Date of Degree
2024
Degree Name
Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)
Department
Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology, and Foundations (LEPF)
Director
Roberts, Patrick
Committee Members
Tonks, Stephen; Oest, Dan
Keywords
school board members, motivation, transformational leadership, school governance, school board, personal motivation, altruistic motivation, coalition, school politics
Abstract
Understanding the motivation behind school board members' governance is crucial for ensuring the effectiveness of public schools. This research aims to analyze the motivations of five newly elected board members and compare them with past research on governance and motivation. The leadership qualities of school superintendents also impact governance and can influence board members' motivations for running and serving their communities. Similarly, board members' motivations can affect how superintendents lead their districts and prioritize different topics. The research is divided into three papers. Paper 1 reviews existing literature and is organized into three distinct sections that explore school board governance, the board/superintendent relationship, and motivation for public service. Paper 2 presents the results of a qualitative study, analyzing and interpreting the responses of five newly elected school board members from different public school unit districts. Finally, Paper 3 synthesizes the information gathered from Papers 1 and 2 to develop a professional development tool for organizations, board presidents, presenters, and superintendents to use to better understand members' motivations.
Publisher
Northern Illinois University
Rights Statement
In Copyright
Rights Statement 2
NIU theses and dissertations are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors, unless otherwise indicated.
Recommended Citation
Lobdell, Andrew, "THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL: SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS’ MOTIVATION FOR SCHOOL GOVERNANCE" (2024). Dissertations of Practice. 23.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allgraduate-disspractice/23
Included in
Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons, Community College Education Administration Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, Educational Psychology Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Higher Education Administration Commons, Other Educational Administration and Supervision Commons, Special Education Administration Commons, Urban Education Commons
