Change Leadership Practices for Effective Implementation of Alternative Breakthrough Models in Blended and Online Learning at Select K-12 Schools: A Phenomenological Study

Author(s)

Jason HaasFollow

Date

1-2017

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Russell G Yocum

Keywords

Blended Learning, Change Leadership, Change Management, Online Learning

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Other Educational Administration and Supervision

Recommended Citation

Haas, Jason, "Change Leadership Practices for Effective Implementation of Alternative Breakthrough Models in Blended and Online Learning at Select K-12 Schools: A Phenomenological Study" (2017). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1350.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1350

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover what change leadership practices are utilized by educational leaders at selected K-12 schools when alternative breakthrough models in blended and online education are implemented. Using a phenomenological approach, I explored three public schools, two private schools, two charter schools, and two virtual schools. The 10 participants in this study were either heads of school, district superintendents, or department principals. The central research question was: What are the lived experiences of K-12 educational leaders who are implementing alternative breakthrough models of blended and online learning? Data was obtained via the following methods: (a) questionnaire, (b) one-on-one interviews, (c) analysis of artifacts used in the implementation, and (d) focus group. While Moustakas’s Seven Steps were utilized as a tool to analyze the data, the overall data analysis framework followed Schutz’s (1967) phenomenological reductionism: the reality of the data is neither confirmed nor denied initially. Using this framework, I analyzed the data using the following techniques: (a) reading and organizing the data, (b) memoing, (c) coding and categorizing the data, and (d) bracketing and development of themes. If blended education or any other alternative method enhances learning, if pedagogical standards are upheld, and if technology can provide some personalization and flexibility to enable students to learn at a higher level, then the possibilities of alternative models of education are limitless. To implement these alternative changes, sound change leadership practices must be utilized.