The Relationship between Transformational and Transactional Leadership Styles of School Principals and School Culture (The case of Izmir, Turkey)

Abstract

This research aimed to determine the relationship between the leadership style of principals and school culture related to the perceptions of primary school principals and teachers. The research used irregular layer sampling method. Principals (5 female and 45 male) and teachers (646 females and 304 males) in 50 primary schools in Izmir filled out the Personal Data Formand the

Scales of School Principals’ Leadership Styles and School Culture. The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, correlation coefficients and t-test. The findings can be summarized as follows: Both school principals and teachers perceive that school principals exhibit more trans-formational style than transactional style. The school principals consider the school culture more positive than the teachers. According to the school principals, there is a positive relationship between the transformational leadership and the dimensions of co-operative culture; education-al development and the socieducation-al-educationeducation-al culture aspects of the school culture; and the transac-tional leadership style and the educatransac-tional development dimension of the school culture. According to the teachers, there is a positive relationship between the transformational ship and the overall concept and dimensions of the school culture and the transactional leader-ship with the overall concept, co-operative culture, educational development culture and the

dimensions of the social-educational culture.

Key Words

Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, School Culture.

The Relationship between

Transformational and Transactional

Leadership Styles of School Principals

and School Culture

(The case of Izmir, Turkey)

Semiha ÞAHÝN

Kuram ve Uygulamada Eðitim Bilimleri / Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 4(2) • Kasým / November 2004 • 387-396

* _{Correspondence: Assis. Prof. Dr., Dokuz Eylul University, Faculty of Buca Education, Department of}

Educational Sciences, Buca, 35150, Izmir. E-mail: semiha.sahin@deu.edu.tr

This research examines the relationship between the transformational

and transactional leadership styles of school principals and school

cul-ture. Transformational leadership can be defined as increasing the

inter-est of the staff to achieve higher performance and developing and

revealing the commitment and the beliefs in the organization (Bass,

1985). Transactional leadership is based on the reciprocal changing of

the duty and reward that are controlled by the principal. In this

leader-ship, the sources, human skills, the financial sources, material, and

technology are administered and the workers’ needs are covered

(Koppang, 1996). The effects of transformational leadership on

job-sat-isfaction, commitment, effectiveness, organizational learning,

improve-ment, climate, culture, teacher morale, and student achievement in

schools are well documented in the literature (Deal, 1995; Griffith,

2004; Hitt & Keats, 1992; Lawrence, 2000; Ross & Gray, 2004;

Leithwood & Jantzi 1997; Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999;

Shivers, 1999). Transactional leaders focus on the basic needs of their

staff (Bass, 1985; Leithwood et al., 1999; Slater, Goldring, Bolman,

Thurston & Crow, 1994) but they do not have a characteristic

provid-ing high level motivation, job-satisfaction, and commitment. Moreover,

the research focuses on more effective transformational leadership than

transactional leadership (Bass, 1990; Ingram, 1997;).

It is possible to define the culture of an organization as the belief that

organize the thought and behavior patterns by affecting values, politics,

expectations, traditions, the unity of perceptions, and sense. Studies

indi-cate a positive relationship between commitment, motivation,

job-satis-faction, communication, collaboration, effectiveness, and the

organiza-tional performance of staff and organizaorganiza-tional culture (Doran, 1996;

Jones, 1998; Nnadozie, 1993; Nystrom, 1993; Reames, 1997; Sarwono,

1990). However, according to Bonar (2000), Lock (2001), Lucas

(2001), Lucas and Wayne (2003), Marks (2000), Miles (2002), and

Sueki (1998), there is a positive relationship between transformational

leadership and school culture. However, others found negative

relation-ships between the two (Hall, 1999; Marks, 2000). Thus, the present

study aimed to determine the most commonly used leadership styles

exhibited by the principals, based on the perceptions of primary school

principals and teachers. In addition, it also aimed to determine their

per-ceptions concerning the culture in their schools and the relations between

their styles of leadership and school culture. Finally, suggestions to

prac-titioners and researchers are provided in the light of the findings.

