Caring School Leadership and Enabling School Structure
A Predictive Study on the Psychological Capital of Online Educators
Keywords:
psychological capital, caring school leadership, enabling school structure, Online School, virtual school, cyber schoolAbstract
Teacher attrition continues to be a concern in the American school system. There are several reasons for teacher turnover, such as teachers perceived lack of administrative support and control over their work. Research has found several leadership styles to have a positive correlation to psychological capital, also known as PsyCap. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which caring school leadership and enabling school structure may predict online teachers’ psychological capital. The study asked state-certified teachers in an online charter school in the northeastern United States to complete a self-report survey using the instruments of the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ-12), Caring School Leadership Questionnaire (CSLQ), and Enabling School Structure (ESS) survey. There were 152 participants who completed the survey. A multiple linear regression was conducted, and the results found a statistical significance in the extent caring school leadership and enabling school structure may explain the psychological capital of online teachers, demonstrating a large effect size. Even though virtual schools are a different type of school context, this study supports previous research on how positive leadership models and styles are antecedents to psychological capital. Since caring school leadership is a relatively newer construct, this study also adds to the literature by demonstrating it has a positive predictive correlation to online teachers’ psychological capital.
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