Date of Award
1-23-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Bronwyn MacFarlane
Committee Members
Alicia Shaw; Debra Smith
Abstract
Teacher Perceptions of the Motivational and Influential Strategies of Their Principals, and that Effect on Teacher Retention This study explored the connections between perceived principal motivational and influential leadership strategies and their impact on teacher retention. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 highly-qualified grades 9-12 teachers to gain insight through their perspectives of the experiences of principal leadership and how it influenced job satisfaction and teacher retention in culturally-diverse schools. Transformational Leadership Theory and Critical Race Theory were selected as the guiding framework for this study, which was best applied to comprehend the nature of the alignment between perceived principal leadership strategies and teacher retention. The study’s findings indicated that teachers’ perceptions of leadership were directly affected by their relationships with their principals. The themes from the research suggested that principals must establish relationships built on recognition and trust to positively affect teachers’ desires to stay at their culturally-diverse schools. Additional themes suggested that principal trust was perceived as the level of autonomy given to experienced and highly experienced teachers in the classroom, as well as the availability of leadership opportunities. The negative experiences with previous principals talked about inconsistent leadership and biased personal treatment, which resulted in either leaving their school or the profession. Positive experiences with principals included feeling valued, recognized , and trusted, resulting in high retention rates. Satisfaction was defined differently depending on years of experience. However, the level of principal leadership and the perception thereof was an essential element in achieving teacher retention in culturally-diverse schools. The experienced teachers in this study stated that a sense of job satisfaction came from the opportunity to explore leadership within their schools. The findings of this study aligned with the premise that perceived principal leadership strategies significantly influenced teachers’ decisions to stay or leave. Recognizing the lack of leadership opportunities within the current teaching profession, it was recommended that principals offer leadership opportunities for teachers. Furthermore, recognizing the role that principal leadership plays in the retention of highly-qualified teachers, a shift should be made in not only how principals were chosen, but how they were supported, trained, and evaluated. A larger quantitative survey of teachers throughout Texas was recommended for future research to further understand the perceptions of teachers toward their principals’ motivational and influential leadership practices. Keywords: retention, implied influence, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, transformational leadership, cultural stressor
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Semler, Carl Henry, "Teacher Perceptions of the Motivational and Influential Strategies of Their Principals, and that Effect on Teacher Retention" (2026). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1118.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1118
