Exploring Teachers’ Perceptions on Organizational Climate in Urban and Rural Schools

Abstract

The aim of this research was to understand how teachers who work at urban and rural high schools perceive their school climate in terms of their professional development. A qualitative research design was carried out to collect data with a group of 24 teachers who were selected based on their participation in postgraduate degree courses for professional development offered by the faculty of Educational Sciences at University of Shkoder. Many studies on school effectiveness emphasize the importance of organizational climate in which effective teaching and learning occur. Several factors have a crucial role in defining a successful school climate but three organizational climate factors were chosen for this study; collegial support, teachers‘ autonomy and principal role. Also, this paper attempted to offer some kind of an alternative for assessing the school climate in order to review teacher’s training plan for professional development.