Contemporary Approaches in Education and Communication

Table Of Contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• About the author(s)/editor(s)
• About the book
• This eBook can be cited
• Table of Contents
• Foreword (Hasan Arslan)
• Chapter I Education and Management
• The Predictive Relationship between Organizational Communication and Climate in Universities (Baris Uslu / Hasan Arslan)
• The Perceptions of Technological Leadership Metaphors by the School Principals (Osman Ferda Beytekin / Pınar Alkan / Tuğçe Nur Kalender)
• Analysis of ‘Silence’ Behaviour of Academicians in terms of Culture and Personality (Nilgün Dağ / Mustafa Aydın Başar)
• A Research Study on Determining the Entrepreneurial Levels of University Students and Suggesting the Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship: Pamukkale University Example (Vedat Oflaz / Erkan Poyraz / Yıldıray Kızgın)
• Novice Principals, Their Transition to the Work and Challenges (Aydın Balyer / Kenan Özcan / Ali Yıldız)
• Village Institutes and Their Management (Erkan Kiral / Vedat Aksoy)
• A New Trend: Talent Management in Public Schools (Erkan Tabancalı / Mithat Korumaz)
• Innovational Leadership in School Management (Mahmut Sağır)
• The Self-Efficacy Theory: School Principals’ administrative Experiences (Nuray Sevınç / Hasan Arslan)
• Education-Based Indicators of Human Capital: The Case of Central and Eastern European Countries (Selda Görkey-Aydınoğlu)
• Chapter II Teaching and Learning
• A Scale Development Study for the Effectiveness of Teaching Practice (M. Durdu Karsli / Sibel Taşcı)
• Evaluation of Teacher Candidates’ Communication Skills (Muammer Yılmaz)
• Examination of the Effects of the Child-to-Child Approach on the Oral and Dental Health of Primary School Students (Arzu Özyürek / Meltem Cınar / N. Ferah Yavuz / Mukadder Bektaş / Asya Çetın)
• The Effects of a Foreign Language on Students Overall Success – Bilingualism at an Early School Age (Nazlı Tyfekçi)
• Analysis of Teacher Candidate Students’ Basic Skills According to the Views of Students and Practicum Teachers (Davut Hotaman)
• A Review of Primary and Elementary School Students’ Reading Skills from Paper and Screen (Süleyman Erkam Sulak / Şule As)
• Research of 4th Grade Primary School Students’ Level of Usage of the Summarising Strategy (Süleyman Erkam Sulak / Şenol Arslan / Aslı Yıldırım)
• The Effect of the Lego Mindstrom Eve 3 Based Design Activities on Students’ Attitude towards Cooperative Learninig and Problem Solving Skills (Özgen Korkmaz)
• The Attitudes of Teachers’ towards in-Service Training Activities and Teaching as a Profession (Ferdane Denkci Akkaş / Süleyman Akkaş)
• A Study on Book Evaluation Skills of the Students at Turkish Language Department Kocaeli University as a Sample (Gurkan Yavas)
• The Importance of Pre Reading Tasks in Reading Comprehension of ESL learners and a Course-Book Evaluation: Sunshine 7 (Özlem Alpar)
• Approaches of Biology Teacher Candidates towards Ecological Products (Esra Çakirlar Altuntaş / Salih Levent Turan)
• Investigation of Classroom Teacher Reading Strategies using Level Candidates (Seda Varan / Yasemin Sönmez)
• Turkish Adaptation of the Prenatal Maternal Expectations Scale (PMES) (Gül Şendil / Hilal Karabulut / Duygu Akyüz / Ayşegül Güner-Algan / Mutlugül Yahyaoğlu)
• An Investigation of the Relationship Between Peer Relationships and Peer Bullying in Adolescents (Utku Beyazıt / Şükran Şimşek / Aynur Bütün Ayhan)
• Secondary School Students’ Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Levels and the Source of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety (Elif Nur Bozer / Muhittin Çalişkan)
• Chapter III Communication
• Community Radio and Turkish Live Radio Stations in France (Ersoy Soydan)
• To Rescue Animals or to Save Ego? Conflicts among Animal Rights Activists in Turkey (Sırma Oya Tekvar)
• For What Purposes Do Knowledge Workers Use Social Media? A Conceptual Framework Development Effort (Oya Zincir)
• Representation of New Communication Technologies in Cartoons Featured in Turkey: In the Example of ‘Ben 10, Nane Limon, and Canım Kardeşim’ (Mehtap Uyar)
• Discussing the State in Turkey: An Analysis on the Basis of National Newspapers (2000–2009) (Oğuzhan Özaltin)
• Self-Orientalist Paradigm in Turkish Media and Native Aliens: Types of Representation of Kurds in Media (Burcu Kaya Erdem)
• The Ideological News Construction Process with Respect to the Gezi Park Protests (Esra Vona Kurt / Hüseyin Bal)
• A Multi-Perspective Comparison of Childhood Heroes: Caillou and Pepee (Arzu Kizbaz)
• Civic Journalism on the Route from Paper to Digital: Radikal Blog 2016 (Z. Burcu Vardal / Sevil Bektaş Durmuş)
• The Role of Strategic Communication Management in Nation Brand Building and the Nation Brand of Turkey (Abdullah Özkan)

