School Leader as Motivator. Occasional Papers: School Leadership and Education Reform, OP#9.

This paper focuses on the role of the school leader as motivator. In particular, attention is given to what those in school leadership roles can do to enhance the personal investment of students in learning. A conceptual model is outlined which suggests that school leaders affect not only the degree, but also the quality of student motivation by influencing the "psychological environment" of the school. A program of research is described that explicates that relationship and demonstrates the validity and utility of the model. Special attention is given to the definition of "psychological environment" and to specifying its antecedents and consequences. Field studies at both the elementary and middle school levels are described to illustrate how leaders can work on the school environment in a way that will influence student motivation. Building especially on the preliminary results of these field studies, specific implications for practice are discussed. (Contains 69 references.) (Author)