Congratulations to Joanne Galenski-Girardin, who on Wednesday, August 26, 2006 successfully defended her dissertation.
The title of Joanne's Dissertation is, "THE HEART OF THE BUILDING: EXPLORING HOW URBAN HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPALS' PERCEIVED LEADERSHIP STYLES CAN AFFECT SCHOOL CLIMATE AND TEACHER MORALE."
The abstract of this study follows:
Overview of Problem: Research links principal leadership with school climate and teacher morale; however, less is known about the strategies urban high school principals use to address these concerns amid accountability demands, staff needs, student concerns, conflict, and competing stakeholder expectations. Effective leadership extends beyond management to include improving instruction and creating conditions in which teachers feel supported, respected, and able to meet student needs.
Research Purpose: Guided by Bolman and Deal’s four-frame leadership model, this interpretive qualitative study explored how urban high school principals’ perceived leadership practices would contribute to school climate and teacher morale.
Research Design: An interpretive qualitative design examined high school principals’ perceptions, anticipated decision-making processes, and meaning-making in response to 10 researcher-developed, school-based leadership vignettes.
Sample: The sample consisted of 10 urban public high school principals from one northeastern U.S. school district. Participants were recruited through a district, IRB-approved process.
Data Collection and Analysis: Each principal responded to the vignettes during a two-hour Zoom interview. Demographic information provided context for participants’ professional experiences. Bolman and Deal’s structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frames guided analysis of the leadership approaches participants described. Cross-participant analysis identified patterns in how principals described leadership, school climate, teacher morale, and their responses to challenging situations.
Findings/Results: Four themes emerged: support before teacher accountability; morale as a consequence of climate and leadership; conflict, change, and politics as inevitable conditions of urban school leadership; and physical and emotional safety as foundational to school climate. Participants described support as coaching, feedback, mentoring, and access to resources before formal accountability measures. They connected morale with trust, visibility, communication, fairness, consistency, and responsiveness. Participants described effective leadership as a flexible combination of relational support, clear systems, fair communication, conflict navigation, and responsive decision-making.
Conclusions/Implications: Participants viewed school climate and teacher morale as shaped through daily leadership practices rather than a single leadership style or isolated initiative. The findings suggest that districts and preparation programs should emphasize relationship-building, instructional support, equitable accountability, conflict navigation, and multi-frame decision-making.
Dissertation Committee Chair:
Dr. Shelley B. Wepner
Dissertation Committee Members:
Dr. Martin Fitzgerald
Dr. Lynn Allen
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