ACTION THEORY CONGRUENCE AND THE EXERCISE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to: examine principals' and teachers' perceptions of ideal leadership; determine whether congruence existed between principals' and teachers' perceptions of principals' actual leadership; determine whether significant differences existed between principals' and teachers' perceptions of ideal leadership postures, principals' actual leadership behavior and the organizational characteristics of the school. It also investigated the relationship between: principals' principals' perceptions of their leadership and the organizational characteristics of the school as perceived by teachers; teachers' perceptions of the organizational characteristics of the school and principals' leadership behavior. Hypotheses were tested to determine whether: action theory congruence was associated with any of the leadership postures or organizational characteristics; age, experience, or education influenced respondents' perceptions of ideal leadership postures, principals' actual leadership behavior, or the organizational characteristics of the school. Of the 930 questionnaires distributed to principals who were religious women and teachers in 70 Catholic elementary schools, 61 (81%) of the principals, and 656 (76%) of the teachers responded, a total of 717 (76%) of the sample. The instrument developed for this study was the Leadership Posture Questionnaire. Instrument subscales yielded reliability coefficients in the .88 to .92 range. The study found that principals and teachers considered: the Transformer posture most ideal and the Abdicator posture least ideal; principals' actual leadership behavior to be most characterized by the Servant posture and least characterized by the Abdicator posture; the organizational characteristics of their schools most strongly associated with the Transformer posture and least associated with the Abdicator posture. Significant differences in the means of posture scores were not attributable to age, experience, or education. It was concluded that the differences were attributable to internal characteristics defined as leadership postures. Significant relationships indicated that teachers' perceptions of principals' leadership influenced perceptions of themselves as a staff. Further study is recommended to determine whether: variables other than age, education, and experience contribute to leadership postures; a priori selection of individuals possessing the characteristics of leadership postures are related to specific organizational characteristics. Similar studies are recommended extending the study to male and female, religious and lay principals in public and secondary schools.
Subject Area
School administration
Recommended Citation
KUSHNER, REMIGIA, "ACTION THEORY CONGRUENCE AND THE EXERCISE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN CATHOLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS" (1982). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI8223606.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI8223606
