tolerance” general field is discussed in the context of “good” and “optimism”, and whereas the “believing in supremacy of law” general field, having the lowest frequency, is handled in the context of “responsibility” and “social morals”.

As it is seen in Table 6, the expressions of school principals included in the scope of “sense of duty” general field, correspond to “responsibility”, “duty” and “utilitarianism” concepts in the philosophy literature. While there are lots of concepts to be touched upon in “Sense of Duty” general field, the responses given by the administrators under this heading being limited to “responsibility”, “duty” and “utilitarianism” concepts indicate that the professional ethics conception of the school principals is oriented towards job and application.

“Human sensitivity” is the general field emphasized in second degree by the school principals. The expressions within this scope correspond to “good”, “conscience”, “altruism”, “respect” and “utilitarianism” concepts. “responsibility” and “utilitarianism” ethics concepts included in “sense of duty” general field found equivalence in “human sensitivity” general field. This result shows that the school principals, performing a profession occupation oriented towards the management of human and material resources, are inclined towards application – by also giving importance to the theoretical concepts and principles such as „basic human rights”, “human value”.

In the direction of the responses given by school principals, the expressions in “objectivity”, “equality”, “justice”, “virtuousness” and “honesty” general fields may be recouped with the ethics concepts in philosophy literature such as “good”, “virtue”, “justice” and “mentality”. These four philosophical concepts may also be the subject matter of the debates ongoing in theoretical level. If we think about the scarcity of the debates in theoretical, scientific and academic level in our society, it is not possible for the school principals not being affected from this as they are a member of this community. In other words, some of the concepts related to ethics strongly emphasized in philosophy literature being moderately emphasized by the school principals give rise to thought that the school principals do not have adequate command over the contents of the concepts.

The expressions of the school principals taking place in “believing in supremacy of law” and “social responsibility” general fields overlap with “responsibility” and “social morals” concepts in the philosophy literature. When it is also considered that the “sense of duty” general field has the highest percentage, this situation shows that school principals are more focused on carrying out the work by the rules and do not take into account the social role responsibility while passing a judgment relating to a specific event or case.

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“Tolerance”, having the least frequency among the professional ethics concepts of the school principals, is matched with “good” and “optimism” in the philosophy literature. “Tolerance” being the least referred area may be stemming from their belief that acting tolerantly reduces the sense of duty and slows down the works.

Although “tolerance” being the least emphasized one among the general fields, whereas reference being made to concepts relating to “human sensitivity” ranking in second place shows that school principals handle the terms relating to human sensitivity with stereotype judgments and try to define it without really pondering over it.

Comparison of the Professional Ethics Concepts of Teachers and School principals This research put forward the similar and distinct inclinations of teachers and school principals in terms of ethical principals and attitudes. The frequency and percentage values of these inclinations are shown comparatively in Table 7.

Table 7.

Comparison of Frequency and Percentage Distribution of Professional Ethics Perceptions of Teachers and School principals

General fields relating to expressions of Teachers 1 Sense of Duty

f

%

410

49,64

2

Human Sensitivity

120

14,53

2

3

Social Responsibility

81

9,80

4

Honesty

46

5,57

5

Virtuousness

43

5,21

6

Equality

34

4,12

7

Non-Code Expressions

31

3,75

8

Tolerance

23

2,78

9

Objectivity

22

2,66

10

Justice

12

1,45

11

Believing in Supremacy of Law Total

4

0,48

826

General fields relating to expressions of School principals 1 Sense of Duty

f

%

51

30,54

Human Sensitivity

37

22,16

3

Objectivity

18

10,78

4

Equality

16

9,58

5

9

5,39

6

Believing in Supremacy of Law Non-Code Expressions

9

5,39

7

Justice

8

4,79

8

Virtuousness

6

3,59

9

Social Responsibility

5

2,99

10

Honesty

4

2,39

11

Tolerance

4

2,39

167

100

100

Total

Contents that may be defined as “sense of duty” have the highest frequency and percentage value both among teachers (49,64%) and also among school principals (30,54%). This finding shows that although the meaning attributed by them to „duty” differs, the teachers and school principals associate “sense of duty” with professional ethics at the highest level.

“Human sensitivity” general field is emphasized as the second general field both by the teachers (14,53%) and the school principals(22,16%). This finding indicates that teachers and school principals are aware of their primary role of serving people while carrying out their duties.

