Abstract:

This study examined the perceptions of teachers on the effectiveness of organizational communication in their schools and whether the perceptions differed between teachers in primary and junior high schools as a function of gender, age, marital status, seniority, and rank. Data were collected from a sample of 334 teachers in 63 schools, working in primary and junior high schools in the centre of Afyon and Usak in Turkey during the fall and spring semesters of 2002-2003.A questionnaire developed by Gürgen (1997) was used in data collection, after minor modifications for teachers working in compulsory schools. Data were analyzed by percentages, means,t-tests for equality of means, analysis of variance, and Chi-square tests. Results showed that teachers scored high in the effectiveness of organizational communication, in general. Additionally, there was not a significant difference in teachers' perceptions between primary and junior high schools as a function of gender, marital status, or seniority. However, older teachers scored higher than the young in the effectiveness of organizational communication. Furthermore, teachers with less educational attainment (i.e., undergraduate or graduate education of two-year-college) scored lower than those with more educational attainment (i.e., graduate of a fouryear college) in the effectiveness of organizational communication. Moreover, primary and junior high school teachers indicated that they were informed about what to do at work by their principals. They were informed orally (65%), meetings and workshops (27 %), or in formal writing (8 %). Finally, suggestions as to what should be done to reach effective organizational communication in schools, help younger teachers use effective organizational communication skills, and increase the communication channels by principals and teachers were suggested.

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