by Dr. Jennifer Hellbusch and Dr. Nick Pace

Research for the Real World

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Department of Educational Administration (EDAD) faculty conduct leading research and outreach related to the most pressing and complex challenges and opportunities in the education field and support students in connecting theory to practice. Below is a summary of recent hands-on research published by a UNL EDAD faculty member and his doctoral student. Please contact them directly for questions and comments.

HELLBUSCH PACE

Gretna Principal Hellbusch Explores Principals’ Perceptions of Their Role in Teacher Engagement

By Dr. Jennifer Hellbusch and Dr. Nick Pace

In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic and increasing concerns around teacher burnout, Jennifer Hellbusch, an elementary principal for Gretna Public Schools, examined what many would describe as the inverse of burn out, teacher engagement. Dr. Hellbusch’s study, entitled, “Engagement is Everything”, was the culminating project of her doctor of education (EdD) dissertation in the UNL Department of Educational Administration. The study explored how principals view themselves as responsible for teacher engagement and what actions they take to promote and maintain positive teacher engagement.

Dr. Hellbusch recalled, “As a former teacher and current principal, I have worked in nine different buildings, two districts, and with many different principals. With each, I’ve observed how teacher engagement was valued or cast off by principals, and if it shifted, grew, or declined for teachers.”

Many researchers have pointed to the impacts teacher engagement can have on students. For example, according to researcher Belinda Williams, “teacher engagement is a prerequisite for student engagement” and “teacher’s work and student’s work are linked...” Tim Hodges, senior consultant for the Gallup Organization, contends that teacher engagement is “a key driver of student engagement.” Dr. Hellbusch says she was driven to learn how principals see their responsibility in promoting teacher engagement because few have examined how principals see this responsibility and how they act on it.

Dr. Hellbusch conducted extensive interviews with nine elementary and secondary school principals with varying levels of experience, serving in a growing Midwestern school district. In-depth interviews with the principals revealed six themes, which Dr. Hellbusch briefly summarizes as:

1. Supporting Teachers: Principals discussed providing time, structures, and resources as a means to engage teachers.

2. Building and Sustaining Relationships: Principals described intentional efforts to build and maintain personal and professional relationships with teachers as well as promoting teachers’ relationships with other teachers.

3. Communicating: Principals shared ways they emphasize constant communication and listening and ways they use electronic communication.

4. Providing Professional Development: Principals described working hard to provide meaningful PD experiences that gave teachers ownership of what they were learning and aligning those experiences with district missions and expectations. Principals in the study also shared the importance of online learning experiences and other forms of PD to support teacher engagement.

5. Developing Teams: Principals described extensive efforts to develop and guide building level, grade level, and department teams. They explained how they work to provide focus and organization to teams through offering support, building and sustaining relationships, ongoing communication, providing meaningful professional development, developing teams, and fostering school culture.