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AN EVALUATION OFCHANG ES IN THE CURR ICULUMIN ELEMENTARY SCHO OL LEVEL IN TURK EY

ASSIST. PROF. M . AKIF HELVACIUak University,Education Faculty,Uak-Turkey

The aim of this study is to evaluate the changes in the curricu-lum of 1-5 grades in Elementary Schools and the efficiency ofschool administrator in managing change in the change process.The questionnaire was applied to the school administrators forthe elementary schools of Uak province of Turkiye. The ques-tionnaire comprises 3 open-ended questions.. Firstly, it wasemphasized that lack of finances, resistance by the teachers andinadequate structures at schools such as building, equipments(tools, labs and computers) and physical infrastructures, werethe main factors preventing changes and innovations at elemen-tary schools. Secondly, it was found out that elementary schoolprincipals were not sufficient enough to carry out changes "com-pletely". Lastly, elementary school teachers had possessed thefollowing competencies which are necessary for having changeseffectively at schools: "having leadership feature", having posi-tive attitudes towards changes and innovations (such asbelieving and being receptive to have changes or innovations,and developing oneself, "having specific personal characteris-tics (such as honesty, foresight, dynamism, patience, convincingand determination" and "being able toget ready the school staffto the changes and innovations (giving necessary information tothe staff and having functional meetings and seminars)".Key words: change, m anaging change. Competency in manag-ing change.

Introduction (Drucker, 1996, p. 87).Knowledge, which has influenced the Just like other institutions, objectives,

21st. century, has shown twofold increase structure and contents of educational insti-per four years. Developed societies who tutions, which are the important parts ofhave carried out the necessary conditions socio-cultural as well as economic inno-of the century have been named as "knowl- vation and development, become different,edge society / postmodern society". An It has been an absolute necessity to be dif-especially development in computer as ferent in terms of schools in order to adaptwell as communication and in the parallel the conditions of the time (B alci, 2001 , p.of these developments, people's having 495; Taymaz, 1997, p. 28; Cafoglu, 1996,easy access to knowledge have caused it p. 39).to be an important power. Nowadays, Especially after 1980s in Turkey, it is

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Evaluation of Changes... / 309names of " re s t ruc ture" , "educa t iona lreform", "redesign" or "development" inorder to reach proper living conditionsnecessitated by the contemporary life andincrease the quality of education.

In order to increase quality and improveequity in education in Turkey, ut i l izeresearch findings in various scientific areasto improve educational programs ; andintegrate improvements in teaching andinstruction in the curriculum, new educa-tional programs for the grades 1-5 havebeen being used since 2005-2006 acade-mic year. The aim of these new programsis to save s tudents f rom memoriz ingknowledge, and help them improve theircreativity, decision-making and problemsolving abilities and inquiry skills.Increase of change and d iversity in edu-

cation field today with respect to past,reform which is introduced together with,attempts for reconstructing or school devel-opment give much of the responsibility tothose who make decisions. Expectationsfrom the schools and the role of the schoolprincipals together with are changing. Ithas been evaluated as a common view-point that role and responsibilities of theschool principals will be changing contin-uously and they will never be a constantprincipal (Ed wards, 2000; Taymaz, 1997,p.29; Aikalin, 1995; etin and Yalm,2002; Titiz, 1999; Cafoglu, 1996, p. 39).

Change management is an importantand passionate topic for schools as muchas institutions which have given serviceand produced wo rk. The objective of edu-cation is to educate and give instruction.Edu cation and instruction mean to change

important role of the schools is to managethe change. As the aim of the managementis to change and edu cate, this situation h asgiven a private impo rtance to the scho ols.The term "learning organizations" in con-temporary managem ent has been using forthis characteristics. The idea of learningorganizations states inseparable part oforganiza t iona l process of educa t ionchang e, consequently change (James andConnoly, 200 0, p. 16).