Methods

Populations and Sample

The research was conducted on 50 school principals and 950 teachers

working in 50 primary schools out of a total of 364 primary schools in

Izmir in 2002-2003 academic year. Irregular layer sampling method,

which is suggested when the sample represents the population at varying

ratios, is used to form the sample (Baloðlu, 2002). All the participants

answered the

Personal Data Form

and the

Scales of School Principals’

Leadership Styles and School Culture

.

Instruments

The data were collected using the Personal Data Form distributed and

the Scales of School Principals’ Leadership Styles and School Culture

developed by the researcher. The first section of the scale consists of

demographic information about teachers, principals, and schools. The

second section consists of 24 items about transformational leadership and

12 items about transactional leadership. The Scale of Transactional

Leadership indicates two dimensions as autocratic leader and status quo

leader found by factor analysis. All scales are composed of 5-point

Likert-type items. The final section consists of 48 items about school culture.

The Scale of School Culture is composed of four dimensions as

Co-oper-ative Culture, Educational Development Culture, Social-Educational

Culture and Traditional Culture.

The reliability of the scales was tested through Cronbach Alpha

reliabil-ity coefficient and found to be .96 for the

Transformational Leadership

; .79

for the

Transactional Leadership;

and .94 for the School Culture. Internal

consistency coefficients of the scales were

.

60 and .83 for the subscales of

transactional leadership and .94 to .59 for the subscales of school culture.

The data were analyzed using the SPSS. The research was analyzed using

means, standard deviations, correlation coefficients, and t-test statistics.

Results

Both school principals and teachers perceive that school principals

exhib-it more transformational style than transactional style. The school

princi-pals consider the school culture to be more positive than the teachers do.

Both school principals and teachers perceive that schools exhibited more

high-level co-operative culture, but less low-level social-educational

cul-ture. According to the school principals, there is a positive relationship

between the transformational leadership style and the dimensions of

co-operative culture; educational development culture and the

social-educa-tional culture aspects of the school culture; and the transacsocial-educa-tional

leader-ship style and the educational development dimension of the school

cul-ture. However, they do not see a relationship between school culture and

transactional leadership style with overall concept. According to the

teachers, there is a positive relationship between the transformational

leadership style and the overall concept; the dimensions of the school

cul-ture and the transactional leadership style with the overall concept;

co-operative culture and educational development culture and the

dimen-sions of the social-educational culture.

Discussion

School principals were found to exhibit more transformational leadership

style both by school principals and teachers. It was understood that

schools change in time. For example, school principals were educated,

some schools have implemented the Total Quality Management, and

renewals are done as directed by the Europe Union. School principals

have high perception regarding school culture. This may stem from their

schools’ perceived positive features. Both school principals and teachers

perceive that schools exhibited most high-level co-operative culture. The

positive perception of co-operative culture in the schools may be related

with Turkish social culture. There is effectiveness of shared behavior

cul-ture in Turkey (Çelik, 1999). But, this should be investigated via well

designed research studies. According to the results, social-educational

activities are neglected in the schools, even in courses designed to foster

creativity, sports, and music.

According to the school principals’ perception, there is a positive

relation-ship between the transformational leaderrelation-ship and the school culture.

However, there is no relationship between school culture and

transaction-al leadership style with overtransaction-all concept. But, there are a positive

relation-ship between the transactional leaderrelation-ship style and the educational

devel-opment dimension of the school culture. Similarly, the teachers view that

there is a positive relationship between the transformational leadership,

the transactional and the school culture. All findings are consistent with

the previous literature.

Kaynakça/References

Açýkalýn, A. (2000). Ýlköðretim okulu yöneticilerinin dönüþümcü liderlik özellikleri ile empati becerileri arasýndaki iliþki. Yayýmlanmamýþ yüksek lisans tezi, Gazi Üniversite-si, Ankara.

Altun, S. A. (2003). Ýlköðretim okulu müdürlerinin dönüþümcü liderliðe verdikleri önem ve uygulama düzeyleri[Elektronik Dergi]. http://ilkogretim-online.org.tr/

vol2say1/v02s01b.htm web adresinden 25 Temmuz 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir. Anthony, L. V. L. (1994). The relationship between transformational and transactional leadership and organizational culture, employee performance, and employee attrition.

Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Miami, Florida, USA. Baloðlu, B. (2002). Sosyal bilimlerde araþtýrma yöntemi.Ýstanbul: Der Yayýnlarý. Baltaþ, A. (2001). Deðiþimin içinden geleceðe doðru: Ekip çalýþmasý ve liderlik (2. Baský). Ýstanbul: Remzi Kitabevi.

Barnett A. M. (2003). Impact of transformational leadership styles of the schools princi-pal of school learning environments and selected teacher outcomes: A preliminary report.

http://www.aare.edu.au/03pap/bar03777.pdf web adresinden 22 Temmuz 2004 tar-ihinde edinilmiþtir.

Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1998). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership. http://cls.binghamton.edu/basssteid.html web adresinden 20. 04. 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership: Good, better, best. Organizational Dynamics, 13

(3), 20-40.

Bass, B. M. (1990). From transactional to transformational leadership: Learning to share the vision. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3), 19-32.

Bayrak, N. (2001). Ýlköðretim okul yöneticilerinin liderlik özellikler. Yayýmlanmamýþ yüksek lisans tezi, Anadolu Üniversitesi, Eskiþehir.

Bennis, W. (1986). Transformative power and leadership. T. J. Sergiovanni & J. E. Corbally (Ed.), Leadership and organizational culture: New perspectives on administra-tive theory and practice (pp. 64-71). Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press. Boggs, R. D. (1992). A further assessment of the impact of politics and markets on American schools: a comparison of school culture, power and the job of teaching in public and private elementary schools and theirs relationship to teacher motivation, commitment, compliance, satisfaction and intent to leave (public schools). Unpublished doctoral disser-tation, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Bonar, R. I. Jr. (2000). The effect of leadership behaviors on employee commitment, satis-faction and strength of culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, South Carolina. USA.

Bush, T. (1995). Theories of educational management (2nd ed.) London: Paul Chapman Publishing.

Chadwick, L. J. (1999). A comparative analysis of transformational and transactional leadership in public school principals and their effect on school culture. Unpublished doc-toral dissertation, Regent University Virginia Beach, VA, USA.

Collet, P., & Furham, A. (1995). Social psychology at work.London, Routledge. Colvin, R. E. (1999). Transformational leadership: a prescription for contemporary organizations. http://leadershipinfo.net/books.html web adresinden 07 Mart 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Cormier, S. F. (1997). School restructuring, transformational leadership and teacher par-ticipation in decision-making. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Cunningham, B. C. A. (2003). A study of the relationship between school culture and student achievement. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.

Çelik, V. (1998). Eðitimde dönüþümcü liderlik. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eðitim Yönetimi, 4(16), 423-442.

Çelik, V. (1999). Eðitimsel liderlik.Ankara: Pegem Yayýnlarý.

Çelik, V. (2000). Okul kültürü ve yönetimi (2. Baský). Ankara: Pegem Yayýnlarý. Deal, T. E. (1995). Schools as cultural arenas: Symbols and symbolic activity. S. B. Bacharach & B. Mundell (Ed.), Images of Schools: Structures and roles in organization-al behavior(pp. 108-136). California: Sage.

Doran, E. F. (1996). The effects of person-organization culture fit on employee organiza-tional commitment and employee internet work motivation. Unpublished doctoral disser-tation, California State University, Long Beach, CA, USA.

Eppard, R.G. (2004). Transformational and transactional leadership styles as they predict constructive culture and defensive. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia

Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.

Erçetin, Þ. (1995). Okul müdürlerinin öðretmenleri etkilemekte kullandýklarý güçler. Eðitim ve Bilim, 19(97), 21-27.

Erçetin, Þ. (1998). Lider sarmalýnda vizyon.Ankara: Önder Matbaacýlýk.

Ergün, M. (1995). Bilimsel araþtýrmalarda bilgisayarla istatistik uygulamalarý, SPSS for windows. Ankara: Ocak Yayýnlarý.

Floyd, J. E. (1999). An investigation of the leadership style of principals and its relation to teachers’ perceptions of school mission and student achievement.

http://basepath.wiley.com/cda/media/0,,12001,00.pdf web adresinden 11 Þubat 2004 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Gibson, J. L., Ivancevich J. M., & Donnelly J. H. (1997). Organizations: Behavior structure processes(9th ed.). Boston: Mcgraw-Hill.