The expressions of teachers under the general field of “social responsibility” (9,80%) and the expressions of the school principals under the general field of “objectivity” (10,78%) rank in the third place. This research shows that “objectivity” is regarded as a neutrality perception. Ranking of the objectivity in an upper place among the professional ethics concepts by the School principals may be interpreted as they are aware of the necessity for the events to be evaluated sophisticatedly and rationally.

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As seen in Table 7, the general field with the lowest value emerged as “believing in supremacy of law” from the point of view of teachers (%0,48), and as “tolerance” (2.39%) from the point of view of school principals.

Although taking place among the basic concepts relating to ethics in literature, “believing in supremacy of law” being ranked in lower place among the professional ethics concepts by the teachers shows that the law and professional ethics could not be collocated.

CONCLUSION It is observed that concepts such as ethics, morality, and moral philosophy are occasionally used in place of the other by the public, which gives rise to various discussions. As Kuçuradi (2000) indicated, (…)„ethics‟ word is used in the meaning of morals, in other words evaluation and behavior norm systems in relations of people with each other in a specific group, and within a specific time period. These are unwritten norm systems or are the norms relating to what is good, what is bad in a specific culture and within a specific time period. Hence, they are the distinct and variable norm systems put into words what should and should not people do in general. These morals norms should not be confused with ethical values. Unwritten norm systems may be called as “moral norms” but not as ethical norms (…).

Being a dynamic case, professional ethics necessitate the ethical problems to internalize the ethical norms and to behave in appropriate manner in professional life both for teachers and school principals.

“Sense of duty” and “human sensitivity” general fields are ranked in the first places both by the teachers and school principals. Both groups emphasize the concepts such as professional competency, responsibility, democratic participation, being oriented towards education and solution inside the sense of duty general field. This outcome put forward that neither group completely conceive the essence relating to ethics and professional ethics. Because professional ethics in philosophical sense can be defined as the general heading of attitudes such as person assuming the consequences of his/her behavior (responsibility); internalization of tasks and duties (sense of duty) (BarıĢ, 1973) ; benefit of the community from the works done (utilitarianism); showing sensitivity towards social events and feeling responsible as the member of intelligentsia (social responsibility) and having virtues; being fair and just; and morality in thoughts.

Teachers and school principals ranked the expressions relating to “justice” and “believing in supremacy of law” in lower places within the professional ethics. While making judgments, which may form the basis for the decisions and implementations relating to ethics, it is necessary to think about the current situation in philosophical terms and in more than one dimension. For example, it is necessary to think about whether there is a reason like protecting the person‟s right to live as the justification of the act done within the current situation. Ethics and professional ethics subjects must be known in broad sense by the person passing this judgment. Although justice and supremacy of law are two concepts relating to ethics, teachers and school principals not touching upon these and instead relating the sense of duty with the professional ethics in the first degree gives rise to thought that they do not have knowledge about the concept and the situation assessments are made superficially.

On the other hand, sections relating to ethics or concepts pertaining to ethics are not included in the reference books at the current Education Faculties; and the philosophy classes are inadequate in the primary, secondary and higher education curriculum. As the philosophy course is one of the basic courses developing thinking skills, its absence leads to adverse outcomes in subjects requiring transformation of abstract thought into behavior and in academic success. For this reason, it shall be appropriate to add an independent course under the heading of “ethics” both to the programs of the faculties educating teachers and also to the philosophy group courses in the curriculum of the secondary education. According to the findings obtained by Pass and Willingham (2009) at the end of a course where ethics dilemma had been discussed, the university students indicated that (a) they are in need of sense of ethics development, and (b) such a course should be included among the optional courses.

Whereas the teachers emphasized that the students need ethics courses and the discussion of the ethics dilemma supports the development of sense of ethics of the students. Hudson and Miller (2005), Yu Lin and Hui Ho (2008) especially emphasized the importance of previously received ethics education among the series of factors (Cultural knowledge, sexuality, religiousness and ethical dilemma type) affecting the ethical decision making behavior of the students.

School principalsand teachers rank the “human sensitivity” successively after “sense of duty” among professional ethics concepts. Sense of duty, as defined by the teachers and school principals, also shows the

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existence of a stereotype thinking that the works should be carried out in accordance with law and regulations.

However, human sensitivity, as explained in the “Theory of Moral Development in Human” of Kohlberg (1970), he especially emphasized the necessity of taking the human rights and human factors into consideration while passing judgment relating to the events leaving us in the midst of ethical dilemma. Above outcomes give hints of two inclinations opposite to each other. If the teachers and school principals are making decisions in the direction of Kohlberg‟s (1970) theory of moral development, it is not surprising that they emphasize human sensitivity. However, if they are carrying out the work only in sense of duty with the stereotype judgments and emphasizing this in the context of professional ethics, it means that these two thinking contradict each other. It is worth to examine how this could happen in the same mind.

