Reimaged: The Emotionally Intelligent Instructional Technology Leader

• Main Author: Robinson Carney, Cynthia
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2019
• Subjects: Case Studies; Data Analysis; Educational Environment; Educational leadership; Educational technology; Instructional Leadership; Learning Strategies; Research Methodology; Science Teachers; Student Diversity; Teaching Methods
• ISBN: 9781392021170; 1392021170

For over forty years, researchers, policymakers, and educational leaders have promoted computer technology use within schools to enhance teaching and learning (Culp, Honey, & Mandinach, 2003; U.S. Department of Education, 2010). The effective schools literature of the 1980s suggested principals should be the instructional leader of the school building; however, school principals are often tasked with other administrative and managerial responsibilities diverting their attention from instructional technology (Lashway, 2002; Fullan 2014). Filling this gap requires a school leader who understands the importance of engaging learners with the technological advances of today’s society. Partnering with the principal, the instructional technology leader can aid to improve the school’s learning environment by influencing individual and institutional factors to support classroom technology use (Consortium for School Networking, 2009; International Society for Technology in Education, 2011). Unlike the role of the school principal, the instructional technology leader lacks authoritative power and instead relies on the ability to manage one’s own emotions and attitudes as well as the emotions and attitudes of others (teachers), a process explored in emotional intelligence theory. Using a blend of portraiture and narrative design methodology, this study explored the experiences of instructional technology leaders under the lens of emotional intelligence. The following question framed this study: How do instructional technology leaders perceive their own emotional intelligence (EI) and the role EI plays in the implementation and integration of instructional technology in the schools they serve?