Gilbert, J. E. (2000). The impact of principal leadership behaviors on collaboration and collegiality for school improvement: A case study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA.

Griffith J. (2004). Relation of principal transfornational leadership to school staff job satisfaction, staff turnover, and school performance. Journal of Educational Administration, 42, 333-356.

Gustafson, N. (2002). Leadership and organizational transformation. http://www.astdr-ta.org/ newsletter/june/gustafso.pdf web adresinden 02 Nisan 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Hall, C. A. (1999). The relationships between leader behaviors and characteristics and school culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.

Harris, P. R. (1985). Management in transition. California: Hurlburt.

Harrison, D. T. (2000). Transformational leadership and community college effectiveness.

Hitt, M. A., & Keats, B. W. (1992). Strategic leadership and restructuring: a reciprocal interdependence. R. L. Phillips & J. G. Hunt (Eds.), Strategic leadership: A multi organizational-level perspective(pp. 45-61). New York: Quorum Books. Holmes, G. (1993). Essential school leadership: developing vision and purpose in

man-agement.London: Kogen Page.

Hoy, W. & Miskel, C. (1996). Educational administration: theory, research, and prac-tice (6th ed.). New York: Mcgraw-Hill.

Humphreys, J. H. (2000). Transformational, transactional and laissez-faire leader behavior and constructive thinking: the relationship with proximal sales unit performance.

Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Nova Southeastern, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.

Ingram, P. D. (1997). Leadership behaviors of principals in inclusive educational settings, Journal of Educational Administration, 35(5), 11-27.

Jones, M. T. (1998). The relationship of organizational commitment to the organizational culture of high schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Widener University, Harrisburg, PA, USA.

Karip, E. (1998). Dönüþümcü liderlik. Kuram ve Uygulamada Eðitim Yönetimi, 4

(16), 443-465.

Keçecioðlu, T. (1998). Liderlik ve Liderler.Ýstanbul: Kalder Yayýnlarý.

Kessler, T. G. (1993). The relationship between transformational, transactional, and lais-sez-faire leadership behaviors and job satisfaction in a research environment. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Nova University.

Koppang, A. F. (1996). Transformational and transactional leadership behaviors of administrators of performing and visual arts schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, USA.

Kristoff, B. L. (2003). Transformational leadership, professional school culture, and per-ceived effectiveness in specialized programs for students with disabilities. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswýck, USA.

Lawrence, E. T. (2000). The relationship between, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles of the senior executives/ department heads and their immediate subordinates’ perceived satisfaction, extra effort, effectiveness, and organizational culture typology in the hospital setting. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University of Nova Southeastern.

Layton, J. K. (2003).Transformational leadership and the middle school principal. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue Unýversýty, West Lafayette, USA. Leithwood, K.& Jantzi, D. (1997). Explaining variation in teachers’ perceptions of principals’ leadership: A replication. Journal of Educational Administration, 35(4), 312-331.

Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., & Steinbach, R (1999). Changing leadership for changing times.Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Leithwood, K. A. (1992). The move toward transformational leadership.

Educational Leadership. 45(5), 8-12.

Lesney, J. J. (1977). Perceptions of transformational leadership behaviors in selected suc-cessful elementary principals. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.

Liontos, L. B. (1992). Transformational leadership. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No: ED347636)

Lock, P. K. (2001). An investigation of the relationship between transformational leader-ship and constructive organizational culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Marywood, Marywood, USA.

Lucas, S. E., & Wayne, V. J. (2003). Transformational leadership: Principals, lead-ership teams, and school culture. NASSP Bulletin, 87(637), 85.

Lucas, S. E. (2001). Transformational leadership: principals, leadership teams, and school culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA.

Marks, D. E. (2002). A study of two leadership styles and school cultural norms in small middle schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Virginia Commonwealth

University, Richmond, VA, USA.

Masland, T. A. (1985). Organizational culture in the study of higher education. The Review of Higher Education, 8 (2), 157-168.

McIntyre, R. O. (2003). The role of transformational and transactional leadership for high school principals (Massachusetts).Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, USA.

Mestinsek, R. M. (2000). A comparative study of leadership characteristics of principals in charter schools and traditional schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of San Diego.

