Zuhal Arife KÃÃÃK, Selda POLAT
Since the term education is conceptualized based on different purposes, paradigms, thoughts, and actions, it is hard to establish a commonly accepted definition of education. While the concept of education may have the meanings of teaching, bringing up, shaping, and teaching a profession, it also means making a person competent and informed and it means that a person comes to understand himself and nature, is aware of his capacity to change/transform himself and the world he lives in, and knows how to set himself free. The main problem in conceptualizing education varies depending on the perspective we take. These conceptions regarding education can be associated with the ideological philosophy that education is based on. Additionally, since social/cultural/political speeches and practices are regenerated by means of education, it has been used since very old times in order to gain new ideologies, behaviors, attitudes and beliefs. Therefore, education is associated with social, economic, and political structures. Despite these associations, studies in the education and educational sciences literature are very limited in number. However, in an integrative analysis on education, the relationships of subjects in the education world with education are important in terms of analyzing education and the purposes of education. School administrators’ ways of conceptualizing educational reality directs what kind of a person/society will be raised through education. Through the analysis of education and its purposes in line with the opinions of school administrators, this study aims at revealing the education conception/approach/perspective that school administrators take as the basis for their practices at school.