The expressions within all the general and specific sub-fields mentioned above are the concepts associated with the professional ethics among the teachers and school principals. In order to understand the mental schemes of the people relating to professional ethics, the necessity of analysis such as „deep interview‟ and examination of these results of the analysis from philosophical, sociological, psychological, economical and political angles should be born in mind.

The general field categories obtained with this research are not the ethical codes included in the literature and required to be acquired by the teachers and school principals but are the superior codes determined by the researchers by setting out from the expressions of the teachers and school principals relating to ethics. For this reason, the obtained codes must be comparatively analyzed with their examples in the contemporary countries and applied.

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ANNEX I. Terms Honesty, Truthful / Honest: honest, honorable, not deviating from honesty in his/her words and behavior. (Eren ve diğ.,1988).

Virtue: the power of the human will to make a great sacrifices and to act in the direction of good deed, with good intentions to overcome great obstacles when necessary (Cevizci, 1996). According to another explanation, virtue is moral competence, orientation towards good and spiritual strength brought by escapism from evil. It is the moral maturity originating from the combination of good attributes in thoughts and behavior. In its most general term, virtue is the inclination to desire the good, as a matter of fact it is the habit of effectuating the good.. Its becoming habit shall mean its acquirement. Whatever may be their moral perceptions, all moralists comprehend the virtue as human-being making himself to listen to himself and to keep a tight rein on his/her passions by using his mind. (Timuçin, 1998).

A moral philosophy approaching to “How should I live?” question by taking the “virtue” concept as the basis is in contradiction with moral teaching based on “duty” or “responsibility” setting off from moral codes and laws.

The advocates of this perception argue that all other concepts relating to morals can be reduced down to virtue or the foundation these concepts can only be laid through virtue. This teaching, emphasizing the share of virtue in a good living fit for human-being, underlines intensely that what‟s needed for a human to mature in terms of morals or to have a good character is knowing exactly what “moral good” or “virtue” correspond to rather than “sense of duty” (Güçlü; Uzun; Uzun; Yoksal, 2002).

Sense of Duty / Duty Ethics: is the ethics conception, first put forward by Kant, one of the greatest theoretician of the moral philosophy; disclaiming all teleological, utilitarian or consequentialist ethics conceptions by placing the “duty” on the foundation of morals; directly basing the moral value of an action solely and only on the sense of duty itself by keeping its rightness or wrongness exempt from the consequences of the action, and arguing that this action bears a moral value if only there is no other determinant or collimator apart from the sense of duty in the consciousness of the actor performing the act. Duty based ethics perception is only interested in predetermined rules, principles and codes (Güçlü; Uzun; Uzun; Yoksal, 2002).

Tolerance: the attitude of understanding the way of thinking and life style of the others which is different than ours. Conception based on making it possible to freely express to others the opinions, ideas and feelings we do not share with others. (Cevizci, 1996).

Equality: a conception indicating the identical conditions of the people in the community but having distinct contents in different historical periods and in social classes. As a moral and social ideal, the state of people being in the same position and having the same value in terms of having the same human nature. The principle indicating people being equal to each other, and hence no discrimination should be made between the people (Cevizci, 1996; Fralov, 1997; Rosenthal and Yudin, 1997).

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Justice: The state of values, principles, ideals and virtues in a society being materialized, concretized, put into practice. The state of everybody coming across with the award or punishment they deserve. Justice; as the expression of the most supreme, objective and absolute value; confronts us in the form of a thought examining and criticizing the behavior of human in moral terms, a moral principle taking the respect for the justice and rightfulness as the basis, rightfulness, honesty, neutrality, proper and correct conduct (Cevizci, 1996).

Objectivity / Objective: The ability of assessing a situation, event, creature without being affected from the feelings and prejudice. The state of supporting a thought, knowledge, judgment, decision or argument with the data and evidences based on current events (Cevizci, 1996).

Social Responsibility: Education, in a specific sense school, attempts to develop the culture while trying to protect the social structure and values (Aky覺ld覺z, 1992). In this context, the responsibilities of schools oriented towards social surrounding and society are in question.

Supremacy of Law: Supremacy of law is the functioning of all institutions and organizations within the state within the framework of law, regulations and rules; non-existence of individual, arbitrary attitudes and applications.

Human sensitivity: refers to an attitude oriented towards protection of values originating from a person merely being a human.

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