Examination of Implementation Level of the Total Quality Management Principles by the Principals and Teachers Functioning at Elementary Schools : The Case of Adiyaman Province

This study is conducted for the purpose of examining the implementation levels of the Total Quality Management principles by the principals and teachers functioning at the elementary schools. The study is executed with 30 school principal and 300 teachers functioning at the public elementary schools in Adıyaman province. A questionnaire set up by the researchers after consulting to the expert opinion is used for data gathering. Data concerning the study is analyzed by using SPSS package software. At the end of the study, it was observed that the principals and teachers functioning at the elementary schools implement the Total Quality Management principles at their occupational studies. It is further determined that the teachers have higher implementation levels than the principals as regards such principles.


Introduction
School and classroom activities are places where the educational policies transform to the life.If this transformation executive is made in accordance with the school and customer/parent expectations, it can provide total quality of system outputs.The quality of graduates of the school did not respond to the demand of parents/customers in desired level, so it resulted in so that, school administrators and teachers' professional duties and responsibilities should be examined.In the process of the examining the school and staff's professional duties and responsibilities, the resource of basic criteria is observed as "total quality principles in education".
The principles of total quality management and examining the input, process and outputs of education system and also restructuring the education system are important in the evaluation of the educational process.Especially, self-renewing of school organization is the important issue in terms of creating the customer-oriented service and the basic principles of total quality management.
In the literature review, it can be seen that the majority of the studies on "total quality in education" includes the subjects which are "total quality management in education" and "total quality management in education and a model proposal".The studies conducted on total quality in education have more theoretical basis, in the level of implementation of the principles of total quality management in education, there is no enough research.
In this research, the level of practice of the principles of total quality management of teachers and school administrators working in primary school was investigated.The reason that, studies on the total quality in education are more in theoretical basis, has led to giving the priority to the size of the application.Because of that, "examination the teachers and school administrators' working in primary school the level of practice of the principles of total quality management" is crucial.
Examining the level of practice of total quality management in schools and with the findings and results from the research, providing the feedback which is about school administration and the expectation of the restructuring the school organization has been effected in terms of the choice of research subject.In this research, the subject of examination the teachers and school working in primary school the level of practice of the principles of total quality management is studied; with the top-level, education administrators who is guiding the education policies, bureaucrats who are implementing education policies and researchers who are undertaking focusing on relating to education is to create an awareness.In this research, constituting the basis of debate and research in the academic and scientific environment is expected and also this research can be the basis for the later research.In addition, the expect from this research is to create a contribution on the teachers and administrators academic studies who observe the principles of total quality in education and management of school and classroom activities which are the field of practice of education policies.

The Concepts of Quality and Total Quality
The significance of quality oriented competition gradually becoming more important in terms of enterprises.The concept of quality is no longer used solely for the manufactured product and in these days, has become an indispensable element at each and every field of life (Şimşek & Çelik, 2009, p. 198).What make the quality important are the developments experienced after the industrial revolution?
The studies by scientists such as Taylor (1911), Fayol (1916), Weber (1921), and Mayo (1933) pioneered and paved the way for introduction and researching of the concept of quality in production.Taylor disregarded the human element at his studies; Fayol emphasized the importance of the human element even if just a bit, while Weber, on the other hand, completely bureaucratized the concept and emphasized the fact that each individual must fulfill his responsibilities commended to that individual within the frame of definite tasks and authorities with certain limits.The scientist whom discussed the impact of the human element on the production in the most highlighted manner was Elton Mayo.Mayo asserted that the human beings using the tools and equipment used for production are extremely impactful in order to eliminate outage and enhance effectiveness in production; therefore the worker satisfaction must be taken cognizance of.All of these and similar other developments procreated the Total Quality Management as a contemporary approach.The Total Quality Management is the approach that found the most implementation field amongst the contemporary approaches, as the Total Quality intends to meet the customer requests and expectations at the maximum level by being implemented at all institutions or sectors.
Total Quality in Education (TQE) greatly contributed the principals, teachers, students and other school stakeholders to be aware of their respective roles and to procreate the customer conscience (student=customer).That is to say, the TQE blazed the trail for procreation of a student (customer) oriented insight.
TQE is a management philosophy that is in constant interaction with the surroundings, that takes the needs of the surroundings into consideration, that balance the factors affecting the school, open to changes, that ensures coordination between the teacher, the student and the staff within the school, that establish good relations and that utilize the available sources in a rational manner (http://talimterbiye.mebnet.net/program-gel-birimi/egitimde%20toplam%20kalite.ppt,14.03.11).
In summary, there are discrete definitions and representations concerning the definition and dimensions of the quality.Within the contemporary management science, the quality overall studies not only focusing on the product, intends to run the entire production process in reliable, effective and potent manner and capable of adapting to every field (Erkılıç, 2007, p. 52).

