Date of Award
9-22-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Bronwyn MacFarlane
Committee Members
Alicia Shaw; Lori Lori Sanchez
Abstract
The role of rural superintendents is multifaceted, often requiring a balance of strategic leadership, operational management, and community involvement within school systems that face resource limitations and geographic challenges. However, existing job descriptions for rural superintendents frequently do not reflect the realities of their daily tasks, resulting in misunderstandings and misalignments between governing bodies and the superintendents. This study aims to enhance the understanding of rural superintendents' roles by examining the experiences of four superintendents from southeastern Oklahoma. Drawing on Mintzberg's managerial role framework and an interpretive phenomenological approach, this research highlights the importance of the researcher's self-reflection and the contextual nature of leadership in rural education. The study employed a qualitative, phenomenological research design, using observations, semi-structured interviews, artifact collection, and document analysis to capture rural superintendents' observed and self-reported roles. The purposeful sample included four superintendents with at least five years of experience in their current districts. Observational results showed that superintendents predominantly engaged in Mintzberg's decisional roles, especially in resource management and dealing with issues, while they placed less emphasis on interpersonal and informational roles. In contrast, interviews revealed that superintendents viewed themselves as leaders, visionaries, and representatives of their communities. Key themes, such as the distinction between managing and leading, the impact of after-hours work, and the significance of experience, further highlighted the unique challenges faced by rural superintendents. The findings indicated a notable gap between how superintendents perceive themselves as leaders and how they are observed in practice, focusing more on management and reactive problem-solving. These findings suggest a need for updated job descriptions that accurately represent the complex nature of the rural superintendent role, balancing leadership and management within the specific context of rural districts. The study concludes with recommendations for more precise definitions of roles in job descriptions, developing leadership training programs that address rural-specific challenges, and further investigating how factors like district size, community expectations, and resource constraints influence educational leadership in rural areas. Keywords: rural superintendents, leadership, management, phenomenology, Mintzberg's managerial roles, role expectations
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Gillham, Bruce Allen, "Identification Of Leadership and Managerial Roles Used by School Superintendents to Manage Rural School Districts" (2025). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1095.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1095
