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ERIC Number: ED493973
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 10
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Psycho-Semantics of Management Constructs: Expression of Democracy among Schoolteachers
Saparnis, Gintaras
Online Submission
Purpose: The purpose of this research was to disclose the psycho-semantics of the opinions held by school educators in Lithuania on the expression of democracy in education management. Methodology: A non-standardized questionnaire asked teachers the open-ended question: "Are there any manifestations of democracy in your school? If yes (or sometimes), in what way are these rudiments asserted in your school?" A combination of qualitative and quantitative content analyses, and their corresponding principle "triangulation," was employed. Results: The essence of the empirical research is that, through an anonymous postal survey, 289 Lithuanian schoolteachers were given a series of open questions which tried to identify the most important, expression of the proportion of democracy in schools' management, the problems of autonomy institutions in the organization, and the perspectives of development of school management. This article presents data analysis of answers of schoolteachers to the two survey questions. The 289 respondents provided 634 statements to the survey. The researchers used the qualitative (hermeneutic) content analysis method to generalize the empirical statements into 42 semantically homogeneous categories. Subsequently, a quantitative data analysis was conducted, and descriptive statistics enabled the researchers to determine a frequency rating for each category of teachers' opinions about the expression of democracy in their school. Cluster analysis was used to determine the categories' taxonomic consistencies. Conclusions: The main part in the structure of teachers' conception about the expression of democracy at school is taken by the limits of opinion expression (i.e., whether community members can express it) and the dimension of collegiality. It is possible to assume that the guarantee of opinion expression in a school community is a systemic determinant of opinions in the organization. In other words, guarantee of the dimension under discussion has a direct impact on many other essential dimensions of management. Alongside the phenomenon of the expression of opinion, a significant criterion which allows a more reliable differentiation of a democratic management style and type of social relationships formed in the organization is that of active functioning of school institutions (e.g., school council, trade unions, and schoolchildren's self-governance). In the psycho-semantic structure of teachers' opinions about the extent of democracy expression in an organization, a significant role is played by those categories which disclose expectations of creativity, independence and initiative, and of a favorable psychological and social climate. (Contains 5 tables.)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Lithuania
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A