The Relationship Between Secondary Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Empowerment and a Principal\u27s Leadership Style

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between teachers\u27 perceptions of empowerment and their impressions of their principal\u27s leadership style within Bolman and Deal\u27s four organizational frames, selected teacher demographics, and school size. The study used the survey method of data collection. Completed School Participant Empowerment Scales, Leadership Orientations Other Scales, and demographics forms were received from 315 (90%) of the teachers surveyed. The criterion variable, or dependent variable, was the teachers\u27 scores on the School Participant Empowerment Scale. Teachers\u27 scores on the Leadership Orientations Other Scale, teacher demographics (age, educational level, and teaching experience), and school size were the predictors, or independent variables. Pearson product-moment correlation, Spearman correlation, and multiple regression were used to identify potentially significant patterns or relationships between the variables. The level of significance was set at alpha = .05. A statistically significant relationship was found to exist between teachers\u27 perceptions of empowerment and teachers\u27 impressions of their principal\u27s leadership style within Bolman and Deal\u27s structural, human resource, political, and symbolic organizational frames. Additionally, a statistically significant relationship was found to exist between teachers\u27 perceptions of empowerment and teachers\u27 educational level and school size. No statistically significant relationship was found between teachers\u27 perceptions of their level of empowerment and teachers\u27 age and experience. Implications drawn from the major findings were presented along with recommendations for further research on teacher empowerment