Date Available

7-13-2022

Year of Publication

2020

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

College

Education

Department/School/Program

Education Sciences

First Advisor

Dr. Lars Bjork

Abstract

This study attempted to identify leadership styles of school leaders in international special and general education schools in the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, this study sought to explore the influence of various demographic factors on perceived leadership styles. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2004) was given to teachers across eight schools for the purpose of obtaining their perceived rating for leadership behaviors of school leaders at equivalent levels. Descriptive statistics were examined to identify prevalent leadership styles and trends in the demographics of survey respondents. Hierarchical linear models were conducted to determine the statistical significance of leadership style difference while controlling for teacher (respondent) variables. Results indicated a difference in perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership by school type based on teacher education level, as well as a difference in perceptions of passive-avoidant leadership by school type based on total years of experience with the school leader. Results also indicated a difference in perceptions of transformational and transactional leadership based on teacher nationality, total years of experience, and total years of experience in the current position. This study contributes to the knowledge base regarding the influence of teacher demographics on leadership perceptions while providing practical recommendations for school leaders and researchers.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.279

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