Decentralization of Education and Strengthening the Participation of Parents in School Administration in Turkey: What Has Changed?.
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: This study which dealt with the localization in education and strengthening the participation of parents in school administrations was a descriptive research. In this research, where qualitative design was used, purposeful sampling method was preferred. A work group consisting of 15 schools administrators who were working in schools with varying socio-economic levels in Kastamonu city center was established. The data were gathered by using the semi-structured interview technique. There were some differences in the opinions of the school administrators who had participated in the research on the issue of parents' participation in school administration. The participation of parents in school administration varied with the socio-economic levels of schools. The effect of parents having participated in school administration on the decisions taken differed in the socio-economic levels of the areas where schools were located. The difficulties experienced by the school administrators and parents in the process of their participation in schools varied with the socio-economic levels of schools. Key Words Neo-liberal policies, Decentralization in Education, Parents' Participation in School Administration. Neo-liberal policies presented as a solution to the crisis experienced by the capital in 1970s put emphasis upon the re-strengthening of the state and its public aspect. This structuring mentioned involves the re-structuring of public services within the private sector as well as the transformation from Keynesian welfare state to a competitive state structure (Mok & Tan, 2004). This new transformation regarding the role and function of the state is fulfilled with the help of structural adaptation programmes in the third world countries applied by the International Monetary Fund [IMF] and the World Bank [WB] (Kamat, 2002). It is possible to view this powerful effect of neo-liberal ideology on education which is one of the public service areas of social state, as well (Humes, 2000). Decentralization occupies one of the most significant paradoxes of neo-liberal education reforms (Rado, 2001). Within this direction, most of the financial, administrative, political authorities and responsibilities are transferred to administrative units, local institutions, local societies and schools at lower levels. Thus, democracy and participation constitute one of the starting points of efforts in localization in education. Therefore, localization in education tends to develop a school system which encourages the participation of various sections in the society consisting of an increasing number of teachers, parents, students, society leaders, non-governmental organizations and managements (Anderson, 1999; Lewis & Naido, 2004; Lindbland, Ozga, & Zambeta, 2002; Naidoo & Kong 2003; United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2007; Vincent, 1996). Providing greater participation in the administration of schools forces these institutions to face with the danger of colonization in the direction of the necessities of the close neighborhood of these institutions (Lasky & Moore, 1999; Humes, 2000). It is possible to observe the structural adaptation programmes emphasizing on diminishing the state, liberalizing the economy and making it become outward-oriented by IMF and WB in Turkey in the late 1970s, as well (Sezen, 1999). Effects of neo-liberal policies on Turkish education system which has a considerably central structure right from the very beginning began in 1990s (Unal, 2003). On the one hand, by way of legal arrangements in Turkey, the education system is tried to obtain a more local structure than the central, and on the other hand, parents' adopting more roles and responsibilities in school structures are given the way. It may also be uttered that the very first arrangement regarding this issue was the Project of Developing National Education in 1990 supported by DB. …
Author: Hüseyin Yolcu
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W148455702