Comparative Analysis of Democratic Attitude and Value Perceptions of School Administrators, Teachers, Preservice Teachers and Students: A Meta-Analysis Study

Abstract

This study aims to comparatively analyze the effect size of perceptions related to democratic attitudes and values of school administrators, teachers, preservice teachers, and students. The meta-analysis method, one of the research synthesis methods, was used in the research. Within the scope of the study, master’s and doctoral theses and research articles dealing with this topic in Turkey were investigated. Based on the screening results, a total of 101 studies from 2013 to 2020 abided by the inclusion criteria. For these 101 studies comprising a sample of 33,774 people, four effect sizes were calculated. According to research results, high levels of effect size were determined based on the random effect model for opinions related to democratic attitudes and values of school administrators, teachers, preservice teachers, and students (d=41.14). The perceptions of democratic attitudes and values of participants were ranked from low to high as students (d=30.45), school administrators (d=38.66), teachers (d=47.86), and preservice teachers (d=51.73). There was a significant difference between the opinions of participants (p=0.00). Students appeared to have the lowest perceptions of democratic attitudes and values. According to the results of moderator analysis, the effect sizes of studies were determined to differ depending on publication type (p=0.00), educational level (p=0.00), gender of the researcher (p=0.00), and the region of the research (p=0.00). Concerning the meta-regression results for the effect size in terms of the year the research was performed, there appeared to be a falling trend in perceptions related to democratic attitudes and values of participants.