Investigation of Shared Leadership and Organizational Commitment in Primary and Secondary Schools: Malatya Case

Shared leadership enables employees to develop positive feelings for their organizations and themselves. Especially, their devotional feelings and behaviours towards their organizations increase with the sharing of leadership. In this study, the shared leadership of the school and the organizational commitment levels of the teachers, their relationship with each other and the predictive status were examined. This study is a research within relational survey model. The data of the research were collected from 512 teachers in primary and secondary schools in Malatya districts of Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. The data were collected through the Shared Leadership Scale and the Organizational Commitment Scale of Teachers. For the analysis of the data, ttest, ANOVA test, correlation and regression analyzes were performed. According to the results of the research, shared leadership and organizational commitment levels in primary and secondary schools are high. There is a positively significant and moderate correlation between the shared leadership of the school and the organizational commitment of teachers. Shared leadership in primary and secondary schools positively and significantly predicts teachers' organizational commitment. For this reason, in order to increase the organizational commitment of teachers; it is important to create a sharing school life, in order to support teachers for the purposes of the organization and to include them in decision-making processes. According to the results obtained, it is recommended that young teachers with lower organizational commitment be given more duties, powers and responsibilities.


Introduction
Leadership is one of the most important factors that organizations need to consider in order to achieve their goals. In the classical understanding, organizations would designate a leader to manage their employees, and employees would also be subject to this leader, but the changing time also developed leadership and led to the idea of sharing leadership with other employees instead of gathering one person. Shared leadership is one of the new types of leadership born out of the idea that employees contribute more to the organization and leadership. Shared leadership has found a significant place in the field of educational management in recent years and many studies have been carried out on this subject.
Studies have shown that there is a positive meaningful relationship between leadership behaviors and organizational commitment of employees (Savas et al., 2015). Will be able to prepare the individual emotionally and cognitively for the activities of the organization. This preparation will also increase the organizational commitment of the individual (Emhan & Gok, 2011). The relationship of modern man spending most of their time at work with organization can be positive or negative. While positive trust relationship established with organization; increasing the motivation, efficiency, effectiveness and performance of the employee, the organization is expressed to be more satisfied with its employee (Becker et al. 1996;Costigan et al. 1998;Gabarro, 1978). In addition, it also reduces employee dismissal or voluntarily leaving (Altuntas, 2008;Ersoy, 2019). Teachers' performances in educational organizations is very important for both students and national educational success. When evaluated from this point of view, teachers' commitment to school or their jobs will have a significant effect. Teachers devoted to the organization have a significant positive impact in their work, such as willing effort, self-sacrifice, focus and self-employment, and intense efforts for students' success and development. (Celep, 2000;Turhan et al., 2012).
Since the relationship between shared leadership and organizational commitment has not been adequately reviewed in the literature, this study is thought to contribute to the literature. In addition, the following questions examined are thought to bring practical benefits to practitioners in the field of education to increase organizational commitment: (1) What is the level of shared leadership and organizational dedication already in schools? (2) How are shared leadership and organizational commitment affected by variables such as age, gender, seniority? (3) What relationship is there between shared leadership and organizational commitment? (4) Determining how shared leadership and organizational commitment affect each other will bring practical benefits to educational practitioners.

