Leadership in New Hampshire independent schools: An examination of trust and openness to change.

摘要

The study of leadership is extensive in business and public education. Research on headmaster leadership in private schools is limited. This mixed methods study aimed to determine if exemplary private school headmaster leadership practices builds faculty trust creating an openness to change. The sample in the study consisted of five National Association of Independent (NAIS) schools in New Hampshire and the participants were the headmasters of these schools and a segment of their faculty/staff. The research questions that guided this study were: In what ways do private school leaders develop trust within the adult communities in their schools? In what ways is trust related to teachers' openness to change? To what extent do the five exemplary leadership practices correlate with faculty trust and openness to change in private schools? Kouzes and Posner (2012) identify five exemplary leadership practices as model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. Although these leadership practices were the basis of the leadership 360 measures used, several headmaster leadership themes were identified as a result of the study of these New Hampshire NAIS schools.;Headmaster leadership themes identified were: communication, fundraising, leading by example, presence/visibility, living the core values/mission, and authoritarian. A high level of trust was found in headmasters who were open, accessible, and visible/present. Trusted headmasters were found to be pressing for, assessing for, and funding change. A correlation between faculty trust in the headmaster and faculty openness to change was found to be statistically significant, but correlations between exemplary leadership practices and faculty trust in the headmaster and faculty openness to change were not significant.