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Foreword

Contemporary Approaches in Education and Communication gather studies adressing education and communication not only from different perspectives, but also referring to different contexts. Thus, the current volume acknowledges the importance that context has in education and communication studies, regardless of the topics or methodology. Contemporary Approaches in Education ad Communication consist of 37 that use both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and underline the importance that context has in deciphering education and communication process. The book is classified into two chapters and each chapter provides different perspectives and case studies through several papers in order to make more clear and understandable the theory and practices.

The first chapter is dedicated to Education which divided two sub-chapters: Education and Management and, Teaching and Learning. Baris Uslu and Hasan Arslan examine the predictive relationship between communication and climate in universities. The authors state that university managers should operate different formal and informal communication channels to enhance positive collegial interactions among academic staff. Nilgun Dağ and Mustafa Aydın Başar’s paper focus on analysis of ‘silence’ behaviors of academicians in terms of culture and personality. The paper written by Utku Beyazıt, Şükran Şimşek and Aynur Bütün Ayhan presents the issue of the relationship between peer relationship and peer bullying in adolescents. The authors state that peer relationship becomes increasingly important in adolescents’ overall development and well-being. The paper the importance of pre-reading tasks in reading comprehension of ESL learners and a course-book evaluation: Sunshine 7, written by Özlem Alpar, presents the notion of receptive skills and productive skills in English teachers. Esra Çakırlar Altuntaş and Salih Levent Turan’s paper focus on Approaches of Biology Teacher Candidates towards Ecological Products. The authors argue that environmental behaviours of pre-service biology teachers do not indicate any meaningful difference in accordance with the class level, their green products awareness indicates a meaningful difference in accordance with the settlements. Aydın Bayar, Kenan Özcan and Ali Yıldız underline Novice Principals, Their Transition to the Work and Challenges. The authors state that principals would make a significant difference in the school improvement process. The paper on Distance Education Applications for Teachers by Hasan Arslan and Meltem Kuşcu argue on distance education has a new dimension by the increasing participation of the Internet to our lives and the widespread participation has ← 9 | 10 → helped distance education have new fields. Another research paper was written by Erkan Kıral and Vedat Aksoy on Village institutes and their management. The authors try to analyze organisations as one of the indispensable elements of social life. Muammer Yılmaz’s study of Evaluation of Teacher Candidates’Communication Skills attempts to analyse mental, emotional and behavioural measures in terms of communication skills of teacher candidates. M. Durdu Karslı and Sibel Taşcı try to develop a scale development study for the effectiveness of teaching practice. The authors state that it is important that teachers who will work within the education system must be trained in good shape. So, teachers who are one of the most important factors in education are required to have properties that can affect the quality of education. Arzu Özyürek, Meltem Çınar, N. Ferah Yavuz, Mukadder Bektaş and Asya Çetin examine the Effects of the Child-to-Child Approach on the Oral and Dental Health of Primary School Students. The authors underline dental caries and periodontal diseases since the early ages of human life. Nazli Tyfekçi presents a paper of The Effects of a Foreign Language on Students Overall Success – Bilingualism at an Early School Age. The study considers the century of the revival of interest of learning a second language. Davut Hotaman attempts to analyze the Teacher Candidate Students’ Basic Skills According to the Views of Students and Practicum Teachers. The study examines the contribution of the “School Practice” course on raising “qualified teachers.” Süleyman Erkam Sulak and Şule As’s study of A Review of