Studying Negative Aspects in Educational Leadership: The Benefits of Qualitative Methodologies

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 3, 549 - 574, 25.09.2023

Izhar Oplatka

https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1330936

Öz

The aim of this paper is to encourage researchers to employ qualitative methodologies when studying the negative aspects in educational leadership. To this end, I focus on one negative aspect in organization – abusive leadership and use it to exemplify the benefits of qualitative research and its potential methodologies. More specifically, I pose two questions: (1) How can the qualitative research improve our understanding of abusive leadership in schools; (2) what are the practical tools to study abusive educational leadership from a naturalistic perspective? Through qualitative research methods, researchers are likely to explore the complexity of human behavior and thereby generate deeper understanding of leaders' negative behaviors as well as of toxic interactions in the school. In this paper, I emphasize the epistemological contributions of qualitative methodologies to the research on abusive educational leadership and probe into the kind of knowledge we may gain when employing these methodologies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

abusive leadership, semi-structured interviews, sensitive topics in leadership, unstructured observations

Kaynakça

• Bhattacharjee, A. & Sarkar, A. (2022). Abusive supervision: A systematic literature review. Management Review Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11301-022-00291-8
• Bormann, K. C. (2017). Linking Daily Ethical Leadership to Followers’ Daily Behavior: the Roles of Daily Work Engagement and Previous Abusive Supervision. European Journal of Work Organizational Psychology, 26(4), 590–600.
• Bowling, N. A., and Michel, J. S. (2011). Why Do You Treat Me Badly? The Role of Attributions Regarding the Cause of Abuse in Subordinates’ Responses to Abusive Supervision. Work Stress, 25(4), 309–320.
• Chai , H.H., Gao, S.S. Chen, K.J. Duangthip , D. Man Lo, C. & Chu, C.H. (2021). A Concise Review on Qualitative Research in Dentistry. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 1-13.
• Chilling, J. (2009). From Ineffectiveness to Destruction: A Qualitative Study on the Meaning of Negative Leadership. Leadership, 5(1), 102–128.
• Fischer, T., Wei-Tian, A., Lee, A. & Hughes, D.J. (2021). Abusive supervision: A systematic review and fundamental rethink. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(6), 1-19.
• Flick, U, von Kardorff, E. & Steinke, L. (2004). What is Qualitative Research? An Introduction to the Field. In, U. Flick, E. von Kardorff & I. Steinke (eds.), A companion to qualitative research (pp. 3-12). London: Sage Publication.
• Gillham, B. (2005). Research interviewing: The range of techniques. Maidenhead, New York: Open University Press
• Khumalo, S.S. (2019). Analyzing abusive school leadership practices through the lens of social justice. International Journal of Educational Management, 33(4), 546-555.
• Hennink, M., Hutter, I., & Bailey, A. (2011). Qualitative research methods. Los Angeles: Sage.
• Hoskins, N., & Kunkel, A. (2020). "I Don’t Even Deserve a Chance": An Ethnographic Study of Adverse Childhood Experiences Among Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence. The Qualitative Report, 25(4), 1009-1037.
• Gallegos I., Guàrdia-Olmos J. & Berger, R. (2022). Abusive Supervision: A Systematic Review and New Research Approaches. Frontiers in Communication, 6, 640908. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.640908
• Johnson, R. & Waterfield, J. (2004). Making words count: the value of qualitative research. Physiotherapy Research International, 9(3) 121–131.
• Krasikova D.V., Green S.G. & LeBreton J.M. (2013) Destructive leadership a theoretical review, integration and future research agenda. Journal of Management 39(5), 1308–1338.
• Kvale, S., & Brinkmann, S. (2009). Interviews: Learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing. Los Angeles: Sage
• Lavoie-Tremblay, M., Ferent, C., Lavigne, G.L. & Austin, S. (2016) Transformational and abusive leadership practices: Impacts on novice nurses, quality of care and intention to leave. Journal of Advanced Nursing 72(3), 582–592. doi: 10.1111/jan.12860
• Lee, R.M. (1993). Doing Research on Sensitive Topics. London: Sage Publications.
• Lee, Y.O., & Lee, R.M (2012). Methodological Research on ‘‘Sensitive’’ Topics: A Decade Review. Bulletin de Methodologie Sociologique, 114, 35–49.
• Lipman-Blumen J (2005). The allure of toxic leaders: Why we follow destructive bosses and corrupt politicians – And how we can survive them. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Mitchell MS and Ambrose ML (2007) Abusive supervision and workplace deviance and the moderating effects of negative reciprocity beliefs. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4): 1159–1168.
• Mohd-Arifin, S.R. (2018). Ethical considerations in qualitative research. International Journal of Care Scholar, 1(2), 30-33.
• Mulhall, A. (2003). In the field: Notes on observation in qualitative research. Journal of advanced nursing, 41(3), 306-313.
• Neall, A.M. & Tuckey, M.R. (2014). A methodological review of research on the antecedents and consequences of workplace harassment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87, 225–257.
• Oplatka, I. (2018). Understanding emotion in educational and service organizations through semi-structured interviews: Some conceptual and practical insights. The Qualitative Report, 23(6), 1347-1363.
• Oplatka, I. (2016). Irresponsible leadership and unethical practices in schools. A conceptual framework of the 'dark side' of educational leadership. In, A.H. Normore & J.S. Brooks (eds.), The dark side of leadership: Identifying and overcoming unethical practice in organization (pp.1-18). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.
• Pelletier, K.L. (2010). Leader toxicity: An empirical investigation of toxic behavior and rhetoric. Leadership, 6(4), 373-389.
• Pretzlik U. (1994) Observational methods and strategies. Nurse Researcher, 2(2), 13–21.
• Richard, O.C., Boncoeur, O.D., Chen, H. & Ford, D.L. (2020). Supervisor abuse effects on subordinate turnover intentions and subsequent interpersonal aggression: The role of power-distance orientation and perceived human resource support climate. Journal of Business Ethics, 164 (3), 549-563.
• Schmid, E.A. Pircher Verdorfer, A. & Peus, C. (2019). Shedding light on leaders’ self-interest: Theory and measurement of exploitative leadership. Journal of Management, 45 (4), 1401-1433.
• Sieber, J.E., & Stanley, B. (1988) Ethical and professional dimensions of socially sensitive research. The American Psychologist, 43, 1, 49-55.
• Starratt, A. & Grandy, G. (2010). Young workers' experiences of abusive leadership. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 31(2), 136-158.
• Tepper, B.G. (2000). Consequences of abusive supervision. Academy of Management Journal, 43 (2), 178-190.
• Thyer, B.A. (2012). The scientific value of qualitative research for social work. Qualitative Social Work, 11(2) 115–129.
• Tracy, S.J. (2013). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact. Chichester, UK: Wily-Blackwell.
• Wang, X.B., Zheng, H., Xu, X.S., Zhang, Y.F., Yue, Y. (2023). Abusive supervision and teachers' job vocational schools: The mediating effect of emotion regulation strategies. The International Journal of Educational Organization and Leadership, 30(2), 19-37.
• Zhang, J., Liu, J. (2018). Is abusive supervision an absolute devil? Literature review and research agenda. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 35, 719–744.