The Effects of Teachers' Attitudes toward Classroom Management

This study aimed to provide an answer to whether a given seminar on total quality management (TQM) to primary school teachers can enhance their positive attitudes toward classroom management or not. The participants in this study were teachers working in Cengiz Topel Primary School and Yil Primary School. Both schools are located in Adiyaman, a small province in the southeastern part of Anatolia, Turkey. A pretest-posttest experimental-control-group design was used to investigate the effects of a TQM seminar on the attitudes of primary school teachers toward classroom management. The most important conclusion to be set forth is the notion that a seminar given on TQM can have positive effects on the teachers' attitudes. This result is consistent with the finding of Ercan (1999), who found that the quality circles improved the levels of success, communication, and motivation in the school, and with the finding of Hylton (2000), who found that there is less control tendency in the teaching process and in managing student behaviors. This study suggests that school principals and supervisors can use the seminar curriculum to develop teachers' professional skills. (Contains 7 tables.)