Educational Leadership Commons^™

Ethical Leadership: A Study Of Behaviors Of Leaders In Higher Education Today, Jonathan Hubchen, Samuel L. Wyatt, Michael Burnett

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the behaviors of an ethical leader as perceived by tenured and tenure-track faculty at a research university (RU/VH) in the southeastern portion of the United States. The researcher utilized a researcher-designed survey instrument which consisted of twenty possible behaviors of an ethical leader and selected demographic characteristics.

Examination of the study results revealed that the majority of respondents were male (66.20%) and tenured (75.00%). Additionally, the largest group were Professors (49.60%), and had been at the study institution for less than l0 years (38.20%). The characteristics that were most related to …

Three Conditions For Vertical Leadership Development: Impact Of Personal Experiences, Kevin Coopersmith

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Vertical leadership development, an emerging body of leadership research based around expanding an individual’s capacity to think, make decisions, and understand themselves and the world around them, stands as a unique solution to address the leadership skills gap at a time of global complexity and change. Petrie’s (2015) model of the three conditions for vertical leadership development to take place was analyzed through the lived experiences of eight leaders who had successfully completed personal development plans and shared their experiences through a narrative-based qualitative study. Of the eight participants, three participants filled all three conditions and demonstrated a higher level …

Cultivating Workplace Creativity: A Qualitative Case Study Of Leader Perceptions And Practices, Karen Davis Platt

Doctorate in Education

Creativity is vital to corporate success in a global economy and contributes to employee work satisfaction. Grounded in constructivism, this dissertation advances arguments regarding how organizational policies and leader practices can support workplace creativity. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gather insights into leaders’ perceptions of how creativity is fostered in the workplace and develop recommendations to support knowledge industry leaders in cultivating creativity. Findings are based on 10 semi-structured interviews from leaders in one large, knowledge industry corporation headquartered in the United States' mid-Atlantic region. Leaders shared their beliefs and experiences related to creativity in the …

When Leadership Meets A Vision Of Love And Justice: The Art Of Leading For Social Justice, Aaliyah Baker

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Art abounds any task that lies ahead of the doer carried out by vision. Thus, the “artist has gradually become a form of identity which … often carries with it as many drawbacks as benefits” (Bayles & Orland, 1993, p. 7).

The concept of leadership for social justice as a form of art warrants more thought and critical inquiry. Leadership can be considered a form of art. Leadership can be both process and product oriented – both process and product lend themselves to becoming material goods by which the art of justice takes form. Leadership style is an art form …

Learning From Post-Observation Conferences: Emerging Measures Of And Mechanisms To Improve Principals’ Feedback To Teachers, Alyson L. Lavigne, Shanena Allen, Shiquan Shao, Jorge Americo Acosta Feliz

Journal of Educational Supervision

As principals seek to strengthen their impact on teaching and learning, it is critical to understand how principals provide feedback to teachers about their instruction and the focus of those conversations. This study examined the content and quality of principals’ (N = 4) verbal feedback to teachers (N = 11) during post-observation conferences (N = 11) and teachers’ perceptions of that feedback. In post-observation conferences, principals emphasized students’ opportunities to learn and supportive classroom environment, but rarely provided feedback on curriculum sequencing, the balance of procedural and conceptual knowledge, and teachers’ review and feedback to students. The …

Increasing The Number Of High School Seniors Meeting The South Carolina "Profile Of A Graduate" Mandate, Cecil Bonner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This applied study aimed to solve the problem of the inadequate number of high school seniors at Avenger Career Technology Center that meet the requirement of South Carolina's Profile of a Graduate. A multimethod approach was utilized to examine the problem of high school seniors not meeting college and career mandates. Data was collected through interviews with administrators, a focus group of ACTC students, and a quantitative survey from Avenger Career Technology Center teachers. Interviews were conducted with five administrators. A focus group of 10 students was held. Eighteen teachers completed a quantitative survey. Data were analyzed for codes and …

Moral Injury: The Hidden Adversary Of War, Lashell Y. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of United States Army combat veterans who have supported combat operations at least once over the past fourteen years in either Iraq or Afghanistan who self-identified as suffering from symptoms of moral injury. This study was designed to elucidate the impact of faith on resilience and coping mechanisms and broaden previous research on moral injury and whether Army leaders should identify and mitigate moral injury within the ranks. Phenomenology focuses on the interpretation and meaning of how individuals experience their world within a given context. Seven …