New roles of the principals in the 21st.century are to manage the change, set upflexible constructions, have dynam ic sys-tems, manage systematic and unsystematicconditions for today and tomorrow, con-stitute learner organization and enablelearner organization to live infinite (Teten-baum, 1998; quoted in elik, 2000 ,p. 162).In other perspective, it is emphasized thateducational leaders need to have leader-ship actions and thinking structures suchas acting in proactively, having a vision,being a transformational leader, managingcha nge, risks and crisis in o rder to exist ina knowledge or a postmodern society(Aytac, 2002 , p. 59).

School principals, who desire to carryout changes and innovation, need to knowchange processes very well, school orga-niza t ions in t e rms of organiza t iona lperspective, powers which direct schoolsto change and which elements of organi-zations are affected so that they require achange. Similarly, a school principal shouldbe competent enough to m ake others needa change, decide the changing need, definethe change, plan the change, apply thechange and evaluate the change (Helvaci,

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and skills constitute the scope of manag-ing the change and it is expected that schoolprincipals are change managers, transfor-mational / change leader or change expert(representative) (Sparks, 1993; Bamburg,1994; Alkan,19 92, p. 46; Peterson, 199 5;Al i ,1990,p. l2;al ik,1997,p.53;Kar ip,1996, p. 245).

Aim of the ResearchThe main aim of this research is eval-uate the problem s faced in schools duringthe change process in the curriculum andthe effiency of the school administratiorsin this proc ess. In relation to the main aimof the research, research questions are asfollows:a. What are the difficulties faced whilehaving an attempt to change and inno-vate occurring at schools?b. Are the school principals competentenough to manage the changes a tschools?c. W hat responsibilities and functions dothe school principals should have foreffective changes at schools?

Importance of the StudyThis research explores the changesoccurring at schools and evaluates to whatextend the school principals are able tocarry out their du ties. With data obtainedvia this research, especially it is expectedto find out:

a. Changes occurring at schools offer real-istic knowledge for school principals'e x i s t i ng c ompe t e nc i e s a nd t he s echanges contribute effectively to thechange-attempts.

a way to the t ra ining programs ofschools principals.c. It is expected that changes at educa-t i ona l o r ga n i z a t i ons w i l l c r e a t eopportunities for thinking, debating andconducting new researches.

LimitationsThis research is limited to the opinionsof school principals, working for the ele-mentary schools in Uak province ofTurkiye bound to the Ministry of Educa-tion, in relation to "changes occurring atschools and the roles of schools principalsin the changing process". Teachers andprincipals of private elementary schools,pr iva te and governmenta l secondaryschools are out of scope of this study.Similarly, evaluating the school princi-pals in terms of their competencies is onlylimited to the elementary school principalsand teachers. Teachers and principals ofprivate elementary schools are out of thescope of this study.

DefinitionsCh ange : Change is a process for creat-ing new opinions in the sense of individualand organizational level, making decisionsand applying these decisions by recon-structing and meeting the needs, whenexist ing condit ions are not sufficientenough in terms of the needs of the groupwhich are changing.

Change Managem ent: It is a process forca r ry ing out p lanned and sys temat icchanges in order to meet expectations andneeds of the society as well as to attain theobjectives of the society effectively con-

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the o rganization.Compe t e nc y : Compe t e nc y c a n bedescribed as a set of individual character-istics, method , experience, behavior, skill,and knowledge required for carrying outorganizational objectives or conductingthe business.

Competency in managing change: Hav-ing necessa ry knowledge , sk i l l s andattitudes in order to carry out the changein an effective way.

