Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

1426

Date

2015

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Leadership and Policy Studies

Concentration

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair

Reginald Leon Green

Committee Member

Larry McNeal

Committee Member

Denise Winsor

Committee Member

Louis A Franceschini III

Abstract

In this study, quantitative methods were utilized to determine how the motivational orientation of teachers (need-types) and behaviors of school leaders (dispositions) positively or negatively influenced urbanmiddle school teachers' decisions to remain in or leave the teaching profession. The applied research design was employed to determine if any relationship existed between urban middle school teachers' motivational orientations, teachers' preferred leader dispositions,and teachers' future professional plans.This study found 6 key leadership dispositions from Green's (2010) work that influenced teachers' decisions to remain in or leave the teaching profession. The 6 leadership dispositions were character, communication, respect, vision, integrity, and consistency. Character was the most significant leader disposition preferred by urban middle school teachers, followed by communication, respect, vision, integrity, and consistency, respectively. If school leaders in urban middle schools plan to retain teachers, it is imperative that they understand which dispositions of school leaders positively impact the behavior of subordinates. Additionally, to influence urban middle school teachers to remain in the teaching profession, school leaders must become aware of effective intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors and embed them into the school climate. If this is not done,developing a professional learning community that enhances student achievement is likely to remain a challenging endeavor. Moreover, determining the specific needs of each individual teacher,will help school leaders identify the leader dispositions needed to influence them to remain in the teaching profession, reducing teacher attrition. McClelland (1998) asserted that a person's needs are influenced by their cultural background and lifeexperiences. This signifies to school leaders that the primary need-type of ateacher is not constant, but shifts over time.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Download

Share

COinS