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Principals' Self-Efficacy as Instructional Leaders of Literacy

  • Author / Creator
    Durance, Kathleen Rachel
  • This qualitative study was designed to address gaps in understandings of how school principals experience self-efficacy as instructional leaders of literacy in a context of standardized performance expectations. Anchored in Bandura’s (1977; 1997; 2012) social cognitive theory of human agency, it explored principals’ experiences with self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and proxy efficacy through semi-structured interviews with eight participants. Utilizing principles of qualitative research (Cresswell, 2015) and constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014), analysis of findings suggested school principals with varied backgrounds experience accountability pressure for the literacy performance of their students as they grapple for credibility, negotiate locus of control through instructional actions, and develop their sense of self-efficacy through successful creation of instructional climates to promote students’ measurable literacy growth. Conclusions drawn from these findings are: (a) instructional leadership of literacy occurred across a spectrum and (b) self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and proxy efficacy can be developed and intersect with literacy leadership in various ways along an instructional leadership spectrum. Recommendations include a process for utilizing the instructional leadership spectrum as a reflective tool for personal practice, policy analysis, and application of professional resources. Future research is invited to analyze the potential uses of this process as well as the Instructional Leadership Spectrum Model and the Model of Intersections and Sources of Self-Efficacy.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Spring 2022
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Education
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-1p77-fe89
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.