The Concept of “School” From Viewpoint of School Principals and Students: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Schools where educational activities are conducted in an effective and active way are considered to be one of the important institutions for the society. Considering from this aspect, the purpose of this study is to define what schools which are so important for educational activities and the society mean and what are the reasons of their existence. As a research method, qualitative research has been used in the study. For the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis has been done by using Nvivo 8 program. In accordance with the purpose of the study, it has been asked the views of school principals and students who are considered to be inside customers. While the perceptions of school principals are always positive about the concept of school, some negative aspects are identified in students’ perceptions. When the reasons of schools’ existence are examined in detail, it is noteworthy that the students express more views than principals and they are different compared to principals. The “Future Anxiety” theme occurs as a remarkable finding which is stated by students and under which most views are placed.

Keywords: School, School Principals, Students