| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis examines the technological leadership of school principals and its impact on teachers’ work quality, based on the perspectives of principals and teachers. There is a dearth of studies on this topic in Lithuania, therefore the paper is relevant from both a theoretical and practical point of view. The paper examines how technological leadership is manifested in Lithuanian education documents and discusses the issues of this leadership expression in Lithuania and abroad. The main aspects of technological leadership, technological leadership models, digitalization processes in schools, ant the importance of the expression of technological leadership by principals are analysed. A mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research strategies, was chosen to achieve the research objective. The qualitative study explores the expression of technological leadership of the principals of 5 schools in the Samogitian region, while the quantitative study aims to assess the attitudes of teachers from the same schools towards the principals’ technological leadership and its impact on the quality of their work. Additionally, documents of the schools are analysed to determine how elements of technological leadership are reflected in them. The results of the qualitative study revealed that the technological leadership of school principals’ manifests in different ways, but it is most often associated with empowering teachers, improving the quality of education, strengthening the culture of collaboration, and creating conditions for the purposeful use of technology. The results of the quantitative study showed that teachers perceive the technological leadership of principals as a coherent phenomenon, encompassing the vision of technological education and its implementation, collaboration in implementing technologies, and support for technological advancement. Results suggest that school principals’ technological leadership is positively associated with teachers’ work quality when technology helps save time, facilitates preparation for educational activities, improves assessment processes, promotes professional growth, and creates conditions for meaningful use of digital tools. However, this influence can also be negative when technologies are implemented too quickly, formally, without sufficient teacher preparation or support. Therefore, the technological leadership of principals improves teachers’ work quality the most when it is based on a clear vision, collaboration, moderation, and pedagogically justified use of technology. The analysis of school documents showed that technological leadership is usually not directly mentioned, and the digital vision is rarely highlighted as an independent strategic direction. |
