The Moderating Effect of Prior Principal Athletic Coaching Experience on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Teacher Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Secondary Schools in Mi

Secondary Education    Principals/Superintendents

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TITLE The Moderating Effect of Prior Principal Athletic Coaching Experience on the Relationship between Transformational Leadership and Teacher Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Secondary Schools in Mississippi
 
RESEARCHER Jeffrey A. White
College of Education and Psychology
The University of Southern Mississippi
Unpublished doctoral dissertation: May 2018

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between principal transformational leadership and teacher organizational citizenship behavior and to determine if principals with prior athletic coaching experience have any such influence upon this process.

METHODOLOGY
Subjects selected for the study included secondary teachers and lead principals of nine secondary schools in the state of Mississippi during the 2017-2018 academic school year. The selected participants were teachers and principals of the Rankin County, Madison County, Clinton, Laurel, Jackson Public Schools, Pearl, Pascagoula-Gautier, Ocean Springs, and Jackson County school districts. These school districts were chosen in order for the sample to closely resemble the socio-economic and geographical diversity of the state of Mississippi. Participants completed the Leadership Practices Inventory, Organizational Citizen Behavior scale (DiPaola, et al., 2005), and the author’s three-item Athletic Coaching Experience questionnaire. A total of 908 teachers participated, along with 27 principals (of whom 18 had previous athletic coaching experiences).

KEY FINDINGS
Hierarchical linear modeling revealed a significant relationship between the Leadership Practices Inventory and teacher organizational citizen behavior as a whole; although only Challenge was found to be a significant predictor of teach OCB. No significant relationship was found between prior athletic coaching experience and leadership practices on teacher OCB; however, 15 felt that their past coaching experience had a maximum influence on their leadership practices, and three felt coaching experience had moderate influence.

The author concludes:

Transformational leadership practices could influence the secondary school teacher to commit to tasks associated with the educational environment outside the scope of required contractual employee responsibilities. This research suggests that a school leader who implements transformational leadership practices can positively influence the educational environment… Principals who wish to have an influence on school outcomes should consider implementing goals displaying transformational leadership practices (p. 61-62).