Teachers’ Opinions on Ethical and Unethical Leadership: A Phenomenological Research

Abstract

This study aims to reveal teachers’ opinions regarding ethical and unethical leadership. A phenomenological research design was used in the study. Purposeful sampling technique was used to determine the study group. Interviews were conducted with 20 teachers to collect data. A content analysis was conducted to analyze the data. According to the findings, teachers defined administrators with moral personality as ethical leaders. It was also found that school administrators mostly displayed unethical leadership behaviors in co-worker relationships. Another characteristic of unethical leaders was their promoting unethical behaviors among co-workers and taking the lead in turning unethicality as a part of school culture. It is argued that behaviors leading to the emergence of unethical leadership tend to institutionalize if they do not meet with an obstacle or are supported by organizational environment. It was recommended that further research focus on how moral person and moral manager components of ethical leadership affect each other.