A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Of The Seventh Day Adventist Leadership Role In Spiritual Formation For Ny, Nj, And Pa, Chesnel Gabriel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological research study is to assess and understand the impacts of the church leadership role in the spiritual formation of the Seventh-day Adventist churches in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. At this stage in the study, the local church leadership role in spiritual formation is generally described as a spiritual transformation to encourage spiritual formation in the Seventh-day Adventists (Creswell, 2018). The concepts guiding this study are Spiritual Formation: Benefits of Spiritual Formation Training, Disadvantages of the Existing Training Processes, and Perceived Outcome of Leadership Development (Bush et al., 2020). It sought to show …

Editor's Comments, Michael T. Miller

Journal of Research on the College President

We are pleased to present Volume 7 of the Journal of Research on the College President. In the pages that follow, you will find a variety of research methods exploring the incredibly complex world of the contemporary college president. Wepner, Henk, and Broege explore a model for understanding how a president can survive in the presidential role, Ruch, Coll, and Ruch discuss presidents and college student success, and Jack offers a profile of Black women serving in presidential roles. In total, we have five original research articles included in this volume of the journal.

Profile Of Black Women Presidents At Four-Year Colleges And Universities, L. Hazel Jack

Journal of Research on the College President

While women represent the majority of college students, they are underrepresented in positions of leadership in higher education. The presence of Black women in positions of leadership is even less. This article sought to identify how many Black women are presidents of four-year colleges and universities, what types of institutions these women lead, and their path to the presidency. This research identified 83 Black women college presidents, 55 of which represent some type of first for their institution and, in some cases, even the system or state. Their pathway to the presidency was consistent with the literature finding that women’s …

A Conceptual Framework For Understanding Presidential Longevity, Shelley B. Wepner, William A. Henk, Nora C. R. Broege

Journal of Research on the College President

High turnover rates with college and university presidents make longevity an important matter for higher education. This paper provides a conceptual framework that identifies factors affecting presidents’ ability to stay in their positions, especially when their longevity is desirable. The framework builds upon 26 years of previous work involving the leadership practices, characteristics, and longevity of education deans, academic deans, and Chief Academic Officers. Four major categorical factors, both internal and external to self, are described that contribute reciprocally to presidents’ ability to last on the job. These four factors—personal identity, professional identity, professional capacities, and professional environment—are connected with …

Presidents And Student Success: Repositioning To A Student-Centered Institution, Charles P. Ruch, Kenneth M. Coll, Cathleen B. Ruch

Journal of Research on the College President

Now reopened following the pandemic, each institution is in the process of assessing its impact and adjusting its institutional model to assure sustainability in the future. Returning totally to the ‘status quo ante’ is not a viable option as some repositioning is required. This study highlights three critical elements that inform this process from the perspective of the presidency. First, significant environmental trends and their impact are presented. Upon analysis, improved student success emerges as a critical driving force in repositioning. Second, an overview of successful institutional programs and initiatives that foster a student-centered institution are examined concluding with a …

Exploring Non-Traditional Presidents In Higher Education, Susan L. Gorman, David C. Hood, Tania C. Reis

Journal of Research on the College President

Higher educational institutions (HIEDs) are complex organizations at a pivotal moment in history (Bourgeois, 2016; Guskin & Marcy, 2002; McGee, 2015). This qualitative study sought to understand the leadership traits of nontraditional college presidents, particularly those with business management backgrounds, to determine whether HIEDs could benefit from hiring them to help face challenges today. Results of the study were based on data collected from eight current college presidents collected April–August 2022. Three major findings and several subthemes emerged. Two major findings were expected: college presidents with business management experience are business driven and turnaround driven. A third major finding was …

Leading For What, Leading For Who? An International Comparative Analysis Of University Presidents’ Leadership Amid Covid-19, Santiago Castiello-Gutiérrez, Jon Mcnaughtan, Sarah Maria Schiffecker, Hugo A. García

