Date of Award

11-2025

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Specialization

Educational Leadership

School or Department

School of Education

First Advisor

Dr. Joseph Engler

Second Advisor

Dr. Gerald Dryer

Third Advisor

Dr. Michael Carey

Abstract

This qualitative phenomenological study explored how elementary principals led the implementation of a newly adopted core literacy curriculum and how they perceived their emotional competence in this role. Grounded in implementation science (see D. L. Fixsen et al., 2010), the transtheoretical model (see Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982), and emotional intelligence (see Goleman et al., 2001), the study examined both the leadership approaches and emotional competencies principals relied on when leading curriculum implementation in their schools. Semi-structured interviews with 10 elementary principals revealed four key areas of leadership investment: investment in self, investment in people, investment in visibility, and investment in stamina. Survey responses from seven of the original 10 principals showed consistently high levels of emotional competence. Findings emphasize the principal's pivotal role in curriculum implementation leadership, with participants describing it as a complex change process often accompanied by strong emotional responses from teachers, and emphasize the importance of providing emotional, structural, and instructional support. The study highlights the need for principals to remain actively engaged as learners and leaders during curriculum implementation, to provide emotional support to teachers throughout all stages of implementation, and to possess strong emotional competence in leadership to foster teacher capacity, sustain curriculum implementation efforts, and improve student outcomes.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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