An examination of the meanings assigned to principal-teacher interactions and the relationship to school climate

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the relationship between the meanings teachers assign to principal-teacher interactions and school climate. Snowball sampling was used to identify 15 teachers and 5 principals from five elementary schools in a Southern state. The interview questions were developed from the Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire for Elementary (OCDQ-RE) (Hoy et al., 1991) and the Organizational Climate Index (OCI) (Hoy et al., 2002). Analysis of the data revealed that the types of interactions that took place between teachers and principals largely accounted for school climate. (Published By University of Alabama Libraries