Leadership and school climate: A mixed-methods study of United States-accredited Colombian schools.

摘要

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the leadership of United States-accredited (U.S.-accredited) Colombian schools and school climate. A secondary purpose of this study is to inform educators and administrators within these school communities about the links and relationships between leadership and school climate.;A sequential explanatory, mixed methods research methodology is used in this dissertation. The design includes the sending of an electronic survey to staff members of seven U.S.-accredited Colombian schools (N=387), followed by a single, qualitative case study of Colegio Bolivar in Cali, Colombia.;The overall results of the electronic survey show a general satisfaction with work relations, leadership, and school climate. Leadership support of shared decision making, distributive leadership, and autonomous behavior is reported as having a positive influence on school climate. Situational leadership, instructional leadership, transformational leadership, and distributive leadership are the preferred styles of leadership in these Colombian settings.;The results show that the Colombian hired staff is significantly more positive and accepting of leadership and school climate than the internationally hired staff. The Colombian hired staff shows a preference for leadership that facilitates commitment and dedication, professional development opportunities, respect and support, and timely recognition of the work people do. The internationally hired staff shows a leadership preference characterized by the promotion of teacher autonomy, the use of teamwork, the promotion of professional development, respect, and support.;The optimistic results of the case study show an overall recognition of the following leadership practices: leaders promote and facilitate autonomy and autonomous behavior; leaders facilitate a sense of belonging; leaders promote and recognize commitment and dedication from their staff; and leaders are, above all else, respectful of the diverse needs of their staff members.;Future related research might consider variables such as salary differentials, cultural and language differences, tenure, and gender as those that might have an impact on the relationship of leadership and school climate. It is hoped that this dissertation might inform thinking about leadership and school climate in U.S.-accredited Colombian schools as well as other schools in diverse settings globally.