An Interpretative Qualitative Inquiry into Teachers’ Experiences of Organizational Factors and Campus Leadership Actions that Foster Teacher Leadership

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Educational Leadership

Date of Award

Spring 2025

Abstract

Teacher leaders are essential to the success of the educational organization and student achievement. While much of the existing literature on teacher leadership defines the roles and identifies key traits or inventories of teacher leaders, it often overlooks the influence of extrinsic motivators and the support provided by school leadership teams, and the relationship of teacher leadership with organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs). This study explores the interplay between organizational conditions, leadership actions and their impact on teacher leadership (TL). The purpose of this qualitative interpretative study was to explore how teachers perceive campus factors that contribute to their teacher leadership roles, the actions of campus leaders that influence their leadership, and how they learn about teacher leadership. Using interpretive qualitative methods, I sought to understand the meanings participants hold about campus leadership teams and organizational factors shaping their OCBs and teacher leadership behaviors. Data were gathered through virtual semi-structured interviews with 8 high school teachers from schools in South Texas. Analysis was conducted concurrently with data collection, using both inductive and deductive coding cycles to identify themes. These findings revealed organizational factors and campus leader actions that fostered teacher leadership. Eight themes emerged in response to the first research question regarding organizational factors, 12 themes for the second question on campus leader actions, and 5 themes describing how teachers learn about teacher leadership.

Advisor

Peter Williams

Subject Categories

Education

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