Accountability practices increase teacher stress, restrict classroom autonomy, and force many teachers out of the field of education at alarming rates. Does a relationship exist between leaders who demonstrate perceived servant leadership characteristics and teachers’ stress levels when faced with change and increased accountability? For this study, servant leadership was defined using the seven key dimensions of servant leadership identified by Ehrhart (2004) and Liden, Wayne, Zhao, and Henderson (2008). Teacher stress was defined “as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions resulting from aspects of their work as a teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016, as cited in Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012; Kyriacou, 1987, 2001; Liu & Onwuegbuzie, 2012). Findings of this study suggest that Servant Leadership provides a buffer for the stressors teachers face, but it does not make their occupational stressors nonexistent. When an administrator is a servant leader, they are aware of the pulse of the building, and they have foresight to develop systems that will reduce teacher stress.
","abstract_html":"<p>Accountability practices increase teacher stress, restrict classroom autonomy, and force many teachers out of the field of education at alarming rates. Does a relationship exist between leaders who demonstrate perceived servant leadership characteristics and teachers’ stress levels when faced with change and increased accountability? For this study, servant leadership was defined using the seven key dimensions of servant leadership identified by Ehrhart (2004) and Liden, Wayne, Zhao, and Henderson (2008). Teacher stress was defined “as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions resulting from aspects of their work as a teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016, as cited in Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012; Kyriacou, 1987, 2001; Liu & Onwuegbuzie, 2012). Findings of this study suggest that Servant Leadership provides a buffer for the stressors teachers face, but it does not make their occupational stressors nonexistent. When an administrator is a servant leader, they are aware of the pulse of the building, and they have foresight to develop systems that will reduce teacher stress. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Summerford, Stephanie Lynn"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Lasater, Kara A.","Smith, Christy L."],"advisors":["Pijanowski, John C."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:26Z","subjects":["Servant Leadership","Teacher Attrition","Teacher Stress","Teacher Stressors","Teacher Turnover","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4499","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Lasater, Kara A.","Smith, Christy L."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Pijanowski, John C."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Summerford, Stephanie Lynn"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Servant Leadership","Teacher Attrition","Teacher Stress","Teacher Stressors","Teacher Turnover","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4499"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Accountability practices increase teacher stress, restrict classroom autonomy, and force many teachers out of the field of education at alarming rates. Does a relationship exist between leaders who demonstrate perceived servant leadership characteristics and teachers’ stress levels when faced with change and increased accountability? For this study, servant leadership was defined using the seven key dimensions of servant leadership identified by Ehrhart (2004) and Liden, Wayne, Zhao, and Henderson (2008). Teacher stress was defined “as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions resulting from aspects of their work as a teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016, as cited in Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012; Kyriacou, 1987, 2001; Liu & Onwuegbuzie, 2012). Findings of this study suggest that Servant Leadership provides a buffer for the stressors teachers face, but it does not make their occupational stressors nonexistent. When an administrator is a servant leader, they are aware of the pulse of the building, and they have foresight to develop systems that will reduce teacher stress.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Servant Leadership and Teacher Stressors: A Qualitative Study"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Lasater, Kara A.","Smith, Christy L."],"dc:contributor.advisor":["Pijanowski, John C."],"dc:creator":["Summerford, Stephanie Lynn"],"dc:date":["2022"],"dc:date.available":["2024-02-06T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Accountability practices increase teacher stress, restrict classroom autonomy, and force many teachers out of the field of education at alarming rates. Does a relationship exist between leaders who demonstrate perceived servant leadership characteristics and teachers’ stress levels when faced with change and increased accountability? For this study, servant leadership was defined using the seven key dimensions of servant leadership identified by Ehrhart (2004) and Liden, Wayne, Zhao, and Henderson (2008). Teacher stress was defined “as the experience by a teacher of unpleasant emotions resulting from aspects of their work as a teacher (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016, as cited in Collie, Shapka, & Perry, 2012; Kyriacou, 1987, 2001; Liu & Onwuegbuzie, 2012). Findings of this study suggest that Servant Leadership provides a buffer for the stressors teachers face, but it does not make their occupational stressors nonexistent. When an administrator is a servant leader, they are aware of the pulse of the building, and they have foresight to develop systems that will reduce teacher stress.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/4499"],"dc:subject":["Servant Leadership","Teacher Attrition","Teacher Stress","Teacher Stressors","Teacher Turnover","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration"],"dc:title":["Servant Leadership and Teacher Stressors: A Qualitative Study"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (EdD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:58:26Z"}