Sustained school
improvement processes rely upon a school-wide climate of high expectations
for success (Lezotte & Snyder, 2011).
Curriculum for teacher preparation or
leadership programs should inspire exploration of leadership models influential
upon sustained school success. Models
may include servant leadership, transformational leadership, and distributed
leadership. Exploration of the
literature based on the variables and theoretical frameworks would find Winston
and Hartsfield (2004) attributed high levels of emotional
intelligence to leadership models.
Other research identified leaders’ demonstrated high emotional
intelligence promoted empowerment (Page & Wong, 2000; Patterson, 2003),
collaboration (Russell & Stone, 2002), and autonomy (Sendjaya & Sarros,
2002; Winston’s SL Model, 2003). The
relationship between emotional intelligence and leadership influence
(Charbonneau & Nicol, 2002; Dries & Pepermans, 2007) should be further examined
as it may positively relate school
climate created by a school leader to staff performance and student
achievement (Barnett & McCormick, 2004; Stipek, 2006).
Given the previously established positive link between
school climate and student
achievement, Johnson and Stevens (2006), suggested future studies test
school climate using “other mediating variables” (p. 119). Winston and Hartsfield (2004) identified correlations
between three of the four sub-skills of emotional intelligence (Mayer &
Salovey, 1997) and leadership behaviors that promote positive school
climate. Climate-building behaviors also
embrace teacher autonomy (Sendjaya & Sarros, 2002; Winston’s SL Model,
2003). Marzano and Waters (2009) also identified
the importance of “defined
autonomy” (p.8).
Leaders
promoting personally
and professionally inviting opportunities for development provide an
optimal model for success within today’s schools (Burns & Martin, 2010;
Purkey & Siegel, 2013). Identifying
the competencies that increase the conveyance and receipt of personal and
professional development opportunities could optimize school climate for all
stakeholders (Purkey & Novak, 2016).
Invitations for personal and professional development need to be explicitly
conveyed (Purkey & Novak, 2016) and recognized as an opportunity (Anderson,
2017).
Invitational
Education theory seeks to promote trust, collaboration, and purposeful
inclusion (Purkey & Novak, 2016; Purkey & Siegel, 2013). However, “People cannot accept invitations
they have never received” (Purkey & Novak, 1996, p.75). To be dependably inviting, effective leaders need
to check for receipt and seek acknowledgement of their invitations for personal
and professional development. What is
the influence of the teachers’ emotional intelligence upon the ability to
recognize the invitation as an opportunity?
Sadri (2012) noted Samad’s research found
dimensions of emotional intelligence explained 59% of the variance in effective leadership whereby the social
skills dimension emerged as the most influential. The awareness and management of emotions, as
well as perception of emotions by others, provide critical elements for success
as a leader (Cherniss, 2010). Within
this constantly and rapidly evolving society, Bumphus (2007) found that resilient
leaders possessing high levels of emotional intelligence become increasingly
important.
Therefore, to
be more reliably inviting, school leaders need to have the skills to
effectively convey and then check for receipt.
Only then does acceptance become a possibility. While Curry (2009) found uncertainty of the
influence of emotional intelligence upon school climate, Anderson (2019) found Emotional
Self-Control and Emotional Management of Others predicted a strong
relationship in the positive direction between four of the five Inviting School Survey-Revised (ISS-R)
domains of school climate.
While educational research exists on emotional intelligence,
school climate based on IE theory, and leadership influence upon school climate,
the field would benefit from further examination of the interconnectedness of
these variables. Further empirical research on the
relationship between a certified teacher’s rating of the leader’s demonstrated emotional
intelligence and the teacher’s perception of the school climate based on
structures aligned with Invitational Education theory s encouraged. Related empirical data would thereby inform
the curriculum of educator preparation programs and the professional development
of educational leaders.
Schools
must be places where leaders gain credibility through self-regulated behaviors. Invitational
Education theory contributes to school effectiveness by the way that its
leaders demonstrate care for, and support of, the efforts of others (Halpin,
2003; Purkey & Siegel, 2013). These
behaviors include the ability to empathize, build trust, challenge and support
others, serve as a visionary, promote teamwork, and share leadership (Kouzes
& Posner, 2000). This allows school
climate to improve based on “relationships that flourish” (Weymes, 2003).
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