Date

4-2014

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Larry Crites

Keywords

change, goals, leadership, perceptions, perspectives, phenomenological

Disciplines

Education | Educational Leadership | Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration | Elementary Education and Teaching

Abstract

The purpose of this hermeneutical phenomenological study was to understand the perspectives of educators regarding school goals at Lion Elementary. Perspectives concerning school goals were generally defined as the importance of competing priorities as described by participants. This research can inform educators about whether perspectives regarding school goals were aligned, and provide insight regarding the reasons behind similarities and differences by having considered several questions: (a) What were the perceptions of the principal and teachers regarding school goal priorities? (b) What were the main challenges they perceived for meeting school goals? (c) What factors contributed toward schools successfully meeting goals? (d) How did the perceptions of the principal and teachers at Lion Elementary compare in regards to school goals? (e) What factors contributed to the alignment of goals between the principal and teachers? Using a hermeneutical phenomenological approach, this study focused on a purposeful sample of 19 educators at Lion Elementary and how they interpreted the phenomenon of working towards school goals. Data collection consisted of transcribed semi-structured interviews, audiovisual materials, and written documents. Several methods of data analysis procedures used were: hand-coding, constant-comparative analysis, and phenomenological reductionism.

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