Total Quality Principles and Adaptation to the Education
Basically, total quality can be identified as capability to meet the requests and expectations of the customer.This study is conducted on the basis of leadership of the top management, participation to decisions, customer orientation, and continuous development, level of communication and motivation principles.

Leadership of Top Management Principle
The basic objective of the school is to meet the educational needs of the students.As the top management leader, the school principals are obliged to meet such requirements.An education leader is the person whom collaborates with the teacher and the student guardians, meet distinct requirements and expectations of the customers and direct the resources of the society to the school.The education leader fulfills this function by affecting its surroundings.The education leaders must have knowledge about on topics not only as the laws, regulations, management processes and applications concerning the school but also on topics such as the content of the curriculum, program assessment and development.Because, the principal as the education leader is the most significant element having impact on the occupational qualification of the teachers at the school, the level of student achievement and the degree of effectiveness at the school functions (Can, 2007, p. 230).

Participation to Decisions Principle
Participation of the employees at TQE to the decision making process is essential.Participation means that the employees at all levels of the organization takes responsibility and fulfills such assumed responsibility.When one mentions about the participation of the employees, benefiting from the energies of all employees for solution of the problems must be understood rather than the employees of the establishment to come together, conduct business together or enter into amicable relations (Tufan, Mızrak & Çelik, 2009, p. 29).
In order to manage the bag of tricks and the education processes in a successful manner, participation of the personnel personally engaged with that work to the decision making process is extremely important for improvement and development of these processes.

Customer Orientation Principle
The studies of TQE particularly focus on the customer.The customer is defined as the last person receiving the product or the service (Şişman & Turan, 2001), as the existence of the customer shall mean the existence of the enterprise.
The objective at the Total Quality insight is to orient and support all units of the company in accordance with the customer demands and to achieve the customer satisfaction by meeting all expectations of the customer; as a matter of fact, even furthering the expectations and ensure full customer satisfaction.
The customer orientation within the context of total quality management at education means to raise awareness of all stakeholders of the school, provide support at the point of quality studies and meet the expectations of the students and the guardians.That is to say, meeting the expectations of both internal and external customers is the basic principle at the total quality at education process.

Continuous Development Principle
The process development principle means how the school designs, manages and improves the education processes.It is possible to observe the elements such as decision-making, planning, organization, communication, effectuating, coordination and assessment directed towards the purpose of the organization within the frame of the continuous development principle.As regards the school, such elements may contain studies such as student affairs, personnel affairs, teaching affairs, education affairs, managerialism, etc. (Üstün, 2006, p. 24).

Communication Level Principle
Determination and correction of the mistakes and prevention of reoccurrence of such mistakes lies at the very foundation of the total quality management.The fundamental approach for mistake prevention at the total quality insight is to forecast the problems and develop solutions.In order to enable the total quality management to succeed in this context, the teachers must be in constant interaction with the students and their guardians.

Motivation Principle
Potential and the performance of the employees is dependent on high morale and motivation levels and satisfaction and commitment to the work and the environment and the organization.In this regard, every supervisor must endeavor to keep the morale and motivation levels of their inferiors high.In this context, the school management must conduct studies to increase the morale level of all internal and external stakeholders of the school.Teachers with high motivation level are more likely to achieve success at classroom and other activities.

The Purpose and Significance of the Study
Implementation of the total quality principles at education has s significant impact on the qualification of the graduates of the school.The purpose of this study is to research the implementation level of the total quality management principles by the school principals and teachers.Under the study, the level that the school employees pay regard to the leadership of the top management, participation to the decisions, customer orientation, continuous development, communication level and motivation principles at their studies.
As a result of the findings to be obtained from this study, the school personnel shall became aware of the defects at their studies at the school and shall endeavor to correct their occupational behavior.The level of implementation of the total quality management at education shall attract the attention of the researchers and the implementers and shall form a basis for the further studies.Moreover, the principals and the teachers whom constitute the sample of the study shall be able to comprehend their implementation levels for the total quality management and shall conduct a self-assessment within the frame of such findings and thus contribute to the formation of a contemporary school environment.