Primary and Elementary School Students’ Reading Skills from Paper and Screen aims to review students’ reading skills from paper and screen. Accordingly, students’ readings from paper and screen have been analysed with regard to reading speed, error and, comprehension. Süleyman Erkam Sulak, Şenol Arslan and Aslı Yıldırım present a research of 4^th grade primary school students’ level of usage of the summarising strategy. This research was carried out using a descriptive survey model. A survey model is a research model used to describe a situation existing at that time or in the past as it is. Erkan Tabancalı, with his paper entitled A New Trend: Talent Management in Public Schools, try to articulate public organisations as under the pressure of being more productive, better managed, and efficiently organised. As a result of this pressure, public organisations have realised that to succeed in the competitive and increasingly complex relations, they must have the best talents for their organisational goals. Mahmut Sağır underlines the Innovational Leadership in School Management. The author defines the quality of educational services provided by schools which are educational organisations. Özgen Korkmaz’s paper examines The Effect of the Lego Mindstrom Eve 3 Based Design Activities on Students’Attitude towards Cooperative Learnig and Problem Solving Skills. The author states that boring and tiring activity for a lot of people are due to the lack of motivation, teaching methods not appropriate to students and low ← 10 | 11 → interaction. The research paper A Research Study on Determining the Entrepreneurial Levels of University Students and Suggesting the Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship: Pamukkale University Example by Vedat Oflaz, Erkan Poyraz and Yıldıray Kızgın examines entrepreneurship as an innovative concept which promotes sustainable economic growth by gathering the factors of production namely labour, technology, capital, and natural resources. Elif Nur Bozer examines Secondary School Students’ Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety Levels and the Source of Foreign Language Speaking Anxiety. The author argues that Learning a language is perceived as a hard process by many people. The factors that make language learning process tough are cognitive factors, cultural factors, and affective factors. Another research paper was written by Ferdane Denkci Akkaş and Süleyman Akkaş on The Attitudes of Teachers’ towards In-Service Training Activities and Teaching as a Profession. The authors state that in-service training helps teachers develop the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to be successful in their teaching and to be satisfied with their job. Nuray Sevinç and Hasan Arslan underline The Self-Efficacy Theory: School Principals’administrative Experiences. The authors explain that A school principal is a person who carries the school into the future using all human and material resources efficiently while considering the school’s structure of diversity and the properties of the environment. Seda Varan and Yasemin Sönmez’s paper investigate the Classroom Teacher Reading Strategies. The purpose of this research is to determine the level of classroom teacher candidates’ reading strategies use levels. Gül Şendil, Hilal Karabulut, Duygu Akyüz, Ayşegül Güner Algan and Mutlugül Yahyaoğlu examine Turkish Adaptation of the Prenatal Maternal Expectations Scale (PMES) in their studies. They argue that the capacity to comprehend herself as a mother is so important for a woman, not only for preparing herself for motherhood but also to meet the needs the newborn baby. Osman Ferda Beytekin, Pınar Alkan and Tuğçe Nur Kalender, with his paper entitled The Perceptions of Technological Leadership Metaphors By The School Principals aimed at drawing the metaphors of technological leadership among the school administrators which has become the necessity in our time of technological development. In order to find this perspective, the school principals were asked about their perception on how they reflect on the metaphor of technological leadership. Gurkan Yavaş’s paper tries to examine Book Evaluation Skills of The Students In A Turkish Language Department Kocaeli University As A Sample. His research bases on unchanging fact for many years that Turkey is a country where the reading habit is rather low.

