Date Approved
2024
Degree Type
Open Access Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department or School
Leadership and Counseling
Committee Member
David Anderson, PhD
Committee Member
Wendy Burke, PhD
Committee Member
Gary Marx, PhD
Committee Member
Ron Flowers, PhD
Abstract
Being and becoming an educational leader is a process that engages multiple levels of challenge, training, processing, and understanding. The many demands placed on school administrators create many challenges and put a great deal of adversity in the pathway of administrators. The training process involving graduate degrees in educational leadership attempts to support aspiring principals and district leaders by applying technical skills and practices. However, the challenges and adversity that arise in education consistently cause other factors, of which administrators may have some awareness but need more official training and teaching on navigating. Thus, topics frequently discussed, such as emotional intelligence, vulnerability, and shame, coupled with the increasing awareness of the social-emotional needs of students, call on the administrator’s awareness and engagement with such factors. Research around leadership theories such as servant leadership, reflexive leadership, and authentic leadership call on people to apply their self-awareness and skills in their practice. The benefits of such leadership offer hope for making substantive changes and development in how schools are structured and function. In the current state, administrators all adapt to their schools and organizations to assimilate practice with the setting. The status quo persists until adversarial situations arise, creating challenges for individuals and their values and perceptions. Crucible moments, then, offer to break open how one leads, exposing all of the assumed and unexamined aspects in play if reflection on what occurred is engaged. The findings from the research show how schools and leadership are constructed and how leaders learn through imitation, emulation, and application of what they feel they are adept at doing. Moreover, the overall presumption of understanding regarding what a leader does and how one functions leads to a relatively ambiguous definition of an educational leader.
Recommended Citation
Authier, Timothy M., "Trigger events and leadership: Crucible moments in leadership" (2024). Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. 1284.
https://commons.emich.edu/theses/1284
