Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
5-2021
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Simone Elias
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Scott Bailey
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Kyle Butler
Abstract
This study’s goal was to examine technology directors’ leadership characteristics and their experiences leading information and communication technologies in K–12 independent schools in Tennessee during the COVID-19 pandemic. As information and communication technologies’ use expanded in education, exploring Organizational Leadership characteristics and experiences with information and communication technologies integration in K–12 was critical, especially as teachers and students depended upon remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using narrative inquiry, this study’s findings described experiences and illustrated certain visionary leadership characteristics technology directors used as they navigated information and communication technologies integration in K–12 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two prominent themes emerged through narrative inquiry thematic analysis: supporting and adapting. Subthemes included (a1) technical support, (a2) training, (a3) encouragement, and (b1) change in the field, (b2) increasing responsibilities, and (b3) challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Four key conclusions included (1) leading information and communication technologies requires constant evaluation and adaptation, (2) remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic changed information and communication technologies use and management in schools, (3) supporting information and communication technologies in education requires a wide range of both technical skills and interpersonal skills, and (4) the technology directors in this study exhibited the leadership behaviors of visionary leadership. This study provides school administrators and professional organizations a guide for best practices among independent school technology directors, especially in a time of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, this study contributes to advance leadership theory by looking into the leadership of technology directors during a pandemic.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Womack, William Jeremiah, "Portraits of Visionary Leaders: Technology Directors’ Leadership Characteristics and Experiences in K–12 Independent Schools During the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2021). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 373.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/373