Date
2-2020
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)
Chair
Rebecca Lunde
Keywords
Psychological Capital, Caring School Leadership, Enabling School Structure, Teacher Attrition, Teacher Retention
Disciplines
Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Educational Leadership
Recommended Citation
Jensen, Richard S. Jr, "The Relationship between Teachers' Psychological Capital and Caring School Leadership and Enabling School Structure" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 2328.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/2328
Abstract
Teacher attrition is a continuing issue facing schools in the United States. A lack of administrative support and working conditions are often cited as causes of job dissatisfaction and lack of career commitment, which in turn lead to burnout and intent to leave. Psychological capital (PsyCap) has been extensively studied and found to have a positive correlation to the outcomes of job satisfaction and commitment and a negative correlation to stress and burnout. Some leadership models have been found to be an antecedent to PsyCap. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of teachers’ PsyCap with the predictor variables of caring school leadership and enabling school structure. This study used a correlational design utilizing the self-report measures of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12), Caring School Leadership Questionnaire (CSLQ) and Enabling School Structure (ESS) survey. There were 109 K-12 state-certified teachers of a cyber charter school in Pennsylvania who participated in the study. Results of a multiple regression analysis suggested there was a significant predictive relationship of the combination of caring school leadership and enabling school structure on teachers’ PsyCap. Additionally, bivariate linear regression analyses also demonstrated a significant predictive relationship of each predictive variable on the criterion variable of PsyCap. Future research recommended include replication studies in different educational settings, such as in district schools and religious/faith-based schools, as well as qualitative studies on the specific phenomena teachers identify with caring school leadership.
