Through the Eyes of Teachers: Relationships Between Principal Communication Style and School Climate
Program
Education Doctorate
Year Approved
2017
First Advisor
Reimer, Tracy
Abstract
The purpose of this quantitative study was to see if a statistically significant relationship existed between principal communication style and school climate as perceived by elementary teachers in high achieving Title 1 elementary schools in a Midwest state. Teacher perceptions of principal communication style were assessed using the Communication Style Inventory (CSI). The six communication styles assessed were Expressiveness, Preciseness, Verbal Aggressiveness, Questioningness, Emotionality, and Impression Manipulativeness. Teacher perceptions of school climate were assessed using the Organization Climate Description Questionnaire – Revised Elementary (OCDQ-RE). School climate scores were calculated regarding a degree of principal openness and a degree of teacher openness perceived by the teacher. Statistically significant negative relationships were found between Verbal Aggressiveness and principal openness, Verbal Aggressiveness and teacher openness, and between Emotionality and teacher openness. Although difficult to generalize due to a small sample size, the findings are worthwhile to consider for practicing and aspiring principals as well as principal preparation programs.
Degree Name
Education Doctorate
Document Type
Doctoral dissertation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Lang, R. L. (2017). Through the Eyes of Teachers: Relationships Between Principal Communication Style and School Climate [Doctoral dissertation, Bethel University]. Spark Repository. https://spark.bethel.edu/etd/382