Elementary principals' facilitative leadership

Abstract

This study utilized a correlational research design to investigate the relationships between facilitative, transformational and transactional leadership behaviors in elementary school principals. Quantitative data was collected on elementary teachers' perceptions of their building principal's leadership behaviors and leadership outcomes using two reliable and valid survey instruments, The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 1995) and The Leadership Practices Inventory (Kouzes & Posner, 1995). One hundred forty-six elementary teachers completed the complete Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and a portion of The Leadership Practices Inventory that included only those questions that were designated by Kouzes and Posner (1995) to measure the construct enabling others to act. For the purposes of this research, facilitative leadership was operationally defined as enabling others to act, defined by Kouzes and Posner (1995) as fostering collaboration by promoting cooperative goals, strengthening others by giving power away, providing choice, developing competence, and offering visible support. Pearson's Product-Moment Coefficients were used to examine the relationships among principals' leadership outcomes and each of the three leadership constructs. Three multiple regression analyses were completed, one for each dependent variable of leadership outcomes, to determine which, if any, were significant predictors of a dependent variable. Facilitative leadership was the strongest predictor of each of the leadership outcomes of the principals' effectiveness (65% of the variance), the teachers' satisfaction with the principal (70% of the variance), and the teachers' willingness to put forth extra effort (63% of the variance).