Date of Graduation

2007

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

This research focused upon parents, educators, and community members’ ability to influence school culture, build community, and affect student morality while engaged in a constructivist leadership model in the creation of a junior high football team. The research was conducted in one school located in a Mid-Atlantic state. I was a teacher at that school during the time the study was conducted. A qualitative case study method was chosen in order to answer the how and why questions. Multiple sources of data were collected from observations, documents, and interviews with three parents, four educators, and three community members all associated with creating the football team. These data were sorted and organized into manageable collections. Interviews were transcribed, read, and re-read. Discourse with a trusted colleague and my writing facilitated meaning-making. From this analysis, I identified the important elements and the emergent themes. The first theme that emerged was the high degree of prior connection among the participants in the formation of the team. A second theme evidenced was the high degree of cooperation among the participants. The third theme centered on the participants’ strong desire to assist the football players’ academic and social development. The last theme presented was the upholding of tradition. The conclusions were presented analogously to the three research questions that framed the study. With regard to the parents, educators, and community members’ ability to influence school culture, they, indeed, created school culture by forming a new organization. Next, the adults’ cooperative efforts influenced school culture by furthering traditions and rituals. Additionally, these adults influenced school culture by paying attention to core values important to the community. These adults built community by assembling a group bound by common purpose, and they used a variety of community building ingredients including effective constructivist leadership skills. Finally, they were influential in the moral development of students by modeling grown-up morality and providing the social experience of football. Recommendations for further study are noted.

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