MethodResearch Design

A descriptive model has been used inorder to evaluate the efficiency of schooladministrators who are employed in state

schools administered by the Ministry ofNational Education, in managing changeduring the change process in the curricu-lum of 1-5 grades in elementary schoollevel.Population and Samples

Population of the research includes 286elementary school administrators workingfor Uak province of Turk iye. Name of thedistricts bound to Uak province, are asfollows: Merkez (Center), Banaz, Eme,Karahalli, Sivash, Ulubey. Data are col-lected from these districts and the villagesbound to these districts. There are 286 ele-mentary school administrators working for175 elementary schools in 2006-20 07, aca-demic year. The sample were selected

Table 1 : Distribution of Schools and School Principals who constitute populationand samples

Name of theDistrict

Uak(Center)

BanazEme

KarahalliSivashUlubey

Number of Schoolsconstituting the

population

66

3629121814

Number of Schoolsconstituting the samples

32

1714697

Distribution ofelementary school

principalsconstituting the

population

130

4742142726

Distribution of elementaryschool principals

constituting the samples

39

1412488

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Table 2. Distribution of Elementary School Principals who believe that changes occurring in the elementaryschool curriculum at first grades are unsuccessful

Do you think that changes occurring at the elementary schoolcurriculum at first grades are successful? Wh y?

OpinionsYes, changes were a great success.

Partly successiul (it can not be said that changes are successful; thereare deficiencies such as problems in handwriting, difficulties in findingnecessary materials for the lesson, excessive numb er of aetivities inbooks, not to have enough opportunities to explore).No, changes were not a success (reasons include appointing schoolprincipals for political decisions, but not for the abilities of them,inadequacy of the school in terms of hardware and capacity, crowdedclasses, principals working both morning and afternoon, teachers' nothaving necessary qualifications, lack of contribution by the parents,curriculum not to be applied / tried before

Total

N85

85

85

n30

40

15

0 /

35

47

18

randomly. 85 elementary school principalsfrom 85 elementary schools constitute thesamples of this research. In terms of gen-der, there are 2 (2,3 %) females and 83(97,7 %)males contributing to this researchas samples.Theoretical samples figure has beenused in order to determine the size of thesamples (Balci, 2004, 95). This figureshows that there are 85 elementary schoolprincipals working for Uak province assamples of this research. It has also been

determined by proportion of number ofelementary schools and their principals

mine the number of elementary schoolsand the num ber of principals as samples inevery d istrict. Therefo re, it has been usedmultistage cluster sampling approach.Data Collection and AnalysisThe questionnaire which has consistedof three open-ended questions has beenprepared w ith two section in order to reachpersonal information and the aim of thestudy. Datums which are related to thechanges of primary first education pro-gramme and the change managementcapacity of school managers have been

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Evaluation of Changes... / 313Table 3 . Opinions of Elementary S chool Principals in relation to factors being difficulty towards

attempts on change or innovations

In your opinion, what kinds of difficulties are elementary schools confrontedtowards attempts of change or innovation?

Opinions1. Financial problems of the School and gov errmients' not offering necessaryfnancial help to schools.2. Teachers' being resistant towards changing themselves, not being open tochange and innovations, not showing necessary effort in order to change ormake innovations, being lazy, being fixed minded, being unqualified, beingunwilling to develop themselves.3. Schools' having lack of finances, inadequate structures such as building,equipments (tools, labs and computers) and physical inadequacies.4. Bureaucratic difficulties / b ureaucracy.

5. Parents' deprivation of finance and not being able to support change andinnovation at schools.6. Teachers' not being given enough information about change and innovation, and not being understood the subject clearly (lack of in-serviceteacher training programs).7. School members' (teachers and parents) not desiring to go beyond theordinary system (tendency to prevent status quo).8. Parents' negative attitudes towards change or innovation (such as notbeing ready, not accepting necessary and being unwilling to change orinnovation).9. Existing systems' prevention of change

10. Laws, acts and regulations' being obstacle to change

11. School principals' being not open to change or innovation, not showingnecessary effort to change and innovation12. There is not any difficulty.

N

85

85

85

85

85

85

85

85

85 .

85

85

85

n

58 .

45

28

23

10

9

9

7

6

5

5

4 .

%

68

52

33

27

12

11

8

8

7

6

6

5

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pated the sample.Prepared questionnaire has been pre-sented expert opinion for the validity scopeof survey. Questionnaire has been experi-mented pre l iminary by being appl iedthirty-one teachers in order to measure thereliability of the survey.

