Campus Location
Dallas Campus (Online)
Date of Award
10-2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Department
Organizational Leadership
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Committee Chair or Primary Advisor
Dr. Karan Duwe
Second Committee Member or Secondary Advisor
Dr. Andrew Lumpe
Third Committee Member or Committee Reader
Dr. Jaime Goff
Abstract
Abstract
This study was a qualitative instrumental single holistic case study as outlined by Robert Stake in
1995. It focused on three research questions. The goal was to gain perspectives from teachers
and a principal on teacher retention and the culture of a campus. The emotional level of the
principal was evaluated on social awareness, self-awareness, relationship management, and self-
management by the principal taking part in an emotional intelligence assessment. The single
holistic case study approach was used, which had six phases of analyzing the data. The results
were then compared to the teachers’ interviews and surveys that were completed. Several themes
emerged from the data, which were then used to answer the three research questions. The
findings showed that the principal’s high emotional intelligence was positively correlated with
improved teacher retention and campus culture. The researcher triangulated data from
interviews, surveys, and emotional intelligence assessment scores to help explore this
connection. The principal’s strong leadership and high emotional intelligence score helped lead
to teachers remaining on the campus the following school year, as well as a positive school
culture. The emotional intelligence scores of the principal directly aligned with the qualitative
data.
Keywords: culture, emotional intelligence, teacher burnout, positive culture, negative
culture, teacher retention
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Virginia, "The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence, School Culture, and School Leadership" (2025). Digital Commons @ ACU, Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 946.
https://digitalcommons.acu.edu/etd/946