**4. Discussion and conclusions**

#### **4.1. Perceptions and views about school culture**

In total, 7% of the directors, 34% of the teachers, and 7% of the servants agree that the society, individuals in schools, common values, symbols, rituals, and beliefs and traditions form the basis of school culture. The reason for sharing this view by a great majority of teachers is that they are used to transferring school culture through activities. In their study, Özoğlu and Turan [17] defined school culture as a unity of meanings formed by the individuals in the organization and stated that in the light of research findings, symbols occupy an important place in school culture.

In total, 7% of the directors, 19% of the teachers, and 27% of the servants stressed that with the help of the directors, staff, individuals in schools, and parents, school culture should be spread more throughout education process. In their study, Karadağ and Özdemir [18] reached a different finding, which revealed that a majority of school directors demanded more applications to prioritize role and task culture when defining school culture.

T14 stressed saying, "*We, the teachers have a great role in transferring school culture, providing and sustaining a good quality education in the best possible correct way. Therefore, teachers should be provided with a good environment they need, be supported and rewarded."* The urgent support for

*"In order to add to quality, an educational institution needs to employ qualified staff and intake good students. For better productivity, the staff should be well satisfied with the pay. On high performance, students should be rewarded by the teacher*" remarked T19. Rewarding both teachers and stu-

A total of 7 directors, 37 teachers, and 4 servants agreed that cultural activities such as graduation ceremonies, sports activities, meeting with old graduates, poetry, theater, excursion, and the meaning of the week are organized. This issue was frequently raised by both 48 participants and the directors. With this argument, they believe that interaction among individuals

"*Before anything else, when on excursions, convenient and comfortable means of transport should be provided for carrying out activities without any constraints*" explained T61. In this respect, the

*"I suggest that collective activities are organized and school awareness is created and adapted by all individuals"* said D5. It is believed that activities are effective means to create a unity among

D2 raised views saying, *"In order to increase the quality during the process of developing school culture, activities should be organized in advance, for example, activities leading students to develop* 

It is advised that the quality of school culture should be raised to help the students' development. The reason for these views by the participants is that life-long learning has a positive impact on school culture, and individuals trying to develop themselves do not receive suf-

In total, 7% of the directors, 34% of the teachers, and 7% of the servants agree that the society, individuals in schools, common values, symbols, rituals, and beliefs and traditions form the basis of school culture. The reason for sharing this view by a great majority of teachers is that they are used to transferring school culture through activities. In their study, Özoğlu and Turan [17] defined school culture as a unity of meanings formed by the individuals in the organization and stated that in the light of research findings, symbols occupy an important

In total, 7% of the directors, 19% of the teachers, and 27% of the servants stressed that with the help of the directors, staff, individuals in schools, and parents, school culture should be

participants pointed at the importance of excursions in the quality of school culture.

*themselves in a certain field, such as sports to increase interest through competitions."*

teacher development was frequently brought up in views.

88 Open and Equal Access for Learning in School Management

dents was a common expectation among the participants.

develops school culture.

all the individuals in school organizations.

ficient financial and moral support.

**4. Discussion and conclusions**

place in school culture.

**4.1. Perceptions and views about school culture**

In total, 40% of the directors, 19% of the teachers, and 67% of the servants believe that school culture contributes to social—organizational—individual development, performance, and academic success. Another finding by Karadağ and Özdemir [18] is that school culture has significant importance and is a must in the transfer of sociocultural inheritance as well as in students successfully achieving their socioeconomic roles. In a study by Doğan [19], it is stated that school culture has a positive impact on students' success.

#### **4.2. The functions of existing symbols, values, and rituals in educational institutions**

In total, 60% of the directors, 77% of the teachers, and 93% of the servants stress that when symbols, values, and rituals function together interactively and in harmony, school culture contributes a great deal to social-organizational-individual development. Özdemir [20], on the other hand, argues that, when schools with weak school-culture are considered, it is noted that the relation among directors, teachers, students, and parents is far from being strong. In a study, Özoğlu and Turan [17] found out that as a result of differences, there emerged some sub-cultures, but there was a common organizational culture and power among all the individuals belonging to that organization.

In total, 40% of the directors, 23% of the teachers, and 7% of the servants admitted that due to the number of students, financial problems, and the education system, the functions of symbols, values, and rituals was not at the expected level and needed development. Aslan et al. [21], in their study, argued that ceremonies to bring about unity were not arranged because of lack of physical places and insufficient financial support. In another study by Silman et al. [22], it was argued that new generations did not appreciate the values reflecting their traditions as in the past and there was a possibility of losing rituals and values in due course.

#### **4.3. Tasks and responsibilities for increasing the functions of symbols, values, and rituals**

In total, 20% of the directors and 15% of the teachers stress the need for an effective job distribution and description as well as arrangements with the characteristics of the team to raise the functions of symbols, values, and rituals. In their studies, the authors [20, 23], too, shared the similar idea and emphasized that the directors should do sound arrangements to meet the expectations of both teaches and students, who are the factors affecting the school culture. The authors [17–24] state that the director in an institution is the leader in the process of school culture.