Methodology of the Study and Evaluation of the Data Compiled
At the study, six principles out of the Total Quality Management principles are determined and 24 questions measuring the implementation level of such six principles are prepared.The questions are separately adopted for both the teachers and the principals and thus the implementation level of such principles by both groups is measured.
Under the scope of the study, a questionnaire was applied to 30 principals and 300 teachers functioning at 11 schools selected as sample group out of 42 schools located at Adıyaman province central district.The questionnaires are analyzed individually in order to enable the analysis results to reflect the truth to the most possible extent and the questionnaire completed by 27 principals and 291 teachers are evaluated.
A reliability analysis was conducted to determine the reliability and validity of the questionnaire and the reliability coefficient is calculated to be (α=0,872) for the questionnaire applied to the principals and (α=920) for the questionnaire applied to the teachers.If the alpha value of any scale is 0.00≤ a < 0.40, then that scale is considered as not reliable; if the alpha value is 0,40 ≤ a < 0,60, then the scale is of low reliability; if the alpha value is 0,60 ≤ a < 0,80, then the scale is considerably reliable and if the alpha value is 0,80 ≤ a < 1,00, then the scale is highly reliable (Atan, 2011, p. 28).Accordingly, both questionnaires applied to the school principals and the teachers possess high reliability levels.
Furthermore, the Likert scale is also applied at the study.At the Likert scale, the behavior measurements are done according to the 1-5 range.The highest positive behavior at the scale of the questionnaire applied to the teachers is taken as 5 while the lowest negative behavior is taken as 1.For the questionnaire applied to the principals, on the other hand, this scale was applied as total opposite, meaning that the highest positive behavior is taken as 1 while the lowest negative behavior as 5.However, it is a tradition in Turkey to carry out the statistical interpretations over the 100 scale.Therefore, the values of 1-5 scale corresponding to the 100 scale are indicated in the respective tables.All comments in the tables are also made according to the values converted to 100 scale.
In the study, tests such as "Anova, test of homogeneity, tukey test" are employed.The data compiled from the questionnaires are evaluated at the computer by means of SPSS 16.0 (Statistical Package for Social Science) software.

The Assumption of the Study
The basic assumption of this study leads to the assertion that the education laborers do not implement the total quality management principles at adequate levels, but the teachers pursue such principles more than the principals.

The Demographic Characteristics of the Study Subjects
This study is conducted with voluntary participation of 291 teachers, 108 of which are female and 27 school principals, all of whom are male.As regards the marital status, 11 of the teachers are divorced, 36 are single and 244 are married.The marital status amongst the principals is determined to be 3 singles and 24 married.
When we look at the demographic characteristics in terms of age, the age distribution of the subjects of the study is as follows 12 teachers and 1 principal at ages varying in the range of 18-25; 111 teachers and 5 principals at ages varying in the range of 26-35, 99 teachers and 10 principals at ages varying in the range of 36-45, 48 teachers and 6 principals at ages varying in the range of 46-55, 21 teachers and 5 principals of age 56 and up.
Amongst the voluntary subjects attending the study, 23 teachers and 1 principal are post graduates; 268 teachers and 26 principals are graduates.Based on the seniority variable; there are 40 teachers at 1-5 years of service, 68 teachers and 2 principals at 6-10 years of service, 66 teachers and 5 principals at 11-15 years of service, 117 teachers and 20 principals at more than 16 years of service.

The Attitude of the Study Subjects to the Total Quality Principles
The mean values are categorized differently at transformation of the data used while generating the table herein below to the hundred scale.While the highest level is expressed with 5 at the test applied to the teachers, it is the exact opposite at the test applied to the principals; that is to say, the highest level is assumed as 1 for the principals.Percentiles rather than the mean values are used at this study in order to make the study more comprehensible.

Leadership of the Top Management Principle
In Table 1 the attitudes of the principals and teachers functioning at the public elementary schools regarding the implementation level of the leadership of top management principle, which is one of the total quality management principles, are measured by means of Likert scale.In the table, the reliability of the employees, being a good model as regards the TQE, level of openness to the criticism and suggestions and the level of playing the leadership role are scrutinized in order to compare the attitudes of the groups concerning the leadership of the top management.
Based on the values given in Table 1, the teachers consider the school principals as reliable persons at 73%, while the school principals consider the teachers reliable at 77%.As can be understood from here, the principals demonstrate more positive attitude as regards the reliability.While the teachers do not consider the principals as very good models as regards the total quality management (64%), the principals, on the other hand, consider the teachers as very good models (80%).The teachers consider the school principals more open to the criticism and suggestions; this ratio is realized as 67%.The principals, on the other hand, find the teachers open for criticism and suggestions at 61%.In the light of these data, it is possible to mention that the principals functioning in Adıyaman province are more open to criticism.While 58% of the teachers express that the school principals play the leadership role rather than the manager role while 63% of the principals find the teachers as more leaders.
When we look at the general attitude, the level of implementation for the leadership of top management principle is at higher levels for the teachers when compared to the principals.The teachers find the principals successful at 66% level for implementation of this principle of the total quality management while the principals find the teachers successful at 70%.

