The Roles of Principal-Teacher Relationships in School Community, Teacher & Student Engagement

• In Event: 405 - Section on Sociology of Education Paper Session. Schools as Organizations

Abstract

Positive school communities are shown to increase engagement. In the education literature, principals are found to be key factors in generating school community. It is proposed that one of the main ways in which principals facilitate this positive school community is through their interactions and relationships with their teachers. No studies to date use relationship data to test this premise. This study uses network data collected in 15 Indianapolis charter schools to test whether this relationship mechanism associates with positive school community and whether that translates into higher levels of teacher and student engagement. Indeed, the findings presented here do support these premises. Principals with principal styles which are more internally focused, such as “teachers’ principals” and “students’ principals,” are positively associated with higher perceptions of relational trust, shared values and norms, teacher satisfaction, teacher commitment, and student pro-academic attitudes and behaviors. The reachability of the principal to the teacher is important in describing this variation. Moreover, the teachers’ position interacts with the density of the school network to explain differences in teacher perceptions of school community, teacher engagement, and student engagement. Lastly, the policy context related to the school calendar, especially related to state testing demands, colors the perceptions of school community, teacher commitment, and student engagement.

Author

• Heather E. Price, University of Notre Dame