Principal Leadership Styles, Faculty Morale, and Faculty Job Satisfaction at Selected Elementary Schools

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant relationship existed between principal leadership styles, faculty morale, and faculty job satisfaction at selected elementary schools.

METHODOLOGY
Eleven elementary schools in a school district located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast were selected to participate in this study during the Fall of 2013. A total of 623 surveys were distributed, with 139 returned (response rate = 22%). Participants in this study were teachers, teacher assistants, school counselors, school nurses, and librarians, and they completed the Leadership Practices Inventory-Observer (about their principal) and the Purdue Teacher Opinionnaire (Bentley & Rempel, 1972).

KEY FINDINGS
The most frequently reported leadership practices were Model and Inspire, followed by Enable, Challenge, and then Encourage. No statistically significant relationships between the perceived principal leadership practices, faculty morale, and faculty job satisfaction at the selected elementary schools were found.