The second chapter is dedicated to Communication. The paper Community Radio and Turkish Live Radio Stations in France written by Ersoy Soydan, focuses on fundamental rights and freedoms in France. Sırma Oya Tekvar tries to answer the ← 11 | 12 → question of Rescuing Animals or to Save Ego? Conflicts among Animal Rights Activists in Turkey. The author argues taking consequential steps for animal welfare especially since the adoption of No. 5199 Article on Animal Rights Law in 2004 in Turkey. The title of Oya Zincir’s paper is For What Purposes Do Knowledge Workers Use Social Media? A Conceptual Framework Development Effort. The author states that most of today’s organisations are aware of social media and its effects on employees and organisations. They tend to work with talented people, especially for their abilities and capabilities. Mehtap Uyar presents a paper of Representation of New Communication Technologies in Cartoons Featured in Turkey: In the Example of ‘Ben 10, Nane Limon, and Canım Kardeşim’. The study underlines that Cartoons, which are in the category of children and youth films, play an important role in the development period of children. Oğuzhan Özaltan presents a paper of Discussing the State in Turkey: An Analysis On The Basis Of National Newspapers. The aim of this paper is to observe how the State is discussed in Turkey through their reciprocal links. Burcu Kaya Erdem’s study of Self-Orientalist Paradigm in Turkish Media and Native Aliens: Types of Representation of Kurds In Media. This study is prepared based on the assumption that the media has a function that legitimises the discourse of political power and “reproduces the relationship between power and knowledge in favour of the political power. Esra Vona Kurt and Hüseyin Bal’s study entitled The Ideological News Construction Process with Respect to the Gezi Park Protests aim to provide a qualitative analysis of the portrayal, representation, and definition of the urban social movement known as the “Gezi Park Protests” within the news through an analysis of news reports. Arzu Kızbaz presents A Multi-Perspective Comparison of Childhood Heroes: Caillou and Pepee. The author states that Caillou and Pepee are definitely heroes that have remained in our minds, and that we liked very much or imitated or criticised, as being a child means dreaming, emulating and following. Z. Burcu Vardal and Sevil Bektaş Durmuş, with his paper entitled Civic Journalism on the Route from Paper to Digital: Radikal Blog 2016, explain that the Internet is not only a very important development in the communication technologies, but also a phenomenon that entails to be investigated with respect to its economic, political, and social effects. The research paper The Role of Strategic Communication Management in Nation Brand Building and The Nation Brand of Turkey by Abdullah Özkan argues that countries, like brands and institutions, have faced a fierce competitive environment in the new century. Many important changes with the globalisation process, particularly in the communication industry, force countries to give up traditional techniques.

Hasan Arslan

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Chapter I
Education and Management

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Baris Uslu and Hasan Arslan

Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey

The Predictive Relationship between Organizational Communication and Climate in Universities

Abstract: The purpose of this research is to investigate the predictive relationship between communication and climate in universities. The research was designed in a descriptive survey model. The data were collected from 776 faculty from Turkish public universities by using Organizational Communication and Organizational Climate scales. After detecting the normal distributions for data set, descriptive, correlation and regression analyses were performed. The perceptions of faculty about communication and climate in their universities were found at a medium level. In addition, there is a strong relation between communication and climate, and organizational communication could explain %65 of faculty’s organizational climate perceptions. According to these findings, the quality of communication is a powerful factor which influences faculty’s perceptions about general atmosphere in their universities. As a result, to generate more favorable atmosphere in their organizations, university managers should operate different formal and informal communication channels to enhance positive collegial interactions among academic staff.

Keywords: Higher education, University, Faculty, Organizational communication, Organizational climate

Introduction

Human beings as a part of community have a special skill to create a better personal understanding of themselves and their environment, to establish harmonious relations with others and to benefit from the knowledge which is mankind’s heritage. This skill is called ‘Human’s Communication Power’ and communication is described as sharing emotions, ideas and information between at least two people using different tools and methods (Keskin-Vural, 2012; Harris & Nelson, 2008). According to this definition, communication has some core elements, and these are Sender, Message, Coding, Channel, Receiver and Feedback (Hoy & Miskel, 2010; Yüksel, 2013). In this perspective, organizations such as institutions, companies, foundations, clubs, parties, hospitals and schools are established by ← 15 | 16 → people to reach their common goals, so they have to communicate with others in organizations, sometimes as a sender or a receiver (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Interaction between sender and receiver in communication (Yüksel, 2013, p. 33).

