A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATORSʹ THINKING STYLES IN RELATION TO DIFFERENT VARIABLES

In recent years, there has been a relative increase in the number of studies on thinking styles as an integrated dimension of individual differences. The scarcity of the studies in the literature focusing on educational administrators and their thinking styles increases the importance of the present study. The present study is a descriptive investigation of the thinking styles of educational administrators in Tokat province of Turkey. Thinking styles are compared in relation to different variables such as age, gender, tenure, and school type. The sample of the study is 241 voluntary school administrators who were selected conveniently. The Thinking Styles Inventory and a personal data form were used to collect the data. Results showed that the most preferred thinking styles are Hierarchical, Legislative, and External; whereas the least preferred ones are Conservative, Oligarchic, and Local thinking styles. Significant differences across the independent variables of the study were found. These differences were interpreted and suggestions were given.