Date of Award

Fall 2020

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

Educational Leadership and Policies

First Advisor

Spencer Platt

Abstract

Morale is a concept that denotes how workers feel about their work and the environment in which they work (Robbins, 2003). Low teacher morale is not a new problem; however, with increasing frequency of low morale, teachers are affected all over the nation because of the financial and academic toll it has on education. Low morale typically impedes the achievement of the organization’s desired outcome and corresponds with unresolved grievances, attrition, and high absenteeism. Low morale is associated with billions of dollars spent per year. Low morale is due to effects such as stress, teacher burnout, absenteeism, attrition, and small student achievement.

The purpose of this study was to explore former and current African American teachers’ perspectives on how principals’ leadership style impacts teacher morale and if the principals make a conscious effort to incorporate anti-racism techniques. This study identified the leadership styles commonly used by the principals in the rural school district, teachers’ descriptions of their level of morale and what might cause low morale, how principal leadership practices affect morale, and the influence of job performance and job satisfaction. The study examined these subjects based on the perspectives of 12 current middle and high school teachers and two former middle and high school teacher. Former teachers were included in the study to get their perspectives from working in the school district and the reason for leaving. Most importantly, I want to find out if they would return back to the district. This study is a qualitative case study with a phenomenological interpretative design. The study aims to provide detailed examinations of personal lived experience. the researcher collected data through interviews.

Rights

© 2020, Ernestine Young

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