Gritty Optimism: Collective Leadership for Improved School Climate and Teacher Retention

Abstract

Gritty optimism is the belief that students can become more of who they are created to be based on evidence and experience. To achieve flourishing, eudaimonia, the goal education since Aristotle, educators must exhibit gritty optimism in the form of collective leadership and collective efficacy to support flourishing schools. In this study, we used school climate and teacher retention as components of flourishing. We conducted a path analysis with data from 22 schools to determine the relationship between collective leadership, collective efficacy, school climate, and teacher retention. Additional data from site visits that included focus groups and interviews triangulates our findings that collective leadership is a strong predictor of improved school climate and enhanced teacher retention.