Participation to Decisions Principle
Table 2 contains data concerning the level of implementation for the participation to decisions principle, one of the total quality management principles, at the public elementary schools at central district affiliated to Adıyaman Provincial Directorate of National Education.Accordingly; as the school principals consult to the opinions of the teachers at 64% while taking decisions concerning the school; the teachers, on the other hand, consult to the opinion of the students at 71% while taking decisions concerning the classroom.The school management consults to the opinions of the students and the guardians at 61% while taking decisions concerning the school and the teachers consult to the opinions of the principals at 67% while taking decisions concerning the educational process.It is possible to mention that the teachers consult to the opinions of the students (71%) rather than the opinions of the principals (67%) while taking decisions concerning the educational process.While the school principal considers the expectations of the associated parties at 71% while taking decisions concerning the school; the teachers consider the expectations of the associated parties at 80% while taking decisions concerning the educational process at the classroom.When we take into consideration the general average of both groups concerning the level of participation to the decisions, it is observed that the teachers consult to the opinions of the persons they render services to at higher levels when compared to the principals.This can be attributed to the content of the student oriented curriculum started to be implemented during 2005-2006 academic year.

Customer Orientation Principle
The level of implementation for the customer orientation principle, which is one of the total quality management principles and adapted to education for the purpose of this study is separately asked to both the principals and the teachers under four fundamental questions.Accordingly; 75% of the principals consider that the teachers give particular importance to the expectations of the associated parties during their studies, while 71% of the teachers consider that the school management gives particular importance to the expectations of the third parties.The principals consider that the teachers take into consideration the suggestions and expectations of the school management at 70%; the teachers consider that the school employees meet the requests and demands of the students and the guardians at 60%. 71% of the teachers believe that they teach student oriented courses at their classrooms, while 64% of the principals consider that the teachers are teaching student oriented courses.Based on the general average, 67% of the teachers believe that the principals are working as customer oriented while 70% of the principals believe that the teachers execute customer oriented studies.

Continuous Development Principle
Table 4 shows the level of implementation for the continuous development principle.Based on the values given in the table, the mean value concerning the level of implementation of the continuous development principle is found to be 63% for the principals (according to the teachers) and 65% for the teachers (according to the principals).
When observed from the variables basis, 66% of the teachers find their schools competent as regards utilization of educational technologies at the classroom activities while the principals consider that the teachers utilize such technologies at 56% level.54% of the teachers find them incompetent concerning the total quality management while the principals find the teachers incompetent at 78% level and believe that the teachers are in need of training.While the teacher's level of belief that the school has its unique mission and vision is 72%, the principals indicated the level of awareness of the teachers concerning the common objectives of the school as 65%.58% of the teachers believe that they sufficiently follow the studies of the school at the field of education while it is determined that the teachers follow such changes and developments more closely (61%).When the general average is taken into consideration, it is possible to mention that the teachers implement the continuous development principle, which is one of the total quality management principles, at higher levels.

Level of Communication Principle
Good communication level at the school enhances the organizational commitment of the school stakeholders and work satisfaction levels.A school employee (teacher, principal, etc.) capable of expressing himself/herself better shall perform well and shall feel comfortable and content at the working environment.This attitude shall contribute to positive attitudes of the school employees and be beneficial for other school stakeholders.
As can be seen from the table, 60% of the teachers believe that there is sound communication network at the school while 56% of the principals consider that the teachers are capable of communicating with each other.59% of the teachers believe that the school management holds periodical meetings for solving the problems of the school, and it is determined that the teachers give more importance to such meetings for solving problems arising at their classroom.The level of organizing activities to coalescent school stakeholders from different cultures (51% according to the teachers) is found to be low while the teachers are determined to be more active (72%) on this topic.As a result of the study, it is understood that the school take heed of the achievements of the students at higher levels and inform the guardians of the student of such achievements with regular reports (68%).When we look at the general average, it is found that the teachers act more diligently (65% according to the principals) regarding implementation of the level of communication principle, just as the case for other principles.

