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A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Education in Educational Administration, University of Regina. viii, 121 p. The purpose of this study was to collect, analyse, and represent teachers’ stories of experience regarding varied leadership approaches of in-school administrators. In this study, I focused on teachers' perceptions of the role of the in-school administrators as viewed through teachers' experiences of the leadership approaches of in-school administrators and the impact of these perceptions on the teachers’ professional practice. Data collection occurred in two stages: first, an anonymous online survey was completed by 63 participants; and second, one-on-one confidential interviews were conducted with seven participants. All research participants were practicing teachers from southern Saskatchewan schools, and all volunteered to participate. I explored participants’ stories of their experience with in-school administrators using a narrative inquiry methodology, which positioned me and my participants as peers and co-constructors of understanding. Guided by inquiry methodology, I viewed and analyzed the data (participants’ survey responses and personal interview narratives) through an adaptation of McCormack’s Lenses (Dibley, 2011; McCormack, 2004) specifically designed for this study; the three modified lenses focused on the understandings that participants and I co-constructed in the course of interviews (What We Construct), the language participants used to describe their perceptions of various approaches to in-school leadership (How They Describe), and the content of the personal narratives that participants shared as they described their experiences with, and perceptions of, in-school leadership approaches (What They Describe). In general, through the research, I found that teachers percieved the leadership approaches of in-school administrators as a powerful influence on the school climate and on their own professional practice, and that teachers have specific hopes an expectations for the role of in-school administrators. I conclude this research text by providing a number of recommendations for in-school administrators regarding their leadership approaches, based on participating teachers’ perceptions and experiences. Keywords: teachers; administrators; leadership; narrative inquiry Student yes |
