Date of Award
6-19-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Educational Leadership, Ed.D.
First Advisor
Ibrahim Duyar
Second Advisor
Richard Casey
Committee Members
Amany Saleh; Ibrahim Duyar; Richard Casey
Abstract
Secondary ESL teachers face diverse classrooms and complex instructional demands. As the number of multilingual learners continues to increase in secondary schools, ESL teachers must support students’ language development while also helping them access rigorous academic content across subject areas. This phenomenological study explored how principals’ transformational leadership and school culture influence secondary ESL teachers’ self-efficacy. Drawing on Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory (1997) and Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory (1985), the study examined how leadership behaviors and school environments shape teachers’ confidence and motivation. Semi-structured interviews with 10 ESL teachers in a southeastern metropolitan district elicited focused accounts of how specific leadership practices and school culture informed their efficacy. Findings revealed that principals’ leadership behaviors significantly influenced teachers’ sense of efficacy. The study highlights how principals’ intentional use of transformational leadership practices fosters supportive environments that affirm ESL educators’ work, strengthen teacher efficacy, support retention, and promote more equitable outcomes for multilingual students. Keywords: transformational leadership, school culture, teacher self-efficacy, secondary ESL teacher
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Williams, Chanda Yvonne, "Examining The Influence of Principals’ Transformational Leadership in Promoting Conducive School Culture and Secondary ESL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs" (2026). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1177.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1177
