Leadership and Teacher Engagement: A Case Study
Teacher disengagement negatively impacts student learning and student outcomes. Highly engaged teachers, however, were found at Cristo Rey high schools that serve inner-city, under-resourced students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to achieve an in-depth understanding of the relationship between school leaders and teacher engagement at a high-performing Cristo Rey high school in the Midwestern U.S. Fifteen participants shared their ideas, experiences, and dreams during semi-structured interviews. Additional sources of data—observations, documents, and photographs—provided thick description. The data was coded and analyzed with the help of a qualitative data analysis program. Five major themes emerged from the data: (a) Mission-Driven; (b) Jesuit Identity, Values, and Spirituality; (c) A Culture of Professionalism; (d) Collaborative Relationships, Trust, and Communication; and (e) Shared Leadership. These themes led to the formation of the Five-Factor Teacher Engagement Model, a framework that can be adapted by Cristo Rey school leaders (or leaders of other faith-based schools) to develop professional training programs and to sustain high engagement levels in their teachers.|Keywords: Teacher engagement, Cristo Rey schools, mission-driven, Jesuit spirituality, school environment, collaborative relationships, shared leadership, leadership behavior
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