The Relationship Between High School Teacher Perceived Principal Leadership Practices and Teacher Morale Levels

Author(s)

Nora MooreFollow

Date

4-2012

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Casey Reason

Primary Subject Area

Education, General; Education, Administration; Psychology, General

Keywords

Principal Leadership Practices, Teacher Morale, Transformational Leadership

Disciplines

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision | Human Resources Management | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Recommended Citation

Moore, Nora, "The Relationship Between High School Teacher Perceived Principal Leadership Practices and Teacher Morale Levels" (2012). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 518.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/518

Abstract

This quantitative study examined the relationhip between five teacher perceived leadership practices of high school principals and the morale levels of the teachers in their schools. Two high schools (grades 10-12) in the upstate of South Carolina participated in the study. One hundred twelve high school teachers were surveyed using the Leadership Practices Inventory to collect information about five teacher perceived principal leadership practices, and the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire to collect information about teacher morale levels. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to measure the relationship between the five teacher perceived leadership practices and teacher morale levels. One of the five predictor variables, model the way was excluded due to high zero-order correlations with the rest of the predictors. The statistical analysis provided a basis to support the assertion that the four teacher perceived leadership practices (i.e., challenge the process, enable others to act, encourage the heart, and inspire a shared vision) were related to teacher morale to a significant degree. However, the four teacher perceived leadership practices collectively accounted for only a modest portion of the variance in teacher morale levels. None of the four individual leadership practices was a statistically significant predictor of teacher morale when all other variables were controlled. The results imply that principals' leadership practices make a difference in teacher morale. Suggested integration of leadership practices into administrative training and recommendations for future research are also addressed.