The need for job awareness and responsibility by the school staff to raise the functions of symbols, values, and rituals was commonly shared by 20% of the directors, 26% of the teachers, and 33% of the servants. In the study by Doğan [19], the teachers expressed views that school culture affects responsibility awareness. In similar studies by the authors [20, 25, 26], task culture occupies the highest position in relation to school culture dimensions.

Setting common aims through which organizational devotion and collaboration is provided to raise the functions of symbols, values, and rituals was another view put forward by 20% of the directors, 14% of the teachers, and 47% of the servants. According to studies by the authors of [27, 28], in organizations where there are strong organizational elements, tolerance, and mutual support, and collaboration at a high level, there is always a high motivation, devotion, and an increase in the staff's performance. It was noted in a recent study by Şahin [29] that strong organizational structures bring about organizational success.

**5. Suggestions**

this process and develop by self-improvement.

be organized to raise the quality.

development of school culture.

for learning in school management.

\*Address all correspondence to: malioz89@gmail.com

**Author details**

**References**

programs can be prepared.

• In order to increase the functions of rituals, symbols, and values, managers, teachers, and servants should be well aware of their duties. These qualifications should be considered when employing individuals. School managers can closely monitor the progress of symbols and rituals in influencing school cultures. Management can learn new information in

How Symbols and Rituals Affect School Culture and Management

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71363

91

• Particularly, managers, teachers, and servants can organize various ceremonies, seminars, training sessions, excursions, activities, and meetings to bring students and parents together to fight for common aims. While doing so, individual-cultural similarities and diversities should be borne in mind. Cultural activities such as graduation ceremonies, sports activities, graduation days, poetry, theater, exhibition, excursions, meaning of the week, etc. can

• To raise the quality during the process of developing school culture, reasonable supervi-

• Additional budget can be allocated for the development of the physical structure of schools and the necessary equipment and education to raise the quality during the process of the

• New teaching methods, technology can be put in use, formal arrangements, and teaching

• Studies can be done on the capability of creating organizational devotion and collaboration of school managers and supervisors in relation to developing the functions of rituals, symbols, and values. Investigations may be conducted that examine school managers' learning

• Studies can be done in improving an effective, satisfactory, fair, and objective merit system

Department of Educational Administration, Supervision, Planning and Economics, Faculty

[1] Deal T, Peterson K. Shaping School Culture. 3rd ed. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2016. 336 p

of Education, Educational Sciences Institute Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus

sion and performance evaluation can be applied in school management.

ability in school culture, organizational commitment, and cooperation.

Mehmet Ali Özdilekler\*, Anna Günsel, Gökmen Dağlı and Ergen Gürbüzer

In order to increase the function of symbols, values, and rituals, all adults in the school (directors, teachers, and servants) should be role models in the views of 5% of the teachers. In total, nine participants raised this view. On the other hand, none of the servants and directors expressed such a view. The reason for such a low rate of explanation is because the importance of being a "role model" has not been realized sufficiently. In a study by Özdilekler et al. [30], the significance of being the right role model to students has been stressed. It was found out in a study by Doğan [19] that, according to the teachers, students take their teacher as role models either consciously or unconsciously.

#### **4.4. Suggestions to improve quality during the process of the development of school culture**

In total, 20% of the directors, 30% of the teachers, and 40% of the servants commonly agree that awareness of effective communication, collaboration in common values, view exchanges, motivation, organizational devotion, and tasks should be raised. Similar to these findings, harmony, collaboration, and solidarity among teachers have been stressed in previous studies by Alemdar and Köker and Fedai et al. [31, 32].

Teachers and students should always be encouraged and awarded for self-development, which was a view raised by 7% of the directors and 15% of the teachers. Silman et al. [22] found out in their study that teachers and students were awarded with certificates and verbal thankings, but there has not been a fully satisfactory awarding system. This can be interpreted as a need of promotion and pay rise.

Another finding in this research is that 47% of the directors, 22% of the teachers, and 27% of the servants agreed on their views about organizing activities such as graduation, poetry, theater, exhibition, excursion days, and the meaning of the week. In their research, Karadağ and Özdemir [18] noted that the participants stressed the need for policies to be adapted to widespread activities, traditions, customs, habits, and rituals, which are the basic elements of school culture. In a study by Özoğlu and Turan [17], it was found out that farewell dinner ceremonies for teachers, awarding ceremonies for students, competitions, semester festivals, and graduation ceremonies are strong functional symbols.

In conclusion, although perceptions and thoughts are to do with school culture, school culture should be dealt with more in education. Therefore, some participants expressed worries that the functions of symbols, values, and rituals with great roles in school culture are not at the expected level due to the number of students, financial issues, and education system that need to be improved. Many participants stress the fact that the society, individuals in schools, common values, symbols, rituals, beliefs, and traditions form the basics of school culture.
