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This qualitative case study explored how principal leadership influenced teacher motivation to seek out professional development opportunities on new technology. Two groups of participants included: 36 middle school teachers, and three principals in an urban area in Arizona. Information was collected for this study in two ways, teacher focus groups and principal interviews. Four research questions were developed: 1) What principal leadership factors motivated teachers to seek out professional development opportunities on the use of new technologies, 2) How did principal leadership influence collaboration among teachers resulting in a "learning" culture to share professional development "best" practices, 3) How did proactive teacher use of new technology result in these teachers modifying their instructional approaches in the classroom, and 4) How did principal leadership style determine what the nature of the process is that will be followed to determine how teacher requirements for professional development on new technology are fully met? This qualitative approach was derived from the theoretical foundation based on the work of Guskey, with more emphasis on principals and their ability to influence and motivate their teachers. The results and implications of this study supported (a) principals as the instructional leaders of their schools, (b) a need for better quality professional development workshops, and (c) motivation of teachers to seek out and share the content of professional development workshops with other teachers However, these results are not generalizable due to the sample size and use of only one school district in urban Arizona. Keywords: Principal leadership, professional development, collaboration, technology, and teacher motivation. |