Organizational Commitment
In the literature, on organizational commitment has been studied using the term organizational commitment (Tuncer, 1995;Varoglu, 1993) and then organizational commitment (Balay, 2000;Balci, 2000;Celep, 1998;Sivik, 2018). Organizational commitment can be defined as employees' belief in the goals and the values of the organization, their making extraordinary efforts for these purposes, their willingness to strongly adhere to the organization and continue working for the organization (Boylu et al., 2007;Guclu, 2006;Yolac, 2008) .
Organizational commitment has often been studied in literature under concepts such as the leadership roles of managers (Artun, 2008;Karagoz, 2008;Khasawneh et al., 2012;Leithwood & Sun, 2012) and academic achievement in educational organizations (Chung & Chan, 2015;Dannetta, 2002). In addition to these studies, the organizational commitment, which will be emphasized in this study, has been studied with executive behaviors (Benkhoff;Eroglu, 2007;Dick & Metcalfe, 2001;Duzener, 2006;Tan, 2016). According to Mayer and Allen, the factors affecting organizational commitment are divided into three groups: individual factors, organizational factors, and environmental factors (Alim, 2019; Gurdogan, 2018;Meyer & Allen, 1997). Each of these factors that affect organizational commitment has a distinct importance, but this study will focus more on how shared leadership within organizational factors affects organizational commitment.
Organizational commitment of teachers in educational organizations is significantly influenced by the behavior of managers (Dogan & Aslan, 2016;Bakan, 2011). In school management, the management style of official leaders significantly affects teachers' emotional ties with the organization (Halis, 2010). Teachers who devote themselves to their jobs or professions usually look for ways to leave the institution when faced with the negative managerial attitudes of the school management (Balay, 2014;Everett, 1992). The interaction and communication of both teachers and education leaders are of great importance in the emergence of the spirit of devotion (Alpagun, 2018;Celep, 2000). Organizational commitment is formed when teachers feel themselves belong to the school, participate in the school's decisions and cooperate with leaders (Danetta, 2002;Nguni et al., 2006). Organizational commitment has four dimensions: devotion to school, devotion to teaching, devotion to the teaching profession, and devotion to the working group (Alim, 2019;Celep, 2000). Commitment to school is to do more than one's own duties to fulfill the goals of the school (Balay, 2014). Staying in school more than the compulsory program of the school voluntarily, making extra efforts for the success of the school, and being eagerly involved in the activities of the school are among the exemplary behaviors of the commitment to the school (Celep, 2014). The commitment to teaching affairs is that teachers move their work to their daily lives and increase the time they spend in school for their work (Alim, 2019). Commitment to the teaching profession is to fulfill the behaviors required by the profession voluntarily, to protect their professional values and to behave as required by the profession in their relationships (Celep 2014). Commitment to the working group is that the teacher identifies himself or herself with friends at the school where he works, is happy to work with the teacher friends and sees them very close to him (Alim, 2019;Balay, 2014;Celep, 2014).

Shared Leadership
Shared leadership was first handled indirectly in the 1950s and 1960s (Gibb, 1954;Katz & Kahn, 1966). More detailed studies started in 1980s and 1990s (Firestone, 1996;Weiss & Cambone, 1994). Share means "use at the same time, divide between people, give some of yours" in Oxford Dictionary. The meaning of the shared leadership term used in the field of education is as follows; the leadership that is gathered in one person in classical organizations is shared with other employees of the organization and the leadership roles are played by many people working in the organization Harrison, 2005;Spillane et al., 2001;Ozer & Beycioglu, 2013). It is seen that shared leadership is handled with a few different conceptualizations in the literature. The terms "Distributive Leadership", "Distributed Leadership" and "Sharing Leadership" are used in the same way as "Shared leadership". The term "distribute" evokes a distributor, that is, a single leader who distributes the mandate and authority he wants. Because of this connotation, it is not preferred to use expressions such as "Distributor Leadership" or "Distributive Leadership" instead of shared leadership in this study.
Shared leadership has three main features (Bolden et al., 2009): International Journal of Educational Methodology  615 • Leadership is a common feature created by the interaction of the people in the group.
• Leadership has no definite limits.
• Leadership practices are replicated with all employees.
These characteristics of shared leadership will ensure that the organization is always dynamic, holistic and interactive. This sharing-based interactive process will make the organization more efficient as it will increase both the individual and team capacities of the employees (Yukl, 2002). For the organization to be always dynamic, holistic and interactive, employees must adopt leadership and be willing to share. There are some aspects of shared leadership that differ from other types of leadership (Chen, 2007); focusing on student achievement and shared activities (As cied in Chen, 2007;Elmore, 2000), discovering the talents of employees (Gronn, 2002), crossing borders and focusing on the interaction of leaders and followers (Spillane, 2006).
Educational organizations are organizations where social interaction is so intense. These organizations are in an intense interaction between all employees within the organization as well as with the society. Many teachers are in constant interaction with each other as they work with the same students. Due to this interaction and the complex nature of educational organizations, it is necessary to develop decision-making methods with a common mind, rather than the leadership of the one who decides everything (Hoy & Miskel, 2010). It is important to create a structure that will allow employees to lead in different fields within the routine functioning of the organization (Beycioglu & Aslan, 2007). For the purposes of the organization, working groups (administrators, teachers, and other employees) must collaborate in all areas (Jacops, 2010). In order to achieve this common goal, every employee in the organization must express their opinions clearly, take responsibility when necessary and be volunteer to share leadership to contribute to the creation of a common mind. Sharing leadership within the organization is the distribution of tasks and responsibilities at the highest possible level among all employees (Yener, 2014). Because of this sharing, it is thought that teachers will feel themselves more valuable and will be more attached to their organizations.