Journal of Research on the College President

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a unique shared challenge for all HEIs leaders around the world. Besides balancing institutional tasks and ensuring the health and safety of the campus community, university presidents were challenged with promoting equity and showing empathy in their leadership. Framed by Henry Mintzberg’s (1973) theory on managerial roles, this study uses in-depth interviews of 14 university presidents in eight countries, to understand how they enacted different roles in leading their institutions through a global crisis. Despite differences among presidential leadership styles in diverse contexts, findings from the study show that leadership roles shifted from securing their institution’s …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Servant-Leadership Characteristics Among Those Called To Serve And Protect, Louden S.B. Suggs

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine if servant-leader characteristics were common among recruits enrolled in basic law enforcement training programs in North Carolina Community Colleges and the relationship between recruit commitment to preserving public safety and public order and the call or natural feeling to serve others. This study explored whether law enforcement recruits inherently possessed servant-leader characteristics defined by Greenleaf and Spears (1998, 2002) and described in Matthew and Mark. One hundred eleven law enforcement recruits, both men and women, from various demographic backgrounds actively enrolled in 22 North Carolina Community College System’s Basic Law …

Differentiating Modernity (The System Of White Supremacy) And Generating Otherwise Worlds As Publicly Engaged Scholars: What’S Ontological Inquiry Got To Do With It?, Carolyne J. White, Arturo E. Osorio, Tim K. Eatman, Margaret J. Weiss

Turning Toward Being: The Journal of Ontological Inquiry in Education

Seeking an answer to Tina Turner’s refrain, “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” this article is a rebellious, messy, place-based and deeply collaborative conversation. We draw upon the legacy of theatre and social critique and adopt the literary present tense to evoke a brave intimate space for imagining possibilities beyond the academic conventions of the present epistemological order. We seek to illuminate how ontological inquiry may provoke powerful access to generating new worldmaking for climate justice, particularly when one is being a publicly engaged scholar. Why new worldmaking? Within this unprecedented time of racial reckoning, war, climate catastrophe and …

Teacher Retention: Retaining Teachers In High-Needs, Urban Secondary Schools In A Midwest State Post-Pandemic, Christopher K. Schmit, Erin Lehmann, David Swank, Sue Alborn-Yilek, Tasha Dannenbring

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Teacher retention has been a challenge for most schools for several years. High-needs schools have been known to have twice the trouble with teacher retention as schools not considered high-needs. The purpose of this study was to identify effective practices school principals can implement to retain teachers at high-needs, urban secondary schools. This quantitative study called on teachers from high-needs schools in Iowa to complete a survey identifying principal qualities related to retention, perceived reasons for teacher attrition, and reasons they continue to teach at their current school. Three hundred eighty-five teachers from five different Iowa school districts participated in …

Experiential Leadership Learning: Narratives Of A Multiple Case Study Of Mexican School Leaders Appointed To Indigenous Schools, Manuel Lopez-Delgado, Argelia Estrada-Loya

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Training and preparation of school leaders have an impact on the quality of leadership displayed in their readiness for the leadership practice. However, in Mexico the training and preparation processes for school leaders are unclear and lack uniformity. The way of access to headship has promoted that school leaders learn to lead in their role without previous preparation for the position. This paper presents the findings of a study conducted through narratives that analyzed the leadership learning processes of novice and experienced school leaders. The study identified important learning experiences as the receptive observation, malleable observation, practical experiences of leadership, …

Evaluating Principal Effectiveness: A Review Of The Literature, Jerry Burkett

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The evaluation of a campus principal can be a challenging process due largely to the complicated factors that exist to capture an accurate assessment of a principal’s leadership effectiveness. Generally, principal evaluations are conducted by district-level officials who often do not have the time or the resources to observe campus principals on a regular basis. Further, principal evaluation systems (PES) are designed to improve the practice of principals (Clifford & Ross, 2012; Davis, Kearney, Sanders, Thomas, & Leon, 2011; Fuller & Hollingworth, 2014a; Fuller et al., 2015), and there has historically been an acknowledgment that these evaluations do not always …

University Faculty Perceptions Of Professional Development: Impact And Effectiveness, Claudia Vela, Velma D. Menchaca, Hilda Silva

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of the effectiveness and impact of professional development programs and activities in the areas of teaching, research, and service. This qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in a four-year Hispanic-serving institution in South Texas. It focused on exploring tenured and tenure-track faculty perceptions and experiences of their participation in professional development to help them meet tenure and promotion expectations. Analysis of data showed that faculty had mixed feelings about the workshops and training sessions that were offered on campus. However, networking, collaboration, and access to resources and technology were practices that …