Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2014 Motivating Factors of Elementary Teachers (K-5) in Illinois Who Belong to Veteran, Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y Age Bands: A Study of Ways in Which Improved Generational Intelligence Can Impact School Leaders Scott Schwartz Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Educational Leadership Commons Recommended Citation Schwartz, Scott, "Motivating Factors of Elementary Teachers (K-5) in Illinois Who Belong to Veteran, Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y Age Bands: A Study of Ways in Which Improved Generational Intelligence Can Impact School Leaders" (2014). Dissertations. 1302. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/1302 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 2014 Scott Schwartz LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO MOTIVATING FACTORS OF ELEMENTARY TEACHERS (K-5) IN ILLINOIS WHO BELONG TO VETERAN, BABY BOOMER, GENERATION X, AND GENERATION Y AGE BANDS: A STUDY OF WAYS IN WHICH IMPROVED GENERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CAN IMPACT SCHOOL LEADERS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION PROGRAM IN ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION BY SCOTT A. SCHWARTZ CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY 2015 Copyright by Scott A. Schwartz, 2015 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the product of many people’s support, guidance, and encouragement to whom I wish to eternally thank. Undertaking such a task – doctoral coursework and this “paper” – would not have been possible if it weren’t for an incredible group of individuals. First, thank you to my family. To my parents, Alan and Randi Schwartz, for instilling in me the belief by which I can do anything I put my mind and heart. You impressed upon me from an early age the value of a good education, honest work, and perseverance and always provided me with the utmost confidence that I can finish this process. For these things I will be forever grateful. To my amazing wife, Beth, for her love, patience, and editing skills over the past four years; I will be forever appreciative of her understanding and encouragement throughout this process. To my son, Jacob, for being everything his mom and I could have ever asked for. He is proving to be a compassionate, kind, and fun-loving little boy and my greatest hope is that he achieves any goal he eventually sets for himself. To my brother, Jason, for, simply put, always being such a great brother, to my sister-in-law, Karee, and brothers-in-law, Jason and Andy, for always being so supportive. To my in-laws, Michael and Michael, thank you for your interest in and encouragement of this process. Next, thank you to my Loyola family: I would like to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my dissertation chair, Dr. Marla Israel. I will be forever indebted to her for her guidance, mentorship, honesty, clear vision, and push to always iii write more explicitly. To my dissertation committee team: Dr. Susan Sostak and Dr. Barbara Unikel, I will be forever thankful that they agreed to support me in this capacity. Dr. Sostak’s constructive feedback, optimism, and helpful nature, as a reader and professor, and Dr. Unikel’s mentorship, friendly ear, and positivity, as a reader and mentor, will always be cherished. Also, thank you to all my Loyola professors who were committed to my success. Thank you to my professional learning network in Deerfield – to the Deerfield Public Schools for supporting this endeavor and placing a high value on the professional growth of their staff. Their commitment will be forever cherished. To the Loyola- Deerfield Cohort for the motivation to be excellent, their shared love of learning, their laughter, and for certainly increasing my job satisfaction. Lastly, thank you to the five superintendents who agreed to cooperate with this study and the 435 teachers who took the time out of their busy schedules to contribute to this research. I am amazed and energized by their commitment to the field of education and the students they teach, and their tireless efforts to do whatever they need to do for the success of their students. Due to your kindness, this dissertation was made possible. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 Trends in Education ................................................................................................ 4 Generational Bands ................................................................................................. 8 Motivation ............................................................................................................. 10 Conceptual Framework I: Pink’s Motivational Theory ........................................ 11 Autonomy ................................................................................................. 11 Mastery ..................................................................................................... 13 Purpose ...................................................................................................... 14 Purpose of Study ................................................................................................... 15 Proposed Research Questions ............................................................................... 15 Significance ........................................................................................................... 17 Conceptual Framework II: Generational Intelligence ........................................... 19 Proposed Methodology ......................................................................................... 22 Limitations of Study ............................................................................................. 23 Summary ............................................................................................................... 24 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ..................................................................................... 25 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 25 Overview ............................................................................................................... 27 Ethical Leadership: Motivating Others with Integrity .......................................... 30 Brief History of Educational Leadership Pk-12 Schools .......................... 32 Increasing Demands of the Modern Day Principal ................................... 33 Ethical/Moral Leadership ...................................................................................... 35 Teacher Evaluations .................................................................................. 38 Common Core State Standards ................................................................. 41 Ethical Leadership and Motivating Others: A Summary .......................... 44 Generational Cohorts ............................................................................................ 46 Veteran Generation, Born between 1922-1943 ........................................ 50 Baby Boomer Generation, Born between 1944-1960 ............................... 51 Generation X, Born between 1960-1980 .................................................. 53 Generation Y, Born between 1980-2000 .................................................. 54 Harnessing the Power of Generational Intelligence When Leading Faculty towards Improved Student Outcomes ....................................................... 58 v An Industry Example ................................................................................ 61 Motivation ............................................................................................................. 61 Pink’s Motivational Theory .................................................................................. 68 Autonomy ................................................................................................. 68 Mastery ..................................................................................................... 68 Purpose ...................................................................................................... 69 Summary ............................................................................................................... 69 III. RESEARCH PROCEDURES ..................................................................................... 74 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 74 Research