Teachers’ Whistleblowing Behaviors: Present Situation and Suggestions

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand teachers’ possibilities for whistleblowing and to develop suggestions about making provisions for encouraging them to whistleblowing drawing on the views of teachers, school administrators and educational supervisors. Data of the study were gathered through 3 focus group interviews consisting of 6 teachers, 6 school administrators and 6 educational supervisors each. Some of the suggestions mentioned by participants for encouraging teachers to blow the whistle include: (a) revising Turkish legal system so as to provide teachers with legal security and to make it easy for teachers to blow the whistle, (b) lifting the ban on making unauthorized press statements in the regulations of the Ministry of National Education, (c) giving politically heterogeneous and democratic shape to Turkish education system, (d) addressing whistleblowing in the curricula of teachers’ pre-service training and improving teachers self-confidence in this regard, and (e) raising society’s awareness about whistleblowing by emphasizing the importance of courageously handling wrongdoings instead of covering them up.