Questionnaire which has been improvedand has the last shape according to theexpert opinion and preliminary experimenthas been applied to all of the teachers insample coverage.

In order to make the study reliable,answers given by the teachers for open-ended questions have been analyzed byresearchers and then, the articles aboutoneness and dissidence of the researchershave been dened. After that, reliabilityof the survey has been figured out by usingthe formula below which was composed byMiles and Huberman (1994). Reliabili-ty=(Oneness)/((Oneness)+(Dissidence))=0.91Findings and InterpretationsIn this section findings of the surveyhas been presented by tabling.Findings and Interpretations of Ele-mentary School Principals in relat ionwhether or not changes are successfullyoccurred at curriculum of the first grades

In table 2, 47 % of the elementaryschool principals emphasize that changesoccurring at curriculum of the first gradesare 'partly successful'. 35 % of them indi-cate that changes are 'successful'. On theother hand, 18 % of the principals stressthat changes are not successful. Most ofthe principals focus on that, changes are

emphasize that there are deficiencies suchas problems in handw riting, difficulties infinding necessary materials for the lesson ,excessive number of activities in books,not to have enough oppor tuni t i e s toexplore.Findings and Interpretations of ElementarySchool P rincipals in relation to difficultiestowards attempts on change or innovationsIn table 3, it is clear from the principalsopinions that difficulties faced in schoolsin relation to change or innovation, fol-lowing points a re of ten emphasized;"scho ols' not having necessary finance andgov ernm ents' not offering necessary finan-cial help to schools (n=58)", "teachers'being opposed to change themselves, notbeing open to change and make innova-tion, not showing enough effort to changeand make inno vation, teachers' being lazy,teach ers' having a fear that it will be a bur-den on them and br ing moreresponsibilities on them, teachers' beingfixed-minded and unwilling to developthemselves (n=45)", " schoo ls' having lackof finances, inadequate structures such asbuilding, equipments (tools, labs and com-puters) and physical inadequacies (n=2 8)"and "bureaucratic difficulties / bureau cra-cy (n=23)".

When we look at the frequent points, wesee factors being difficulty for change andinnovation at schools wh ich are related to"schools' having lack of finances, inade-qua t e s t r uc t u r e s s uc h a s bu i l d i ng ,equipments (tools, labs and computers)and physical infrastructure" as well as "par-ents' deprivation of finance and not being

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schools". In this sense, it is clear that finan-cial difficulties are the main reason of notbeing able to change or make innovationsat schools easily.Dalin et. all (19 93 ,87) have explainedthat in the literatu re, one of the difficultiesfaced by the institutions in terms of "notbeing able to apply the change" is lack ofresources (such as money, tools and equip-ment, time and administrative support).Kanter at. all (1992, 43) have listed tenprinciples for having changes successful-ly and one of the principles has emphasizedthat in order to have attractive changes andapply these changes, there should havefinancial support. It is definite that attemptsfor change or innovation require some cost.It is emphasized that other two diffi-culties are based on " teache r" factor. Fullan(1991) in his change model has focusedon the importance of the support by the"teachers" while having changes or mak-ing innovations at schools and attemptswithout taking support of the teachers, willbe unsuccessfull. "Teachers" are the mainfactors of change in the educational insti-t u t i o ns . Ad a p t i ng t ea ch e r s t o newknowledge and skills (such as working

with information technology), acquiringnew behaviour and skills, having highlyeffort on developing themselves, beingopen to change and innovation, believingthe necessity of change and supportingschool administration are considered aspreventing the difficulties faced with thechange (Hopkins et all, 199 8,2 5; Whitak-er, 1983,3).Other mentioned difficulty is related to"pare nts' not supporting to change or inno-

psychological reasons". Peterson (1995,quoted in Helvaci, 2005, 264) has indi-cated that school principals need to be incollaboration with parents, universities,business enterprises and institutions offer-ing social services in order to strengthenthe change process and resources for effec-tive change at schools.Another difficulty is related to "school-

