Date of Award

1980

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Higher Education Administration PhD

First Advisor

Lyndon G. Furst

Second Advisor

William Garber

Third Advisor

Arthur O. Coetzee

Abstract

Problem. Organizations of nearly every type succeed in fulfilling their mission best when they are productive and effective. Changes in societal outlook have made administrative demands that older leadership theory does not satisfy. It was the purpose of this study to determine the effect the use of Reality Therapy as an administrative model would have upon leader behaviors and organizational climate.

Method. The Solomon Four-Group Design was used. The Profile of a School, Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire-Form XII, and Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills-Form T were used to measure change. Four methods of statistical analysis were used: (1) univariate one-way analysis of variance, (2) two-way analysis of variance, (3) analysis of covariance, and (4) t-test for two means. Eighteen elementary schools from the Seventh-day Adventist educational system were studied. Eight were experimental schools and ten were control schools.The eight experimental principals underwent five days of inservice instruction in using Reality Therapy as administrative model over a six-month time period.

Results. Significant differences emerged for four causal variables related to principal perceptions of the superintendent: Goal emphasis, Team building, Work facilitation, and Leader trust (p < .10). Significant differences were noted for two intervening variables: principal and student perceptions of Subordinate-influence (p < .10 and p < .05). No significant difference was shown with respect to end-result or leader behavior variables.

Conclusions. The data and their analyses provide a basis for four conclusions with regard to the purpose for which the study was conducted: (1) The use of Reality Therapy as an administrative process did not significantly affect the organizational climate of the experimental group. (2) The use of Reality Therapy as an administrative process produced significant differences between the experimental and control groups of principals with respect to four causal variables and one intervening variable. (3) The use of Reality. Therapy as an administrative process produced a significant difference between the experimental group of students and the control group of students with respect to one intervening variable. (4) The use of Reality Therapy as an administrative process did not produce any significant differences between the experimental and control groups with respect to end-result variables.

Subject Area

Reality therapy, Elementary schools, School management and organization

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dissertations/340/

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