Shared Leadership Organizational Commitment Relationship.
There are studies indicating that leadership develops positive emotions in employees in educational organizations (Ozden, 1997;Terzi & Kurt, 2005). Organizational commitment is one of the positive emotions employees will develop against the organization. Based on this context, shared leadership is also thought to affect organizational commitment positively. In another study, it was stated that the positive relationship between managers and teachers, which are the main elements of schools, directly affects education and teaching (Kilinc, 2013). This positive relationship was expressed as supporting and valuing employees in the organization. Supporting employees and valuing their contributions can be considered as sharing leadership with them. In a study by Ince and Gul (2005), it was stated that active participation in decision-making processes, flexible and participatory management positively affect organizational commitment. There is evidence that sharing the leadership with the employees in all the stated works increases the organizational commitment in the employees. This study directly examines the relationship between shared leadership and organizational commitment.

Significance of Study and Rationale
Although researches on shared leadership and organizational commitment in educational organizations have increased in recent years, the relationship between these two variables has been studied in small numbers (Harris et al., 2007;Hulpia et al., 2011;Hulpia et al., 2009;Lashway, 2003;Spillane, 2006). In particular, much less has been studied on primary and secondary school (Agiroglu, 2013;Uslu & Beycioglu, 2013). While this study contributes to the literature with this aspect, it is important to compare and evaluate the studies previously conducted with different partner of education (Aydogan, 2018;Erol, 2016). Therefore, the main objective of this research is to examine the level of shared leadership and organizational commitment in primary and secondary schools in Turkey and the relationship between these two variables.
The hypotheses of the research are; 1-The shared leadership and organizational commitment in primary and secondary schools are high.
2-Shared leadership and organizational commitment differ according to demographic variables.
3-Shared leadership and organizational commitment are interrelated.
4-Shared leadership positively predicts organizational dedication to positive home.

Model of the Research
The model of this research is the relational survey model. Relational survey model is a survey approach to determine whether two or more variables change together and if so, the direction of change (Karasar, 2007). In this model, there are many elements in the universe. In order to make a general judgment about this universe, survey is done throughout the universe or on a sample group to be taken from it. In this study, since the entire universe is very large, a sufficient sized sample was taken from the universe and a survey was made.

Sample
Study universe of the research; It consists of teachers working in primary and secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the Malatya district of Turkey in the 2019-2020 academic year. There are 5645 teachers in primary and secondary schools in central of Malatya. These teachers constitute the universe of the research. Due to the difficulty of reaching the entire universe, time limitation and economic reasons, a sample of the size representing the universe was studied. The sample is defined as a subgroup large enough to represent the universe (Cingi, 1990). Schools to be sampled were chosen randomly, because the research universe is located in the center of Malatya and the general characteristics of the schools are similar. In the determination of the number of samples, the following calculation formula prepared for cases with a total number of masses in the universe was used (Cochran, as cied in Balci, 2010). As a result of the calculation made with the above formula, it was seen that sufficient sample size could be 359 teachers. In this study, 512 teachers were taken into consideration as a sample.
The frequency and percentage distributions of the sample showing demographic characteristics (gender, age, marital status, educational status, seniority and branch) are as in Table 1 below.

Variables
Sub

Data Collection Tools
The form used to collect data in the universe of the research consists of three parts. In the first part, there are questions asking the demographic characteristics of the participants. In the second part, there is the shared leadership scale and in the third part, there is the organizational commitment scale of teachers in educational organizations.