s' system or structure. Hesselbein (1999)has revealed that one of the most impor-tant steps for changing an institution whichis transforming institution culture is to"abandon assum ptions, rules and politicswhich are having logic for doing businessat the same way and then, built a new flex-ible administration as well as relevantburocratic structures".Last difficulty for change or innovationmentioned in this paper is based on "theschool principals". This point is directlyrela ted to " teachers ' not being givenenough information; therefore change isnot understood very well and school prin-cipals are not qualified enough to man age" .

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Table 4. Opinions of Elementary School Principals whether or not they are qualified enough to managechanges at schools in the desired way

In your opinion, do you think that school principals are qualifiedenough to manage changes at schools in the desired way?OpinionsYes, I think so.No, I do not think so.1 believe they are partly qualified.I am undecided.

N85858585

n4318204

%5121235

Findings and Interpretations on whether ornot Elementary School Principals qualifiedenough to man age changes at schools in thedesired w ayLooking at table 4, it can be said that51 % of the school principals think thatthey are "qualified" enough to managechanges at schools. However, 23 % of themindicate that they are "partly qualified" but23 % of them emph asize that they are "notqualified" to manage changes at schools.Similarly, 5 % of them reveal that they are"undecided " about the issue.

In this case , it can be said that elem en-tary school principals' qualification levelof managing changes is average. In otherwords, their qualification level is neitherhigh nor low. It is at the average level. H el-vac i (2004) , in h i s r e sea rch on"qualification level of elementary schoolp r i nc i pa l s i n Tur k i ye on ma na g i ngchanges" has found out that elementaryschool principals' qualification level ofmanaging change is at the average level.

tion level of elemen tary schoo l principalsin relation to change management (a casestudy from Uak prov ince of Turkiye) hasrevealed the same findings, that is theirqualification level is at the "average level".These findings support what the authorsof this paper have found out.

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Table 5: Opinions of Elementary School Principals on the main qualifications of them for managingchange at schools effectively.

In your opinion, w hat qualifications should elementary school priticipals have in order tomanage change at schools?Opinions1. They should have leadership capacities (they shou ld be good at com munication,democratic, self-directed, self-initiated, take risk s, be m otivated, encouraged and excited)2. They should be able to follow recent changes and innovations occurring in the world, beopen to changes and innov ations, believe the importance of change and innovations,support occurring changes and inn ovations, and self-develop them selves.3. Principals should have personal characteristics such as well-informed, cultured,intellectual, honest, self-sacrifying, foresighted, dy namic, patient, determined, trustworthyand convincing.4. Principals should give be informative enough in relation to necessity of change orinnovation, and arrange seminars as well as in-service training courses.5. Principals should overcome resistance of the teachers, prepare teachers to change, m aketeachers open to change and eliminate teachers' attitudes in relation to status quo.6. The principal of the school should make the staff realize the world's continuouschanging; they should make staff aware of the changes and technological innov ationsoccurring in the world.7. Difficulties such as bureaucracy, financial and deficiencies in relation to infrastructureshould be overcome and new opportunities and resources should be created.8. They should be empowered / their power should be expanded9. They should know laws, acts and regulations very well10. They can be able to develop projects regarding changes or innovations.11. They should be good planners.