Morale and Motivation Principle
The school stakeholder's capability to focus on their work and enhance the quality of the rendered services is directly associated with the morale and motivation level.For instance, a teacher with high morale and motivation level spread positive energy around while rendering educational services and thus play a more effective role at the education process.On the other hand, a teacher with low morale and motivation not only fails to execute the education process in a successful manner, but also constitutes a negative model for their students.A student constantly being subjected to negative energy demonstrates indications of dissatisfaction and lack of contentment.In this context, the student also impairs the other students.Therefore, constantly maintaining the morale and motivation levels of the teachers at high levels is of paramount importance.
In general, it is observed that the morale and motivation principle is implemented at high levels (Table 6).The lowest variables are determined as regards the awarding and motivating factors, while the principles found the teachers more successful at both factors.When we look at the general average, the teachers find the principals successful at 72% while the principals consider the teachers successful at 77% concerning implementation of this principle.

The Relation between the Demographic Variables of the Study Subjects and the Implementation Levels of the TQM Principles
The T-Test, Anova and Tukey Test are employed in order to analyze whether there is any relationship between the implementation levels of the total quality principles and the sexes, ages, marital status, education status, seniority and reasons for starting the career of the principals and the teachers attending the study voluntarily.As a result of these tests, the variables forming significant differences between the groups are indicated in the table while the variables not forming any significant relation between the groups are described in one paragraph.
Based on the study, when the sex variable is taken into consideration, there is no female manager amongst the principals attending the study.This can be attributed to the fact that the rarity of female managers working as principal at the schools arise from severity of the managerial conditions for the women.
The Sex, Age and Marital Status variables generated no significant difference between the groups regarding the level of implementation for the total quality management principles at public elementary schools.The reason for starting the career formed a significant difference at implementation of the level of communication principle out of the six fundamental principles set forth in this study as the total quality principles.This difference is in favor of the principals whom love to perform such duty and is at p=0,013 level.
The education status variable generated significant differences between the post graduate teachers and the graduate teachers at the point of implementation of the participation to decisions and customer orientation principles while the same variable generates a significant difference amongst the principals only at implementation of the continuous development principle.Such difference occurred as p=0,002 amongst the principals and as p= 0,028 amongst the teachers.

Impact of the Seniority Variable on the Implementation Level of the Total Quality Principles
The impact of the seniority variable on implementation of the total quality management principles is given in table 7. The attitudes of the teachers working at Adıyaman province Central District concerning implementation of these principles display a parallel trend.As can be understood from the table, seniority did not generate any significant difference amongst the teachers.The same variable, however, did not generate any significant difference amongst the principals between the groups at the points of implementation of the participation to decisions and communication principles; but it is determined that this variable generates a significant difference as regards the leadership of the top management, customer orientation, continuous development, morale and motivation principles.Such difference is observed to be in favor of the group with higher work duration.

Conclusion
In this study, solutions are sought for the research problems developed in the form of "what is the level of implementation for the total quality management principles at public elementary schools?, "At what level the principals and the teachers implement such principles at their work environment?".Furthermore, it is further researched that whether the level of implementation of such principles by the principals and the teachers vary depending on their sexes, ages, marital status, education status and seniority.Based on the data compiled: The level of implementation for the total quality management principles at public elementary schools in general is determined to be 67,5% (mean(implementation level of the teachers; implementation level of the principals)).It is determined that, according to the principals, the teachers implement the total quality management principles at 70% (mean (table 1,2,3,4,5,6)=70) level and, according to the teachers, on the other hand, the principles implement such principles at 65% (mean (table 1,2,3,4,5,6)=65) level.
Furthermore, when the level of implementation for the total quality management principles are examined in terms of sex, age, marital status variables, there is no significant difference generated between the parties; however, the reason for entering the career generated a significant difference in favor of the principals whom love their job only at the point of implementation of the level of communication principle.
The education status variable generated significant differences in favor of the post graduate teachers amongst the teachers at implementation of the participation to decisions and customer orientation principles and there is no significant difference in implementation of the continuous development principle amongst the principals.
The seniority variable did not generate any significant difference amongst the teachers.However, it is determined that the same variable generated a significant difference in favor of the groups with higher work duration amongst the principals at the point of implementation of the leadership of the top management, customer orientation, continuous development, morale and motivation principles.
In conclusion; the assertion that the teachers implement the TQE principles at better levels, which is acknowledged as the assumption of the study is confirmed while the other assumption, which concerns that the education laborers are not implementing the total quality management principles at sufficient levels is not confirmed.

Table 1 .
. The Theory of Social and Economic Organization.Translated by A. M. Henderson and Talcott Parsons.London, Collier Macmillan Publishing.Leadership of the Top Management Principal

Table 2 .
Participation to Decisions Principle

Table 5 .
Level of Communication Principle

Table 6 .
Morale and Motivation PrincipleTable 7. The Relationship between the Seniority Variable and the Implementation Level of the Total Quality Principles