This mutual interplay is called Organizational Communication and defined as formally or informally sharing information, emotions, savvines and approaches within messages among units and employees in organizations by using all kind of tools and equipment as channels (Aydın, 2005). Some organizations, cover so many interactions between people that they must have powerful communication structures to continue to accomplish their missions effectively (Nordin, 2013). Organizations can survive much longer if their structures support three ways of communications which are top-down, bottom-up and horizontal communications. Besides, communication channels have to cover both formal and informal communication opportunities to access all types of information from inside and outside of the organizations (Baron, 2006; Çetinkanat & Sağnak, 2010). All of these ways and channels are used to achieve the main purpose of organizational communications, that is to contribute to the coordination of works, problem solving, information sharing and conflict management (Polat & Arslan, 2004). For this purpose, organizational communication comprises functions like generating goals and standards, transferring facts and information, making decisions, influencing and leading others, and evaluating the results (Hoy & Miskel, 2010).

However, Organizational Climate is mostly defined as the general atmosphere surrounding organizations based on employees’ perceptions, and its types are named dually like two ends of a straight line as Negative-Positive, Closed-Open, Restrictive-Supportive or Unhealthy-Healthy (Stringer, 2002). A supportive climate comprises multi-directional communication channels for open and sincere ← 16 | 17 → interactions among administrators and employees, and a healthy climate emphasizes the existence of effective communication networks in organizations (Mullins, 2007). Especially in organizations with intensive human relations like educational institutions, organizational climate reflects the internal and external relationship processes, work methods and physical structure, the web of communication channels, staff’s identities and authority usage styles (Karadağ, Baloğlu, Korkmaz, & Çalışkan, 2008). Leaders, thus, should create a democratic climate in schools to support the participation of stakeholders in decision making, collaboration between units, easy access to information, quick delivery of demands and needs, sharing ideas, concerns and emotions between administrators and teachers by powerful formal communication frames besides informal communication practices (Karadağ & Öner, 2012). As a result, school leaders, by means of open communication and positive climate, can increase in teachers’ commitment, trust and feelings of collegiality besides job satisfaction, so they can contribute directly and indirectly to students’ happiness and success in schools (Aypay, Taş, & Boyacı, 2012).

Likewise, organizational communication is the reflection of organizational climate and also the molder of it, and even a dimension of climate in higher education institutions (McMurray & Scott, 2013). In universities as the most complex educational organization, effective formal and informal communication initiatives can provide sharing organizational vision and common goals among units, informing stakeholders about ongoing processes and different operations, exchanging opinions between senior and junior members, establishing collegial discussion platforms and forming interdisciplinary cooperation (Alipour, 2011; Beytekin & Arslan, 2013; Balcı-Bucak, 2002). Therefore, well-functioning organizational communication networks in universities contribute to the creation of a positive climate as more open, sincere, collegial, supportive, participative, democratic, reassuring and transparent (Gizir & Simsek, 2005; Schulz, 2013). Moreover, alternative communication channels not only facilitate collegial sharing but also expedite the interactions between academics and students, so that academics can help their students’ more efficient development as well as their colleagues’ advancement in academia by their role model behaviors, mentoring and stewardship activities (Austin & McDaniels, 2006; Seçkin, Apaydın, & Aypay, 2014). As a result, a positive climate with effectual communication in universities influences favorably academics’ intention to stay, commitment to their institutions, participation in decision-making processes, taking responsibilities in organizational practices, collaborative and interdisciplinary studies, work performance and job satisfaction (Arabacı, 2011; Kezar, 2013; O’Meara, Lounder, & Campbell, 2014). ← 17 | 18 →