Shared Leadership Scale
The shared leadership scale used in the research was developed by Wood (2005) and adapted to Turkish by Bostanci (2012). The scale consists of 18 clause and 4 sub-dimensions. Sub-dimensions are: completing tasks together (9 clauses), mutual skill development (2 clauses), decentralized interaction (4 clauses) and emotional support (3 clauses). The 12th, 14th and 15th clause of the decentralized interaction sub-dimension are reverse coded clause. In the reliability analysis of this scale by Bostanci (2012), Cronbach's Alpha (α) value was found to be 0.91. The Cronbach's Alpha value found for this research is 0.83. For all clauses of the shared leadership scale; 1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Undecided, 4-Agree, 5-Strongly Agree five-point likert-type evaluation criteria were used. While analyzing the findings obtained with this scale, the arithmetic mean ranges 1.00-1.80: " Strongly Disagree", 1.81-2.60: " Disagree", 2.61-3.40: " Undecided", 3.41-4.20: " Agree", 4.21 -5.00: It was evaluated as " Strongly Agree".

Teachers' Organizational Commitment in Educational Organizational Questionnaire
"Organizational Commitment Scale of Teachers in Educational Organizations" developed by Celep (2000) was used to measure teachers' organizational commitment. The scale consists of four dimensions: "Commitment to School", "Commitment to Teaching Work", "Commitment to Teaching Occupation" and "Commitment to Working Group". The commitment to school consists of 9 clauses and two clauses are scored in the opposite direction. The size of the commitment to teaching occupation is 6, the size of the commitment to teaching work is 7, the commitment to working group consists of 6 clause. While the reliability coefficient of the scale by the researcher who developed the scale was found as Cronbach Alfa 0.88, it was found to be 0.91 in the analysis for this research. Organizational commitment scale is a five-point likert type and consists of 28 clauses. It is measured with the values of "always" 5, "mostly of the time" 4, "occasionally" 3, "rarely" 2 and "very rarely" 1. While analyzing the findings obtained with this scale, the arithmetic mean 1.00-1.80: "I do very little", 1.81-2.60: "I do little", 2.61-3.40: "I do it occasionally", 3.41-4.20: "I do it often", 4.21-5.00: It is evaluated as "Always do".

Data Analysis
The data obtained in the field applications of the research were analyzed with the SPSS statistics program. The analysis steps of the data are seen in Figure 1.
1. First, frequency and percentage calculations were made regarding demographic data (gender, age, marital status, education, seniority, branch).
2. Then the average of shared leadership and organizational commitment data were reached. These averages were used to determine teachers' shared leadership and organizational commitment perceptions.
3. In the next phase of the analysis, t-test (gender, marital status, education and branch) and ANOVA test (age and seniority) were conducted to see whether the teachers' perceptions about shared leadership and organizational commitment differ in terms of demographic variables.
4. In the last stage, correlation analysis was conducted to determine whether there is a correlation between shared leadership and organizational commitment, and regression analysis was performed to determine the predicted state of shared leadership organizational commitment. Figure 1. Stages of data analysis

Findings
In this section, the findings obtained as a consequences of the analysis of the data are given in the following order:  Average and standard deviations of shared leadership and organizational commitment were calculated.
 Significance status of shared leadership and organizational commitment level with respect to demographic variable difference was examined.
 Correlation analysis and regression analysis were conducted between shared leadership and organizational commitment.
The level of shared leadership and organizational commitment that exists in primary and secondary schools is seen in Table 2. According to Table 2, the average of shared leadership in primary and secondary schools is 3.82. This finding means "leadership is often shared in our school". The organizational commitment average is 4.15. The meaning of this value is "I often show devotional behavior". After determining this general level, it was investigated whether the level of shared leadership and organizational commitment in schools varies significantly according to demographic variables. The results of the t-test analysis according to gender, marital status, educational status and branch change are given in Table 3. When Table 3 is analyzed, it is seen that there is a significant difference between women and men at the shared leadership level in primary and secondary schools t(510) = .360, p < .05. Loo ing at the averages to understand which gender is higher in this difference, it is seen that the shared leadership scores of women (x 3.841) are higher than men (x 3.728). When the shared leadership in elementary and secondary schools was analyzed in terms of marital status t(510) = .820, p > .05, educational status t(510) = .468, p > .05 and branch t(510) = 1.689, p > .05 variables, it was seen that there was no significant difference. When Table 3 is analyzed in terms of organizational commitment; No significant difference was obtained in any of the variables of gender t(510) = .389, p > .05, marital status t(510) = .293, p > .05, educational status t(510) = -2.024, p > .05 and branch t(510) = -.525, p > .05. According to age and seniority variables; Findings obtained in the analysis of shared leadership and organizational commitment are indicated in Table  4. Over 20 years 4.248 .017 .232

