The examination of a middle school teacher preparatory program through the lens of invitational leadership

Abstract

Conducted have been studies on the development of adolescent students, the leadership style of middle school teachers, and the diversity of student. However, individual studies have not addressed the complex skills necessary for an effective middle school teacher. Today's teachers face rapid developmental changes of adolescents, increased expectations, and face the challenge of being unprepared to meet the needs of diverse students. Preparing these teachers needs to begin as early as possible in preparatory programs. By building programs specific for middle school educators, universities can prepare teachers to be inclusive and culturally aware. Therefore, this study used a social justice lens to examine invitational leadership principles in a middle school education program at a public university. Using the principles and domains of invitational leadership identified by Purkey and Novak (2016), the researcher focused specifically on the inclusion of caring, respect, trust, optimism, and intentionality in the program as well as the use of people, places, policies, programs, and processes for creating an inviting culture in the program. The results concluded the program was effective at including the principles and domains of invitational leadership by role modeling, building relationships within the community of learners, and offering collaborative opportunities to the students.