A meta-analytic perspective on school climate studies in Turkey: The impact of some demographic variables

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze teachers' perceptions of school climate by gender and branch and have an overall idea on this issue. Meta-analysis method was employed in this study. Master's theses and doctoral dissertations as well as academic articles published in peer-reviewed journals dwelling on teachers' views on school climate in Turkey were analysed through various databases. A total of 30 studies meeting the criteria for inclusion in the study were included. In the analysis of research data, a random effects model was used. Results indicate that gender has no significant influence on the dimensions of disengagement, directiveness, and supportiveness of school climate, but has a significant influence on the dimensions of restrictiveness and intimacy. Gender was seen to have a significant but low influence on restrictiveness in favour of male teachers and on intimacy on behalf of female teachers. According to the study results, branch does not have a significant influence on the dimensions of school climate except for disengagement. Branch was seen to have a significant but low impact on disengagement in favour of subject teachers. In this sense, it was concluded that superficial variables like gender and branch do not have any determining influence on teachers' perceptions of school climate. Therefore, it may be recommended for researchers to study more primary factors concerning school climate.