N

85

85

85

85

85

85

85

85858585

n

65

50

44

23

18

15

13

8654

%

76

59

52

27

21

17

15

9765

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Findings and Interpretations on main quali-fications of Elementary School Principalsfor managing change at schools effectivelyTable 5 has shown that the most fre-quent subject in relation to qualificationsof elementary school principals for man-aging change effectively is pertaining to"leadership" dimension (n=65) ( theyshould be good at communication, hard-working, encouraged, excited, democratic,self-directed, self-initiated, take risks, bemotivated and determined for a goal). Inthe literature, it is considered importantthat the institution principals, especiallyschool principals should have "leadership"qualification in order to manage changesuccessfully. Morrison (1998, 210) hasstated that in education , as in transforma-tional leadership, principals need to set upeffective and wide communication, esti-mate possible risks, be encouraged andexcited as well as form a vision. Similar-ly, Steward (1983) has revealed tha tprincipals should n ot hesitate to be in dan-ger or take risks be initiative, set up goalsand direct others . Likewise, Morrison(199 8,21 8) has emphasized that a changeleader should have qualities such as beinggood at communication, convincing oth-ers and sharing the vision with others.

Second most frequent qualification(n=50) is that the principals should "beable to follow recent changes and innova-tions occurring in the world, be open tochanges and innovat ions , be l ieve theimportance of change and innovations,support occurring changes and innovations,and self-develop themselves", which areclosely related to positive attitudes of

believes that especially p rincipals need tofollow changes and innovations occurringin the world, should know that change isa necessity for the century we are living,affect school staff from changes and inno-vations and should self-develop themselvesin order to manage complicated changeprocesses at schools.

Th ird mo st f requent qu al i f ica t ion(n=44) is related to principals' personalcharacteristics, that a principal should be"well- informed, experienced, cultured,intellectual, hones t, self-sacrificing, fore-sighted, dynamic, patient , determined,trustworthy and convincing o thers" . Ever-ard and Morris (1996 ,230-2 32) has listedthe personal characteristics as being self-sacrificing, foresighted, willing to takerisks, being tolerated, determined, trust-wor thy, convincing others , energet ic ,honest, ethical, courageous, flexible andadaptable in order to manage change suc-cessfully.

Next qualification (n=23) is on givingenough information to school staff in rela-t ion to the necess i ty of change orinnovation and p reparing sem inars, in-ser-vice training courses to the staff (itemnumber 5). Sparks (199 3,13) has explainedthat those who manage change, need tomake teachers feel necessity of change,believe and contribute to change as well asinform the teachers on how chang e shouldbe and prepare effective seminars andmeetings for the sake of change in orderto manage complex and hard changeprocesses.

The following qualification (n=18) isthat "the principals should overcome resis-

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to change". People who are managingchange need to know not to ignore the real-ity that the teachers can resist to the changeand to know what cautions should be takenin order to prevent the resistance for man-a g i ng s uc c e s s f u l c ha nge s . Sc hoo ladministrators who are starting problemsolving processes at schools should be per-ceived as the change experts who willdecrease resistance towards change andfind solutions to the problem s (Tanriogen,1995,211).

The seventh qualification (n=15) is that"the principals need to make the staff real-ize the world's continuous changing; theteachers should be made aware of thechanges and technological innovationsoccurring in the world ".The following qualification (n=13) isthat "the principals should overcome dif-ficulties such as bureaucracy,financialanddeficiencies in relation to infrastructureand new opportunities as well as newresources should be created". In general,organizational change brings sources suchas capital, budget for education and qu al-ified people. Change managers should getready f inancia l resources needed forchange and prepare a budget (Cummm ingsand Worley, 19 97 ,155 ). An organization-al chang e requires defining factors whichare opposing and fac i l i ta t ing change.Removing bureaucratic or legal difficul-ties which are opposing to the change ofthe organization are important for an effec-tive change (James and Connolly, 2000,28). .

The ninth qualification is that "the prin-cipals should be empowered and their

lowing qualification is based on that "theprincipals should know law s, acts and reg-u l a t i ons ve r y we l l ( n=6) " , e l e ve n t hqualification is that "the principals can beable to develop projects for change or inno-vation (n =5 )" and last qualification is that"the principals should be good planners(n=4)".Conclusion and Suggestions

ConclusionsSummary of the conclusion is as fol-lows:1. Opinions of school principals haverevealed tha t most frequent difficulties forchange or inno vation at schoo ls are as fol-lows: "financial problems of the schoolsand govern m ents' not offering financial

help to schoo ls", "teach ers' being resistanttowards changing themselves, not beingopen to change or innovation, not show-ing necessary effort in order to change ormake inn ovations, being lazy, fearing thattheir burdens and responsibil i t ies wil linc rease , be ing f ixed minded, be ingunqualified, being unwilling to developthemselves", "schools ' having lack offinances, inadequate structures such asbuilding, equipmen ts (tools, labs and com-puters) and physical inadequacies", and"bureaucratic difficulties / bureaucracy".