*=p<.05
As can be seen in Table 4, the shared leadership in primary and secondary schools differs significantly between some age groups p<.05. While teachers in the age group 35-50 do not differ significantly with any age group, it is seen that teachers under the age 35 differ significantly with teachers over 50 p .022. Loo ing at the averages to see which age group has higher shared leadership perception, it is seen that the arithmetic mean of the teachers over 50 years old (x 3.956) is significantly higher than the teachers under 35 years old (x 3.716). When the organizational commitment level is analyzed by age groups; it is seen that teachers over 50 differ significantly from teachers under 35 and 35-50. When the averages are analyzed by age groups, it is seen that teachers over 50 (x 4.257) have higher organizational commitment than the other two have.
When the shared leadership and organizational commitment are examined with respect to the variable of seniority, the following results were obtained:  As can be seen from Table 4, the shared leadership in primary and secondary schools differs significantly according to seniority p < .05. Teachers with more than 20 years of seniority differ significantly from all other teachers p =.028, p =.019. When averages are examined to see which seniority group has higher shared leadership perception, it is seen that teachers with seniority over 20 years (x 3.922) have a significantly higher arithmetic average than teachers with less seniority.  At the organizational commitment level; It is seen that teachers with seniority over 20 years differ significantly from those who have 0-10 years of seniority and 11-20 years of seniority. When the averages are analyzed according to the seniority groups, it is seen that the teachers with seniority over 20 years (x= 4.248) have higher organizational commitment than the other two groups.
According to the findings obtained in Table 4; when all age groups are evaluated, it can be said that the group over 50 years old believes that leadership is shared in schools more than other age groups. Similarly, it can be stated that the group over 50 has a higher level of organizational commitment than other age groups. In the findings obtained in the study of the seniority variable; it is seen that teachers with seniority over 20 years have higher perception of shared leadership and organizational commitment than other teachers. The correlation between shared leadership and organizational commitment, another finding obtained in the research, is shown in Table 5. In Table 5, the correlation analysis of the shared leadership in primary and secondary schools with the organizational commitment is examined. According to the findings; There is a positive, moderate and significant correlation r =.462, p .000. "r" value in correlation analysis; It shows a low level correlation between 0.00-0.29, a medium level between .30 -.69 and a high level between .70 -1.00 (Saruhan & Ozdemirci, 2013). After determining this meaningful correlation, regression analysis was performed to determine the predicted state of organizational commitment of shared leadership. Regression analysis data is seen in Table 6. When the regression model in Table 6 is examined, the standardized regression coefficients are: β .482, t 9.657, p < .01 are observed. This reveals that the shared leadership in schools significantly predicts teachers' organizational commitment in a positive way. According to the results of this analysis, approximately 15% of teachers' organizational commitment is explained by the shared leadership of the school R 2 =.152.

