Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Bogotch, Ira

Abstract

This phenomenological, mixed-method study compared and contrasted virtual K- 12 school leadership with traditional face-to-face leadership. All 106 participants served for a minimum of two years in each setting. The study was conducted in two phases in order to reveal consensus and dissensus points of view. Conceptually, a postmodern framework was used to deliberately create spaces for new leadership ideas to emerge through surveys and interviews. The data included teachers and leaders from charter, district, and state virtual K-12 schools. Phase one of the study used a modified Delphi methodology, consisting of an Internet-based survey and semantic differential survey. The second phase was a round of interviews, seeking similarities and differences between leadership in the two domains. Using the lens of postmodernism, the nuances of difference arising from contextual factors were examined, along with the often-unheard voices of dissensus within the ranks of virtual K-12 leaders and teachers. Among the major findings, the study revealed no significant differences in leadership between traditional and virtual K-12 leaders. A new paradigm of “leadership by design” was uncovered as one possible means of innovating through virtual K-12 leadership.

Extent

218 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004168

Format

pdf

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