2 .5 3 % of the elementary school prin-cipals have indicated that they are qualifiedenough to conduct changes or innovationsat schools; whereas 25 % of them believethat they are partly qualified for changesor innovations. On the other hand, 17 % ofthem think that they are not qualified

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5 % of them are undecided about the issue.In this sense, it can be said that qualifica-tions of elementary school principals formanaging change is at the average level.3 . Opinions of the elementary schoolprincipals have revelaed the followingqualities which are needed to m ake effec-t ive chan ges a t s ch oo l s . They a re

summarized as follows:"Quality of leadersh ip": This quality isrelated to be good at comm unication, hard-w o r k i n g , e n c o u r a g e d a n d e x c i t e d ,democratic, self-directed, self-initiated,take risks and set up goals;"Quality of having positive attitudetowards recent changes and innov ations":This quality is based on being able to fol-

low recent changes and innova t ionsoccurring in the world, being open tochanges and innovations, believing theimportance of change and innovations,suppor t ing changes and innova t ionsoccurred, and self-developing themselves;

"Quality of Personal Characteristics":This is another quality which is related tobe well-informed, cultured, intellectual,ho nes t , se l f -sacr i f ic ing, fo res igh ted,dynam ic, patient, determined , trustworthyand convincing;"Quality of making staff to be ready tochange": This quality is based on beinginformative enou gh in relation to necessi-ty of change or innovation, and arrangingseminars as well as in-service trainingcourses;"Qual i ty of removing res is tant tochange": Another quality that is related toovercome resistance of the teachers, pre-pare teachers to change and m ake teachers

"Quality of creating the feel of changenecessity": This quality is based on mak-ing staff realize the world's continuouschanging face as they should be becomeaware of the changes and technologicalinnovations occurring in the world;

"Quality of getting ready the schoolstructure into chang e": This quality is relat-ed to ove rcome di f f i cu l t i e s such asbureaucracy , financial and deficiencies inrelation to infrastructure and new oppor-tunities. Also, new resources should becreated.SuggestionsThe following suggestions can be maderegarding the findings of the research:

1. Rem oving difficulties in relation tofinance, which make change at temptsunsuccessful, there should befinancialhelpoffered to schools and there sho uld be in-service training programs for makingteachers learn not to resistant towardschanging themselves , but be open tochange and innovation.2. There should be educational or infor-mational courses for the parents in orderto make them support changes or innova-tions at schools and be sensitive towardswhat is happening.3 . It is found o ut that principals are notqualified enough to manage change suc-cessful ly. Therefore , there should beeducational programs about "change man-agement" for the school principals and theyshould be educated about this issue.4 . According to principals, in order to

conduct change ef fec t ive ly, the mostimportant qualifications should be "lead-

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Evaluation of Changes... / 321change or innovation", have some personalcharacteristics", "be able to give necessaryinformation about change or innovation toschool staff, "create feel for need ofchange or innovation" and "remove fac-tors resistant to change or innovation".5 . This research is based on the opin-ions of elementary school pr incipals .Teachers' opinions should also be exam-ined. Also, relationship between opinionsof both principles and teachers should beevaluated.6. Managing qualifications of princi-pals of pre-school education and secondaryschools should be evaluated and their sim-ilar or different sides should be revealed.7. While appointing principals to ele-men tary sch ools , m anag ing ef fect ivechanges and having necessary know ledgeas well as skills for managing changeshould be taken into consideration as animportant criterion.

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