Abstract:

Background. School principals have to deal with numerous problems as a part of their daily routines. Başaran (1996) defines the management as a problem solving process. Heppner and Krauskopf (1987) describe problem structuring as a cognitive rationalization and arranging activities as the strategies for coping with problem in problem solving process. Güven and Akyüz (2001) revealed that having enough information on the subjects related to the problem has a direct effect on promoting the effectiveness of probable solutions. Intelligence, stress and extroversion as well as some other personal characteristics related to work experience are important determinants of problem solving skills (Jerath, Hasija and Malhotra, 1993). Purpose. The purpose of this study is to examine school principals' problem solving skills by the place they lived for the longest period, the level of school they are teaching at, satisfaction with administrative duties, perception of the management job's suitability for their personality, experience in teaching profession, experience as a principal, the number of schools they've been in administrative position and the number of rewards they have received. Method. The study group were 54 school principals, randomly selected from among primary and secondary school principals in Erzurum province. Data on principals' problem solving skills were collected by using “Problem Solving Skills Inventory” developed by Heppner and Petersen (1982) and adapted to Turkish by Şahin, Şahin and Heppner (1993). “Problem Solving Skills Inventory is a 35-item rating scale; the higher the total score is lower the self-perception of being efficient regarding his/her problem solving skills. Score range of the scale is 32-192. Internal consistency for the Problem Solving Skills Inventory is reported as .88, item-total correlations ranging from .25 to .71. Data were analyzed by using independent sample t–test, one way ANOVA and linear multiple regression analysis by using the SPSS 16.00. Findings and discussion. An average score of principals' problem solving skills ranging from 80.83 to 92.55 suggests that principals perceive significant deficiencies in their own problem solving skills. A negative perception of principals' own problem solving skills may related to negative perceptions of self-respect, persistence of self values, trust for other people, sensitivity for critics and feeling threat in interpersonal relations as well as cognitive deficiencies as suggested by Heppner and Krauskopf (1987), Güven and Akyüz (2001) and Jerath, Hasija and Malhotra (1993). Findings showed that there was no significant difference in problem solving skills of school principals by the level of school they are teaching at, satisfaction with administrative duties, perception of the management job's suitability for their personality, experience in teaching profession, experience as a principal, the number of schools they've been in administrative position and the number of rewards they have received. Multiple linear regression analysis also showed that none of independent variables, except the number of schools that principals have been in an administrative position, were significant predictors of the problem solving skills (R=.400; R2=.160; ?R² =.017; F(8-47)=1.121; p=.367). Regression model demonstrated that 16% of the total variance in principals' problem solving skills was explained by independent variables. Although there were no significant differences in principals' perception of their own problem solving skills by personal and work related variables, an average score of principals' problem solving skills ranging from 80.83 to 92.55 indicates that scores are relatively homogeneous. This means almost all principals perceive significant deficiencies in their problem solving skills regardless of types of school and years of experience. Overall negative perception on problem solving skills may be due to lack of training on problem solving strategies as no formal training on solving strategies for principals. As this study is based on self-report data, its limitations does not allow for any further inferences reasons for a consistently negative perception of principals' problem solving studies.

Keywords: