A Study of Relationships between Teacher Leadership, Student Trust, and Student Commitment to Ethical Goodness

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between student perception of teacher leadership and the student commitment to ethical goodness. A second model was developed adding student trust to the student perception of teacher leadership and determining their influence on student commitment to ethical goodness. The importance of this study is in forming an understanding of how teacher leadership and student trust in teacher affects character education approaches. The theoretical framework for understanding teacher leadership and conducting this study was derived from a general understanding of transformational leadership. The context of this study was a Christian secondary school. This context was appropriate because the mission statement of the Christian school in the study targets character formation. A multiple regression study was conducted in which 66 student participants in the Christian high school were administered instruments to investigate the predictive relationship between student perception of teacher leadership behaviors, the degree of student trust in the teacher, and student commitment to ethical goodness. The surveys consisted of the Leadership Practices Inventory, the Student Trust in Faculty Survey, and the Commitment to Ethical Goodness Survey. It was determined that there is statistically significant predictive relationship between student perception of teacher leadership and student commitment to ethical goodness. A second model, which added student trust as a predictor variable, was not determined to be a statistically significant model for a student’s commitment to ethical goodness. Further research in the areas of teacher leadership and student trust in teacher was recommended.