Discussion
Leadership is increasing in importance due to national and global changes. As a result, leadership is handled with new variables and different dimensions (Harris & Spillane, 2008;Sammons et al., 1995). One of these changes in the leadership field is based on the understanding of "building a common leadership culture" in which more people contribute to leadership in organizations (Duignan, 2003). The common leadership approach requires that leadership be shared among employees and that each employee contributes to the organization with their interest, talent and expertise. Today, the understanding that the organization can be an extraordinarily talented "hero leader" that has all the solutions it needs is weakening (Bakir & Aslan, 2014). Contemporary organizations are in complex and high expectations, waiting for many employees to contribute and lead (Hartley, 2007;Jacobs, 2010). It is thought that the expected contribution and leadership from employees in their field of expertise can only be achieved through shared leadership and organizational dedication.
In the study, firstly "What is the level of shared leadership and organizational commitment in primary and secondary schools in Turkey?" The answer to the question has been sought. The result obtained; is that the shared leadership in primary and secondary schools is "generally / mostly high". When this result is compared with other studies in the literature, it is seen that similar results are obtained. Some studies on all levels of school in Turkey (Korkmaz, 2011;Uslu & Beycioglu, 2013) found out that shared leadership was at a "high" level, while a study in primary schools (primary and secondary schools) was at a "mostly shared" level (Yilmaz, 2013). Similar to these studies, there are many studies that state that the level of shared leadership is "mostly shared" (Saricice ; 2014) and "high" (Ba ir & Aslan, 2014;Cobanoglu, 2019). Based on the results of these studies in the field, it can be stated that the shared leadership in schools in Turkey is at a high level with respect to to the teachers' opinions.
The result on the level of organizational commitment is that "I often display devotional behaviors", such as shared leadership. Similar to this study, it is observed that teachers have a high level of organizational commitment in the organizational devotional studies conducted on the overall educational organizations (Altunay, 2017;Aytekin, 2016;Babaoglan & Erturk, 2013;Celep et al., 2004;Erturk, 2011;Erturk, 2014;Uzun, 2011). Similar results were obtained in studies on organizational only in primary education institutions. In the study conducted in primary education by Zog (2007), teachers often stated that they showed "organizational devotional" behaviors. Studies to determine the level of organizational commitment in higher education institutions and private education institutions also show that teachers have a "high level" organizational commitment (Afacan, 2011;Artun, 2008;Dogan & Aslan, 2016;E inci, 2012). Some qualitative (Balyer, 2015) and quantitative (Kalaz, 2016) studies in which teachers 'organizational devotions were studied showed that teachers' organizational devotions were low in contrast to this study. In the vast majority of studies conducted at all levels of education, it is observed that organizational commitment is at a high level in educational organizations.
The second in this study examined whether shared leadership perceptions and organizational commitment of teachers in primary and secondary schools differ significantly in terms of demographic variables. When teachers ' perceptions of shared leadership are examined in terms of demographic variables, it is observed that shared leadership differs significantly in terms of gender, age, and seniority variables. In terms of gender, women's perceptions of shared leadership in their schools are significantly higher than men's. Similar results are also seen in various studies. A study by Grant (2011) in public schools in North Carolina shows that women have a higher perception of shared leadership than men. Many studies that indicate that shared leadership is high in favor of women are also seen in the literature. (Aksoy & Bostanci, 2019;Aydogan, 2018;Yener, 2014;Yilmaz, 2013). In a report published by "Egitim-Bir-Sen", an education trade union (Baltaci et al., 2020), it is stated that the demands of women to become managers are low for various reasons. Women under the pressure of both professional career and family responsibility (especially women who are mothers) delay or give up leadership demands (Rutherford, 2001). Unlike these studies, a study conducted by Copper (2012) in secondary schools indicated that male teachers had a greater perception of shared leadership than female teachers.
Shared leadership did not differ significantly with respect to teachers ' marital status, educational status and branch change. Warious studies also show that the marital status of teachers (Aydogan, 2018), educational status (Akgun, 2019; Cinar & Bozgeyikli, 2015;Isik, 2018;Sarbay & Bostanci, 2018;Yener, 2014) and branch differences (Akgun, 2019;Yener, 2014;Yilmaz, 2013) do not make significant differences in shared leadership. When the difference in teachers ' perceptions of shared leadership was examined according to the age variable, it was observed that teachers in the 20-35 age range did not differ significantly with any age group. However, shared leadership perceptions of teachers over the age of 50 were significantly higher than those of teachers aged 35-50. Similar to this study, Yener's (2014) doctoral dissertation has determined that shared leadership perceptions of teachers under the age of 25 were significantly lower than those of older age. It also stated that teachers aged 50 and over had the highest average among other age groups, adding that "as age progresses the perception of shared leadership reaches a more positive level." Both studies indicate that teachers ' perceptions of shared leadership also increase as their age increases. In another study, it was stated that the shared leadership of the 41-50 age group was significantly higher than those of the younger age (Iscan, 2014).
