Özet:

The background. Although literature on leadership in education confirms that principals are key in successful school development (Beycioğlu & Aslan, 2007; Dimmock, 1999; Fullan, 2000; Hallinger, 2003; Hallinger & Leithwood, 1996; Leithwood, Steinbach, & Ryan, 1997; Vandenberghe; 1998), recent research on school leadership claims that only main leadership in schools is not effective to cope with complex changes, and that principals are not able to undertake all the managerial and/or leadership duties of our age. It has been recommended that leadership in schools should be restructured as a team action and distributed to the staff that have leadership potential with the aim of collaboration (Begley, 2001; Dantley, 2005; Dimmock & Walker, 2000; Hallinger, 2005; Hargreaves, 2004; Harris, 2002, 2004; Timperley & Robinson, 2001; Fullan, 2002; Robertson & Weber, 2000; Sternberg, 2005). These issues put the concept of teacher leadership at the center and in the agendas of researchers of school leadership (Beycioğlu & Aslan, 2010; Can, 2006; Harris & Muijs, 2005, 2006; Lieberman & Miller, 2004; Leithwood, 2006; Leithwood & Jantz, 2000; Reeves, 2008; Sawyer, 2005). When it is considered to distribute leadership in schools, teachers and teacher leadership attracts attention (Arrowsmith, 2005; Camburn, Rowan, & Taylor, 2003; Crawford, 2005; Donaldson, 2006; Firestone & Martinez, 2009; Goldstein, 2003; Harris, 2005, 2008, 2009; Harris & Muijs, 2008; Muijs & Harris, 2006, 2007; MacBeath, 2009; Mascall, Leithwood, Straus, & Sacks, 2008; Spillane, Camburn, Pustejovsky, Pareja, & Lewis, 2008). The Purpose. This study aimed to reveal "to what degree do teachers and administrators perceive that there teachers have leadership roles in elementary schools" and "to what degree do teachers and administrators perceive that there teachers leadership roles should be in elementary schools" Method. In this study both quantitative and qualitative methods were used (Greene, Krayder, & Mayer, 2005; Verma & Mallick, 2005). Surveying was the quantitative data gathering method and focus group was the qualitative one (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2005; Lightning & Lightning, 2005). The population of the study comprised of 2833 teachers and administrators who were working for elementary schools in Hatay province central district, Turkey. Elementary schools that have less than 20 teachers were not included in the study. There were 3 private elementary schools.800 hundred surveys were sent to schools. The total number of surveys that were returned to the researchers was 721. Six hundred and fifty six (91.0%) of the participants were from state elementary schools and 65 (9. 0%) of them were working in private schools. Qualitative data was collected by means of 5 semi-structured focus groups with 6 participants in each. In focus groups, 12 teachers were from state schools, 6 were from private schools, and there were 12 administrators. To gather quantitative data, a five-scale Lykert type inventory, The Teacher Leadership Scale - TLS, was developed by the researchers to reveal teachers and administrators' perceptions and expectations on teacher leadership roles. The scale includes 25 items in both perception and expectation part. Factor analysis revealed that there are 3 subscales both in Perception and Expectation part in the scale. In the "Institutional Improvement" subscale, there are 9 items, the "Professional Improvement" subscale has 11 items, and 5 items are in the "Collaboration among Colleagues" subscale. During semi-structured focus group interviews, participants were asked 3 questions transformed from inventory questions and some other questions to get detailed understanding.Results. To analyze the data, mean, standard deviation, frequency, t-test and one way ANOVA were used. For qualitative analysis, audio-taped sounds, and written texts were transcribed and changed into texts. Then the transcribed texts were coded. According to arithmetic means, total points of expectation and perception were different. While the average for expectation was 110.99 (always), it was 96.66 (frequently) for perception. The interviews revealed that the expectations of the participants for teacher leadership were quite above the perceptions. In other words, quantitative results were supported by qualitative results of the study. The results also clarified that there were teacher leadership roles to a certain extent in elementary schools, and there were some significant differences among the participants of state and private schools in both expectation and perception parts. Interviews were similar to qualitative results of the study. It may be said that participants from private schools look more eager and open to teacher leadership roles that requires a collaborative culture in a school. The differences between female and male participants' expectations were statistically significant, and the qualitative findings were in line with this result. Although there were no significant differences between female and male in the perception part, females expect more teacher leadership roles than property. This result can be explained in terms of gender inequalities in Turkish school context of mostly male school principles. Kadir Beycioğlu & Battal Aslan During the interviews female participants were more positive to acting leadership roles. Finally we tested if there was a correlation between expectation and perception. We, as assumed, found a positive correlation (r = .41). Also there were positive correlations among the dimensions on a middle level. When the perception increases, the expectation increases, too. The interviews revealed that the expectations of the participants for teacher leadership were quite above the perceptions. The quantitative results were supported by the qualitative results.

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