Total Quality Management and Visionary Leadership in Primary Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to determine primary school teachersʹ perceptions of the extent of total quality management (TQM) applications in their schools, to find out whether these perceptions vary according to certain variables, and whether there is a significant relation‐ship between the primary school teachersʹ perceptions of TQM applications and their perceptions of visionary leadership in their schools. This descriptive study was carried out in 2007‐2008 academic year. The population of the study was 13.644 teachers in 422 public primary schools in 19 metropolitan towns in İzmir. The sample was selected through stratified sampling method and the data were collected from 665 teachers in 61 primary schools. The survey instruments used in this study are Educational Quality Scale designed by Cadena, and the Leadership Profile Questionnaire designed by Sashkin and Rosenberg. According to the analyses, the teachersʹ perceptions of TQM are at a high level (marked as ʺoftenʺ). There is a significant different in the teachersʹ perceptions of TQM in terms of their gender, the number of students in the schools, the towns they worked in and whether the school they worked in received the TQM award. It was also found that there is not a significant difference in the teachersʹ perceptions of TQM applications in terms of some of the demographic variables: their tenure, level of education, and the courses they teach. On the other hand, it was found that there is a significant positive correlation (r = 0.66) between the teachersʹ perceptions of TQM applications and their perceptions of visionary leadership.