When the levels of shared leadership were examined with respect to the seniority of the teachers, significant differences were observed between those with high seniority and those with low seniority. Teachers with high seniority also had high shared leadership scores. This situation can be interpreted in two ways. First; since their enthusiasm for leadership is reduced and their willingness to take responsibility is low teachers with high seniority think that sharing is adequate. Second, teachers with high seniority may have given high leadership scores because they do not have high expectations because they know with experience which areas leadership will be shared and which areas will not be shared within the general characteristic of schools. There are many studies in the literature that shared leadership perceptions increase as teachers' seniority increases, and there are positive and significant differences between teachers with high seniority in favor of high seniority (Agiroglu Bakir, 2013;Aslan & Agiroglu Bakir, 2015); Cinar & Bozgeyikli, 2015;Iscan, 2014;Ray, 2019;Sarbay & Bostanci, 2018;). When gender, age and seniority changes are generally evaluated, women believe that leadership is shared more than men, and employees with higher age and seniority express that leadership is shared more.
When examining whether teachers ' organizational devotions differ in terms of demographic variables, it is observed that they do not differ significantly in terms of gender, marital status, educational status and branch. Age and seniority variables are significantly different. Teachers who are more advanced in terms of age and seniority have a higher level of organizational commitment than other have. Many studies have shown that organizational commitment increases with the increase in age (Allen & Meyer, 1990;Angle & Perry, 1981;Apak, 2009;Artun, 2008;Celik, 2011;Erturk, 2011;Hawkins, 1998;Kizil, 2014;Meyer & Allen, 1997). Contrary to these studies, there are also studies that conclude that organizational commitment does not make a significant difference in age (Cengiz et al. 2014;Ekinci, 2012).
In this study, it was observed that teachers ' organizational commitment differed significantly according to the seniority variable. This significant difference suggests that the organizational commitment of teachers with high seniority is also high. Similar to the results of this study, many studies indicates high organizational commitment of teachers with high seniority (Altunay, 2017;Atar, 2009;Coban & Demirtas, 2011;Kalaz, 2016;Kizil, 2014;Mathiu & Zajac, 1990;Zog, 2007). In some research results, no significant differences were found in terms of seniority variable at organizational devotional level (Cengiz et al., 2014;Dogan & Aslan, 2016;Gici, 2011;Karatas & Gules, 2010). The high level of organizational commitment of teachers with high seniority and age obtained as a result of this research can be attributed to several reasons:  First, teachers can be more devoted to their organizations due to the decline in the probability of finding jobs in other organizations with the advancement of age (Ozden, 1997).
 Another reason may be emotional devotion to the organization, which has been labored for a long time.
 Another reason may be that organizational devotion may increase the idea that the position gained in the current organization, based on promotion or respect, will be difficult to establish in another organization or it will take a long time.
The third result in this study is the correlation of shared leadership in primary and secondary schools with the organizational commitment of teachers. According to this result, there was a positive and moderately significant correlation between shared leadership and organizational commitment. There are few studies in the literature in which both shared leadership and organizational commitment studied. One of these studies is the work of Ulusoy (2014). This study indicates that shared leadership has a positive and moderate correlation with organizational commitment. While there is little direct research done on correlation between shared leadership and organizational commitment, there are many studies done with variables such as school commitment, organizational trust, and organizational citizenship that are used closely with organizational commitment. Shared leadership has been expressed to be positively and moderately associated with organizational commitment, school commitment, and organizational trust (Cicek, 2018;Erol, 2016;Hulpia et al., 2012;Uslu & Beycioglu, 2013). A study by Bostanci (2013) also stated that shared leadership and organizational citizenship behaviors are related. In another study that examined the correlation of organizational commitment of managers to autonomy, power transfer and shared justice at work, all three variables were related to shared leadership (Dude, 2012). The study by Ray (2019) also identified a positively moderate correlation of shared leadership practices with organizational trust. As seen in these studies, shared leadership has been studied with many significant variables close to organizational commitment. In all of the reviews, shared leadership was positively associated with organizational commitment, school commitment, organizational trust, shared justice and organizational citizenship behavior. As mentioned studies, this study also indicates that there is a positive, moderate and meaningful correlation between shared leadership and organizational commitment.
The fourth conclusion in this study is that shared leadership in primary and secondary schools predicts the organizational commitment of teachers. Results from regression reveal that 15% of teachers' organizational devotions are provided by shared leadership. In other words, the variance explained is 15%. There have been few studies in the literature that examine the state of organizational commitment of shared leadership. Similar to this study, shared leadership in the study by Ulusoy (2014) predicts the organizational commitment of teachers. However, this study obtained the result that shared leadership provided 15 percent of organizational commitment, whereas Ulusoy's (2014) study provided 25 percent. In the literature, shared leadership has been studied more with concepts such as organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, and organizational trust, which are closely meaningful and largely analogous to organizational commitment. In studies with variables of shared leadership and organizational commitment, it is observed that shared leadership predicts organizational commitment (Agiroglu Bakir & Aslan, 2014;Akdemir, 2016;Nguni et al., 2006;Park, 2005;Tsui & Cheng, 1999;Uslu & Beycioglu, 2013). Similarly, shared leadership also predicts school commitment, organizational citizenship, and organizational trust (Erol, 2016;Ray, 2019). The results obtained from the analysis of the literature and the results obtained from this research are generally similar. As a general result, it can be stated that sharing leadership creates a more positive approach for teachers towards the organisation and enables them to be committed to the organisation.