Metcalfe, R. J. A., & Metcalfe, B. A. (2000). The transformational leadership questionnaire (tlq-lgv): Aconvergent and discrimenent validation study. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 21(6), 280-296.

Miles, M. T. (2002). The relative impact of principal instructional and transformational leadership on school culture. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of

Missouri-Columbia, USA.

Miller, A. & Dess, G. (1996). Strategic management(2nd ed.). New York: The Mcgraw-Hill.

Miner, J. B. (1992). Industrial organizational psychology. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. Montes, R. W. (1996). Puerto Rican school perceptions of how their cultural background impacts their leadership style. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University.

Newstrom, J. W., & Davis, K. (1997). Organizational behavior: human behavior at work(10th ed.). Boston: The Mcgraw-Hill.

Ng, H. C. A. (1994).The nature of organization culture and its impact on employee com-mitment and consequent behaviors (comcom-mitment).Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.

Nguyen, J. C. (2002). An investigation of the relationship among the constructs of trans-formational and transactional leadership and general cognitive ability. Unpublished doc-toral dissertation, Our Lady of University Lake, San Antonio, Texas, USA. Nicholls, J. (1994). The heart, head and hands of transforming leadership.

Leadership, Organization Development, 15(6), 8-15.

Nnadozie, C. A. (1993). A study of the relation between participation in decision-making and school culture and perception of job satisfaction among teachers (empowerment).

Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Nystrom, P. C. (1993). Organizational cultures, strategies and commitments in health care. Health Care Management Review, 18(1), 43-49.

Parkman, A. W. (2001). An investigation of bass’ model of transformational and transac-tional leadership theory in respiratory care.Unpublished doctoral dissertation,

University of Capella, Minneapolis, USA.

Pehlivanoðlu, K. (1999). Özel ortaöðretim kurumlarýndaki yönetici ve öðretmenlerin örgüt kültürü oluþturmadaki yeterlilik derecesi. Yayýmlanmamýþ yüksek lisans tezi, Yýldýz Teknik Üniversitesi, Ýstanbul.

Pillai, R. & Williams, E. A. (2004), Transformational leadership, self-efficacy, group cohesiveness, commitment, and performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 17(2), 144-159.

Reames, E. H. (1997). A study of the relationships between school work culture and teacher beliefs of efficacy and commitment in middle schools. Unpublished doctoral disser-tation, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA.

Ronneberg, J. S. (2000). The urban school leader as change agent: case studies of three urban school principals. http://education.umi.edu/edpa/edad/ phdpaper.html web adresinden 11 Mart 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Ross J. A., & Gray, P. (2004). Transformational leadership and teacher commitment to organizational values: the mediating effects of collective teacher efficacy.

http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/field-centres/ross/CTEleadership.pdf adresinden 22 Eylül 2004 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.

Sarwono, D. (1990). The impact of organizational culture on organization performance: the case of banks in Indonesia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Universty of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.

Shivers, S. L. (1999). A role theory approach to understanding transformational and transactional leadership behaviors: the role of interpretations of organizational context.

Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA. Slater, R.O., Goldring E., Bolman L., Thurston P. W., & Crow G.M., (1994). Leadership and management processes. In W. K. Hoy (Ed.), Educational

Administration: Ucea Document Base(pp. 6-31). New York, Mcgraw-Hill.

Sueki, L. T. (1998). The relation of transformational leadership and transactional leader-ship to constructive organizational culture.Unpublished doctoral dissertation,

California School of Professional Psychology, LA, USA.

Sullivan, E.C. (1994). A case study of the principalship, the school work culture and the human resources management development system in a medium-sized Florida school district. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA.

Þahin, S. (2003).Okul müdürlerinin liderlik stilleri ile okul kültürü arasýndaki iliþkiler. Yayýmlanmamýþ Doktora Tezi, Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Ýzmir.

Þiþman, M. (1994). Örgüt kültürü (Eskiþehir Ýl Merkezindeki Ýlkokullarda Bir Araþtýrma). Eskiþehir: Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayýnlarý.

Yean, J., & Lim, S. (2001). Transformational leadership, organizational culture and organizational effectiveness in sport organizations.

http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/schoollibraries/scan-/16_1997/162res.htm web adresinden 21 Haziran 2003 tarihinde edinilmiþtir.