Additionally, there are several studies which confirm these mutual relations between communication and climate in universities. Alipour (2011), for example, explored the relations between three main communication skills (verbal, listening and feedback) of managers and organizational climate in Iranian Physical Higher Education Organizations (PHEOs). He used two different instruments, developed by Deep & Sussman (1989) for organizational climate and Burton (1993) for communication skills, were applied to all the staff, executive managers and deputies of the PHEOs (as cited in Alipour, 2011, p. 423). He then made data analysis with 77 questionnaires and calculated the low level perception of organizational climate (=2.39) and the medium level perception of communication skills (=3.18) in Iranian PHEOs. Moreover, Alipour (2011) found a significant and positive correlation between communication skills of managers and organizational climate (r=.49; p≤.01). This correlation indicated that there is a strong relationship between the communication skills of managers and organizational climate, thus, administrators’ communication skills are important to establish well-functioning communication channels which contribute to forming a desirable climate in higher education organizations. In another study, Balcı-Bucak (2002) examined the organizational climate in one faculty of a Turkish university in terms of superior-subordinate relations. This study was carried out in survey method, and a questionnaire, composed of 16 items in 5 Point Likert Type, was applied to 70 academics and 58 valid questionnaires were analyzed by quantitative methods. She indicated the mean for each item about the superior-subordinate relationship separately, and found the mean in 10 items at low level and 6 items at medium level (minimum =2.31 for ‘objectiveness of administrator on separating additional resources’; maximum =2.81 for ‘appreciating the personalities of subordinates by administrator’). After these findings, Balcı-Bucak (2002) stated that insufficient relationship between academics and administrators in the faculty can cause negative climate perception among academics, which affects their scholarly productivity and contribution to the institution. Arabacı (2011) also developed the Organizational Climate Assessment Scale (OCAS) to examine the climate of a Turkish university. After validity and reliability analyses, he formed OCAS as a 31 item scale, with high reliability (α=.93), under 4 dimensions: Organizational Structure, Organizational Communication and Participating in Decision Making, Organizational Commitment and Organizational Conflict. He then found that the mean of staff’s perceptions about organizational climate (=2.82) and organizational communication and participating in decision making (=2.59) in the university were at a moderate level. Arabacı (2011), hereby, concluded that communication and participation processes in universities are some of the ← 18 | 19 → most important aspects of organizational climate, and they have a very powerful influence especially on the climate perception of early career academics and support staff.

Given the above, the quality of communication is one of the main organizational features which steer academics’ perception related to general atmosphere in their universities. However, in the reviewed literature the researchers could not access any empirical study which directly investigates the relationship between organizational communication and organizational climate in universities. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to examine the predictive relations between communication and climate in universities. For this purpose, the research questions are:

1. According to faculty’s perceptions, what are the levels of organizational communication and organizational climate in universities?

2. According to faculty’s perceptions, are there any significant relations between organizational communication and organizational climate in universities?

3. According to faculty’s perceptions, is organizational communication a significant predictor of organizational climate in universities?

Methodology

This research was designed as a correlational research, which “is useful in a wide variety of studies, and the most useful applications of correlation are (1) determining relationships, (2) assessing consistency, and (3) prediction” (Ary, Cheser-Jacobs, Razavieh, & Sorensen, 2006, p. 378).

Population and Sample

Faculty as senior academics in Turkish universities constituted the target population. However, faculty who work in foundation universities were excluded from target population because of structural, financial and operational differences between public and foundation universities. Therefore, the population of the research was limited with 47294 faculty from 104 Turkish public universities (http://www.yok.gov.tr/, 24.02.2015). After deciding the population, the researchers categorized Turkish public universities according to their establishment years (pre-1992, 1992–2005 and post-2005) and location (in terms of the geographic regions in Turkey: Aegean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, East Anatolia, Marmara, Mediterranean, Southeast Anatolia), and selected 46 Turkish public universities which have different establishment years and locations. The researchers then sent e-mail with online questionnaire link to 16852 faculty from these universities. The ← 19 | 20 → questionnaires filled by 776 faculty were included in the data set, so the sample of the research was composed of these 776 faculty (see in Table 1).

Table 1: Distribution of Faculty According to Their Personal-Institutional Characteristics

Data Collection Instruments

Organizational communication scale (OComS). This scale was developed for service institutions by Yılmaz (2007), and adapted to university environment by Uslu (2015). OComS is composed of 10 items (with .467–.851 factor loadings in one dimension) in 5 Point Likert Type. OComS was a highly reliable scale with α=.915, and explains 57.792% of variance for Organizational Communication in universities. The researchers also found α=.785 in the research as an indicator for high reliability.