Relationship between whistle-blowing and job satisfaction and organizational loyalty at schools in Turkey

Asiye Toker Gokce

Abstract

This paper examines whistle-blowing at schools in Turkey. Firstly, wrongdoings observed by teachers at schools, and their preference for reporting these were analyzed. Then, differences between the teachers, who blew whistle and the others who did not were examined according to the research variables. The study group involved 283 teachers. The author used a questionnaire to obtain the results. Results showed that 67 of the 283 teachers observed wrongdoings at schools, and 31 of them reported it while 36 did not. The most observed wrongdoings are wasting school resources, using official position for personal interest, and wasting school’s money. Whistle-blowing intention increases according to the seniority increase. The teachers prefer informal reporting. There is no difference between the groups in terms of job satisfaction. There is significant difference between the groups in terms of normative commitment. While there have been many studies examining whistle blowing with different factors in especially marketing, there has not been any intention for examining it in education. Thus, this paper aimed to contribute to the extant literature by choosing Turkey and education as context, as most studies have been conducted in the Western cultures, and in accounting or marketing service.