The Sources of Organizational Gossips in Schools

Informal and evaluative speech about a person who is not present in a conversation environment is defined as gossip. Gossip is one of the informal forms of communication that is also important in school life, because schools have an intense network of communication. This research aims to detect the sources of organizational gossips in schools that have the potential to harm organizational functioning. A descriptive survey model was applied in the research. Gossip Sources Questionnaire (GSQ) prepared by the researcher was used to investigate the topic. In the research the factors causing gossips in schools are classified as; individual factors stemming from the people themselves, social factors arising from the social environment in which the individuals stay and organizational factors arising from the characteristics of the organizational structure of the workplace. According to the teacher views individual features such as jealousy, envy, unethical behaviors, curiosity, vanity and aimlessness are the most common sources of gossips in schools. At the end of the research, there are some suggestions for teachers and principals about coping techniques of organizational gossips.