OKUL MÜDÜRLERİNİN ANLAM YARATMA ROLLERİNİN DEĞİŞİM YÖNETİMİ BAĞLAMINDA İNCELENMESİ: KEŞFEDİCİ BİR DURUM ÇALIŞMASI

Abstract

The intensified migration flows in Türkiye after 2011 transformed the student composition of schools, and the inclusion of students under temporary protection created profound uncertainty for principals. While the literature has largely examined this process among students, teachers, and macro policy, how principals make sense of this uncertainty and transmit the constructed meaning to teachers has remained understudied. This study examines how principals make sense of demographic change (sensemaking) and convey this understanding to teachers (sensegiving). Using an exploratory case study design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 27 principals and 20 teachers in six provinces (Ankara, Erzurum, Hatay, İstanbul, Konya, Uşak) with notable densities of students under temporary protection. Data were analyzed abductively with MAXQDA 26. The findings show that principals manage demographic change through a cyclical process comprising the enactment, selection, and retention phases of Weick's (1995) theory. Sensegiving is not unidirectional but a reciprocal negotiation jointly carried out by principals and teachers through direction-setting, symbolic communication, and reframing. The study offers five contributions. (1) Through mental rehearsal and scenario simulation, principals evaluate possibilities not yet materialized and develop proactive strategies. (2) Emotions such as anxiety, responsibility, and empathy shape the content of decisions. (3) Provisional frames are matured by being tested like hypotheses. (4) Initially perceived as a crisis, the change becomes ordinary through sensemaking embedded in routine action. (5) Principals simultaneously assume multiple roles as manager, mediator, emotional regulator, and policy interpreter. Consequently, integration's school-level success depends, beyond central directives, on principals' sensemaking and sensegiving capacities.