The relationship between the perception of distributed leadership and the degree of participation in Ministry decisions on teachers' organizational commitment in the State of Kuwait.

Open Access
- Author:
- Alsaleh, Amal
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Leadership
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- January 28, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Roger C Shouse, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Nona Ann Prestine, Committee Member
Edward J Fuller, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Distributed Leadership
Organizational commitment
Kuwait Education - Abstract:
- This study investigated Kuwait secondary school teachers’ perspectives toward five leadership distribution dimensions: cooperation within the leadership team, participative decision making in school, teachers’ cooperation within departments, maximum leadership support, and leadership distribution. It investigated teachers’ perceptions toward their actual and desired level of participation in Ministry of Education (MoE) decisions as well as their organizational commitment to both schools and the MoE as a central organization. This study further explored how perspectives toward each of the five dimensions of distributed leadership and level of participation in MoE decisions influence teachers’ organizational commitment. This study utilized a quantitative methodological approach. Data were collected using a survey comprising items from the Distributed Leadership Inventory (DLI) (Hulpia, 2009), Ferrara’s (1994) Shared Education Decision Survey, and Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (Mowday, Steers, and Porter, 1979). The researcher selected items suitable for Kuwait’s cultural setting. A total of 777 teachers from 24 secondary schools in Kuwait participated in this study. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including means, standard deviations, and percentages, to analyze teachers’ responses. Regression and structural linear modeling were used to determine the influence of distributed leadership in school and the level of participation in MoE decisions on teachers’ organizational commitment. The findings showed that teachers believe that leadership is formally distributed in Kuwait’s secondary school through cooperation within the leadership team, maximum leadership support, and leadership distribution among leaders. Leadership is also distributed informally through teachers’ cooperation. Teachers’ participation in school decisions was a less significant dimension, and teachers indicated that their actual participation in MoE decisions was low—lower than they desired. In terms of organizational commitment, teachers expressed high commitment to their school and medium to low commitment to the MoE. The data indicated that the distributed leadership dimension and participation in MoE decisions statistically expressed 44% of teachers’ commitment. Specifically, cooperation with formal leadership, teachers’ cooperation, and desired and actual level of participation in MoE decisions were predictors for teachers’ commitment.