Generation Z Support Autonomous Management in School: Evaluation of Teacher Candidates’ Views

Abstract

The aim of the study was to demonstrate the opinions of teacher candidates, who were born after 2000 and called generation Z, about the concept of school autonomy. This is quantitative research conducted according to the descriptive survey model. The data obtained is based on the responses given by teacher candidates to the “School Autonomy” questionnaire that was prepared for school administrators for the 2012 PISA exam. The target population of the study consisted of teacher candidates who studied in the Faculty of Education of Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University in Turkey in the fall semester of the 2019-2020 academic years. Questionnaires were distributed to all teacher candidates (351) in education faculty. The questionnaires were applied to face-to-face interviews with teacher candidates. Generation Z (teacher candidates) in general hold the opinion that the
authority to make decisions should lie with school when it comes to determining the annual school budget, making disciplinary decisions about students, evaluating students’ success, accepting students to school, choosing textbooks and determining the courses to be taught. Generation Z also believes that the ministry, provincial education directorates, and schools should cooperate in the selection of schools and the determination of their annual salaries.