Burns (1978) defined leadership “as leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivation – the wants and the needs, the aspirations and expectations – of both leaders and followers. And the genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations” (p. 19). A key component to effective leadership is knowing how to speak and not dictate to followers (Burns). Every school principal, in order to be successful, must utilize effective leadership in order to succeed. The purpose of this study is to examine teachers’ perceptions of effective leadership in middle school principals. Furthermore, this study will examine teachers’ perceptions of effective leadership in middle
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Rigsbee (2009) reported, “although great principals are instructional leaders who guide the staff in the best interest of student learning, they do not micro-manage their teachers” (p.1). Flexibility and respect are important to the morale and growth of faculty. Instructional leaders identify the needs of teachers and students. Teachers’ perceptions of school climate and student achievement have been shown to correlate at higher levels when teachers have positive outlooks on their workplace (Johnson and Stevens, 2006). “Schools operated by principals who were perceived by their teachers to be strong instructional leaders exhibited significantly greater gain scores in achievement in reading and mathematics than did schools operated by average and weak instructional leaders” (Andrews and Soder, 1987, p. 9). Horng, Klasik, and Loeb (2010) believe that “time spent on instructional program activities is positively associated with the staff’s perceptions of the school’s educational environment and teachers’ satisfaction with teaching in general” (p.
Rigsbee (2009) reported, “although great principals are instructional leaders who guide the staff in the best interest of student learning, they do not micro-manage their teachers” (p.1). Flexibility and respect are important to the morale and growth of faculty. Instructional leaders identify the needs of teachers and students. Teachers’ perceptions of school climate and student achievement have been shown to correlate at higher levels when teachers have positive outlooks on their workplace (Johnson and Stevens, 2006). “Schools operated by principals who were perceived by their teachers to be strong instructional leaders exhibited significantly greater gain scores in achievement in reading and mathematics than did schools operated by average and weak instructional leaders” (Andrews and Soder, 1987, p. 9). Horng, Klasik, and Loeb (2010) believe that “time spent on instructional program activities is positively associated with the staff’s perceptions of the school’s educational environment and teachers’ satisfaction with teaching in general” (p.