Conclusion
As a result of the research, it was found that the level of shared leadership and organizational commitment according to the perceptions of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Turkey is high. In other words, leadership in schools is shared among employees and teachers have a high level of commitment to their schools. When examined in terms of demographic variables, it was found that female teachers 'perception of shared leadership was higher than male teachers'. This may be due to low leadership demands by female teachers, especially women with children. Because the person who does not have a leadership request will be able to see enough of the existing situation. Teachers of high age and seniority also perceive shared leadership higher than other teachers. This perception can be formed when school principals consult teachers with higher age and seniority about the work to be done and decisions to be made, and take their opinions. Teachers ' organizational devotions are also influenced by the variable age and seniority. The result was that teachers with higher age and seniority were more commitment to their organizations. This may be because teachers of high age and seniority have served their schools for many years because of their emotional attachment or because their energy is low for a new start at another school. Teachers of high age and seniority may tend to maintain the position and dignity they have achieved in their current school.
Another result is that the shared leadership of the school is associated with the organizational commitment of teachers. There is a positive, moderate and meaningful relationship between shared leadership and organizational commitment.
The regression analysis performed after the acquisition of this relationship concluded that shared leadership predicts organizational commitment. This result shows that increasing shared leadership in schools will also increase organizational commitment.

Suggestions
The following suggestions may be made as a result of this research: • It is seen that the leadership shared in this research predicts organizational commitment. For this reason, in order to increase the organizational commitment to the level of "I always show devotional behavior"; Along with school principals, teachers should give opportunities to lead.
• According to the results of this research, the shared leadership and organizational commitment level scores of men are lower than women. The reason for this situation can be examined in depth with qualitative studies. Similarly, the reason why young teachers' scores are lower than teachers over the age of 50 and teachers with lower seniority than those with seniority over 20 years can be examined.
• Based on the results of this study, sharing the leadership can be increased to increase the organizational commitment of the employees.
• To increase the organizational commitment of especially male teachers, young teachers and low seniority teachers; they can be offered more leadership opportunities, more tasks, powers and responsibilities.
• Legal arrangements can be made to ensure that leadership is shared among employees in educational organizations.

Limitations
This research was conducted in the central districts of a metropolitan city. Different results may be obtained in a different survey conducted in the countryside. Therefore, care should be taken in generalizing the results of this research to whole of Malatya or Turkey. Another limitation is that this research is done only in primary and secondary schools. The results of the study do not cover all educational organizations.