Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Schools’ Democratic Character

Figures & data

Figure 1. Expected Relationships Between Teachers’ Perceptions of the State of Democracy in Their Schools and Related Predictors.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics, reliabilities, and bivariate correlations.

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
1	State of democracy (c)
2	Teacher-leader collaboration (b)	.513**
3	Teacher collaboration (b)	.276**	.272**
4	Teaching democracy (b)	.244**	.176**	.71
5	Citizenship activities (c)	0,80	.95	-0.62	.405**
6	Support from home (b)	-0,29	-0.11	-0.43	-2.66**	-,093
7	Teacher experience (a)	0.17	.116	.116	-0.28	0.10	.015
8	Gender	0.72	.011	.43	−.279**	−.126	.218**	.013
9	Natural sciences	0.09	0.42	−.007	−.112	−.173*	.015	-0.20	.105
10	Languages	0.61	-0.34	-0.33	.290**	.163*	−.061	-0.33	−.371**	−.374**
11	practical-aesthetic subjects	0.47	.116	-1.26	.035	.012	−.052	0.11	0.68	.070	−.228**
12	Social sciences	0.81	.007	−.147*	.262**	.179*	−.104	0.23	−.131	−.121	.271**	.221
13	Elective subjects	0.33	-0.10	−.107	−.163*	−.109	.101	-0.50	.225**	−.064	−.084	.002	.909
	Reliability^a	.752	.841	.728	.759	.779	.737
	Means	4.88	4.54	3.10	4.55	5.32	2.15	2.50^b	1.34	.40	.51	.41	.47	.44
	Std.deviation	1.03	.465	.791	.463	1.02	0.75	1.03	.475	.490	.501	.492	.500	.497

Note: (a) = 4-point Likert-scale, (b) = 5-point, (c) = 7-point,**p < .01, *<.05.

^a Cronbach’s α

^bThis mean value corresponds to the category of 5-9 years of experience.

Table 2. Coefficients of regression with teachers’ perceptions of the state of democracy as the dependent variable (n=206).

	B	Std. Error SE(B)	ß	Sig.	95 % Confidence intervals for B Lower bound Upperbound
(Constant)	−.274	.197		.113	−.123	.123
Teacher-leader collaboration	.447	.066	.447***	.000	.316	.577
Teacher collaboration	.142	.066	.142*	.032	.012	.272
Teaching democracy	.195	.074	.195**	.009	.028	.312
Citizenship activities	−.018	.069	−.018	.795	−.157	.116
Support from home	.008	.066	.008	.905	−.104	.153
R2-adjusted				.293

Note: ***p<.001, **p<.01, *p<.05

Table

Constructs	Mean values	Std. deviation	Skewness/kurtosis	Component loadings
State of democracy
On a scale of 1–7, how democratic is your school for students?	4.76	1.160	–.227/–.193	.895
On a scale of 1–7, how democratic is your school for teachers?	5.00	1.162	–.498/.270	.895
Teacher – leader collaboration
My principal typically acts in the best interests of the teachers.	3.53	.929	–.712/.498	.742
Most teachers in my school trust the principal.	3.54	.883	–.504/.207	.811
Our principal and teachers collaborate on school-wide matters.	3.32	.959	–.340/–.416	.857
I feel that my voice is heard when the school makes school-wide decisions.	3.06	.909	–.370/.135	.880
Teacher collaboration
My school provides enough time for teachers to work together.	3.03	1.015	–.139/–.909	.867
Teachers here observe one another and share feedback.	2.89	.984	–.258/–.896	.700
I have sufficient space to collaborate with my colleagues.	3.33	.918	–.473/–.732	.845
Teaching democracy
All teachers should strive to promote students’ understanding of democracy.	4.69	.570	–2.324/8.495	.731
All teachers are responsible for nurturing democratic values in their students.	4.74	.520	–2.789/12.900	.821
In order to learn about democracy, you need to learn about racism and/or other forms of discrimination.	4.62	.588	–1.756/4.190	.660
It is my school’s responsibility to help increase the number of young voters in elections.	4.07	.865	–.830/652	.685
Critical thinking is essential for participating in a democracy.	4.51	.686	–1.720/4.354	.726
Citizenship activities for students
To participate in political discussions	5.39	1.425	–.718/.238	.617
To engage in activities protecting the environment	5.65	1.310	–.756/–.175	.667
To participate in peaceful protests against unjust laws	4.44	1.629	–.207/–.820	.707
To work for the betterment of the local community	5.65	1.169	–.602/.212	.806
Being active in human rights efforts	5.44	1.408	–.713/.023	.867
Support from home
When the students’ families are unable to provide enough support for their children academically, it is unreasonable to expect the school to meet those same needs.	2.15	.936	.725/.436	.910
When the students’ families are unable to provide enough support for their children’s basic health and wellness needs, it is unreasonable to expect the school to meet those same needs.	2.19	.898	.510/–.006	.910
My hands are often tied when it comes to motivating students from unsupportive family backgrounds. There is nothing more that my school can do for those students.	2.10	.851	.621/.449	.581
Teacher experience
How long have you been a teacher?	2.78	1.171	–3.14/–1.423	.924
How long have you been a teacher at this school?	2.21	1.059	.420/–1.038	.924
Gender
What is your gender identity?	1.34	.475	.673/–1.563
What subjects do you teach?
Science	.40	.490	.429/–1.835
Language	.51	.501	–.051/–2.018
Art	.41	.492	.385/–1.871
Civics	.47	.500	.113/–2.008
Elective subjects	.44	.497	.258/–1.953