The Magic Pill: A Qualitative Study of Relational Leadership, Leader Feedback, and Teacher Attrition in Georgia
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Authors
Burt, Nila
Issue Date
2022-08
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Dissertations, Academic--United States , Education , Educational evaluation , Educational philosophy
Alternative Title
Abstract
New teachers are leaving the profession at steadily increasing rates at a substantial cost to Georgia taxpayers who support local school districts and the state department of education (Pelfrey, 2020). Recruitment, training, and hiring efforts are examples of these cost burdens. Teacher turnover causes educational losses for students and financial strains for communities (Owens, 2015; Tran & Smith, 2020). Forty-four percent of teachers leave the field within their first five years, and two-thirds of current teachers do not recommend the profession to others (Georgia Department of Education, 2015). This study examined new teachers’ perceptions of the influence of leadership style on school climate and new teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession through school administrators’ use of leader feedback. An interpretive qualitative research approach was applied to examine five new teacher participants’ lived experiences through narrative inquiry under the lens of the Relational Leadership Theory. Data were analyzed and triangulated through semi-structured interviews, data from the Georgia Department of Education’s tool for teacher performance feedback, and observations of teachers and the school’s social media. The findings revealed how relational leadership supported new teachers but did not reveal that the application of leader feedback influenced decisions for attrition. They also indicated that teachers entering the profession during the Covid-19 pandemic needed additional leader feedback on professional growth, classroom management strategies, and instructional practices. Additionally, this study shows the need for school leaders to be mindful of timely, personalized, frequent feedback and emotional support for Millennial and Generation Z teachers.
Keywords: Relational Leadership, Generation Z, Teacher Attrition, Relational Leadership Theory, TKES, Culture and Climate
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.