Professor and Provost Emeritus Iacocca Hall 111 Research Drive Bethlehem, PA 18015 Phone: 610 758-6249 Fax: 610 758-3243 rky2@lehigh.edu

RESEARCH

Ethics in Educational Leadership:

Clarifying and Conducting Empirical Studies of the
Constructs Proposed in Various Literatures on Leadership

Actors in an organization need to be clear about the ethical principles upon which they behave in their everyday transactions with others.  The literature describing ethical practices of school leaders includes a wide range of theorists and writers such as Kohlberg’s application of Piaget’s ideas of moral development, Starratt’s concepts of what it means to be an “ethical leader,” and Ciulla’s proposed relationship between being an ethical leader and sustaining effective schools.  However, few empirical studies have been conducted that have operationalized variables and tested hypotheses as to whether certain ethical behaviors among leaders and followers result in better functioning schools.  Thus, my goal will be to develop a comprehensive review of literature of the various approaches to ethics in leadership and then propose and test the elements of a research program in this area.

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