Date of Award
3-1984
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Department
Educational Administration and Higher Education
College
School of Education
First Advisor
George Farrah
Third Advisor
William Stimeling
Keywords and Subject Headings
Teacher, Morale, Decision, Relationship, Education
Abstract
THE PROBLEM:
Participative decision-making and morale have been proposed as variables that may significantly affect- the ability of an organization to achieve its end, the educational achievement of its students. One's decisional condition can vary, however: he/she could participate in decisions less than, as much as, or more than he/she preferred. These conditions are labelled decisional deprivation, decisional equilibrium, and decisional saturation. This study tested for significant differences in levels of morale among those three groups. A lesser consideration was the correlation of two continua of decisional condition with morale, ranging from: (1) deprivation through equilibrium to saturation, and (2) deprivation through saturation to equilibrium.
RESEARCH PROCEDURES:
Data were collected from a population of 182 teachers in a public school district in West Central Minnesota. The Alutto-Belasco Decisional Participation Scale established teachers' decisional condition. The Purdue Teacher Opinionaire measured the dimensions of morale. The .05 level of significance served as a general guide for the relevance of findings to school districts similar in setting.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
Significant differences were found among the decisional conditions in overall morale and the single dimension of rapport with the principal. Those at deprivation ranked lowest, those at saturation were high, Some evidence also suggested that not by chance did those at equilibrium have the most positive attitudes toward their teaching load and the adequacy of the school's facilities and services to fulfill their roles.
The original decisional condition continuum (deprivation through equilibrium to saturation) had a significant positive association only with overall morale (the sum of the dimensions). The second continuum of decisional deviation (deprivation through saturation to equilibrium), emphasizing one's capability to participate to the degree that he preferred, established significant direct correlations with five of the six dimensions of morale. It was also concluded that:
1. The index of teachers! perceptions of their level of involvement, i.e., their decisional condition, in decision-making offers some indication of their position in organizational outcomes;
2. Decisional deviation, both positive and negative, is a strong associate of organizational outcomes;
3. The decisional indicators of participation in decisional situations as deprived, saturated, and at active or passive equilibrium provide a profile of staff involvement in organizational activity.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Certain implications, in terms of morale and decision-making, result from this study:
1. That the Decisional Participation Scale provides a realistic basis for improved administrative and staff assessment of their involvement in decision-making;
2. That the profile of staff participation can provide valuable input when establishing the priority of situations -for which staff involvement is desired; and
3. That educational administrators should continue to offer opportunities for participation to teachers no matter their previous dispositions toward involvement in decision-making.
Recommended Citation
Esterbrooks, Roger M., "The Relationship Between Decision and Teacher Morale" (1984). Culminating Projects in Education Administration and Leadership. 100.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/edad_etds/100
Comments/Acknowledgements
Innumerable friends offered invaluable moral and clerical support to this study. To them all, I am most grateful for their encouragement and assistance.
It was both a privilege and a pleasure to conduct this research under the professional guidance of my committee. They always provided positive direction to my efforts.
A special note of appreciation is due my friend, Dr. George Farrah. He forced me to uncover and display my strengths. But most of all, l thank my wife, Constance, for the aid and understanding that enabled me to see this project to, its completion.