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DISSERTATION - A.Frank.pdf (963.8 KB)

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Inclusive Deliberation (ID): A Case Study Of How Teachers Experience The Decision-Making Process For Change Initiatives Within A School Committee

Frank, Adam Harrison
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5633-868X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1573900707645968

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, Educational Leadership.
Research reveals that there is often a major disconnect between leaders and workers in organizational settings, especially when it comes to decision-making. Consequently, organizational decisions are often misunderstood by the employees who must implement top-down directives, which can lead to growing distrust, frustration, and needless resistance toward change initiatives. This kind of disconnect, resulting confusion, and resistance is also found in schools between principals and teachers. Having worked as a teacher and then as an administrator in three separate school districts, I have become overwhelmed by the bureaucratic nature of school committees. In my experience, school committees tend to be exclusive, administrator-driven, and lack authentic, rich discussion. This study seeks to narrow the focus of research on school committees by exploring how teachers experience the decision-making process for change initiatives in a school committee setting when inclusive deliberation (ID) is used as a framework for school committee design. Also, the study explores the impact of school committee design and operation on teacher resistance and feelings of morale. The methodology of this study is a single instrument, action research case study, expressed in a narrative. The case exists at the high school where I work as an assistant principal. During the second semester of the 2018-2019 school year, a committee known as the Building Leadership Team (BLT) altered its design and operation, using the framework of inclusive deliberation (ID). Teachers’ experience with the BLT, along with other phenomena that took place during the case study with additional members of the staff, were collected as data. Data was collected through observational field notes, journaling of daily interactions, participant reflection prompts, staff surveys, a focus group reflection, and individual interviews. Inductive analysis was used to triangulate the data to understand the phenomena being researched. The study found that teachers valued their experience with inclusive deliberation (ID), feeling both included and satisfied with a framework (i.e., The Iceberg Approach) to help them deliberate major school issues/decisions. In addition, the research discovered that the design and operation of school committees, at least in this school, does not appear to have an impact on teacher resistance or feelings of morale. In fact, the findings suggest that most teachers do not want or have the time to participate in meetings on decision-making for school policy or school operations. However, it appears that teachers still want to feel involved, knowing that there are multiple avenues to express their participation if they feel the need to do so.
Thomas Poetter (Committee Chair)
Joel Malin (Committee Member)
Molly Moorhead (Committee Member)
Jim Shiveley (Committee Member)
93 p.
Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Inservice Training; Management; Operations Research; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Public Administration; School Administration; Secondary Education; Systems Design; Systems Science; Teaching
school committees; school; educational leadership; organizational leadership; Inclusive Deliberation; ID; The Iceberg Approach; TIA; decision-making; change; teachers; morale; resistance; inclusive; inclusivity; participation; deliberation; committee

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Frank, A. H. (2019). Inclusive Deliberation (ID): A Case Study Of How Teachers Experience The Decision-Making Process For Change Initiatives Within A School Committee [Doctoral dissertation, Miami University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1573900707645968

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Frank, Adam. Inclusive Deliberation (ID): A Case Study Of How Teachers Experience The Decision-Making Process For Change Initiatives Within A School Committee. 2019. Miami University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1573900707645968.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Frank, Adam. "Inclusive Deliberation (ID): A Case Study Of How Teachers Experience The Decision-Making Process For Change Initiatives Within A School Committee." Doctoral dissertation, Miami University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1573900707645968

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

miami1573900707645968
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© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Miami University and OhioLINK.