ABSTRACTEMAIL COMMUNICATION AND ITS IMPACT ON HIGH SCHOOLPRINCIPAL AND TEACHER RELATIONSByAnthony D. BerthiaumeThe purpose of this study is to provide further insight into how email has impacted communication and relationships between high school principals and their respective teaching staffs. Organizational systems theory offered a theoretical framework for this study. I used the rational and natural systems theory perspectives exclusively. The rational and natural systems perspectives presented a research framework for narrowing down the focus on each email communication by considering the content and tone of communication between principals and teachers. Assessing how individuals communicate within an organization is vital due to its complexities and the potential impact on the working environment. The communication between principals and teachers is a critical dynamic in a school’s culture and climate. I set out to answer the primary research question: How has email affected communication and relationships between high school principals and teachers? Four subset questions followed the primary research question, which addressed the volume, content, tone and principals' and teachers' views on their email communications as changing the nature of their relationships. To address the research questions, I conducted a qualitative case study on three high schools. The three case studies provided several findings of discovery that were consistent with how email has affected the communication and relations amongst principals and teachers. The first and second patterns were that email provides an efficient way to communicate between both levels but at a cost of an increase in volume of communication. The decision-making process of who to send the email to, along with the content and tone of the communication, was the third pattern derived from the data. The content and tone of an email is the area that exceeded all others that had the potential to impact communication and relationships for both principals and teachers. The fourth pattern developed were the drawbacks of email, which included time consumption and possible misinterpretation of email. The fifth pattern was the idea that face-to-face conversations still had a greater impact on the relationship building between and amongst principals and teachers. There are implications for practice in schools and other organizations. The first recommendation involves any individual who writes emails and advises that they be conscious of the content and tone of the communication. The second recommendation involves principals, CEO's, supervisors, or directors, whose email communications have the potential to impact the culture and climate of the respective work environments. The third recommendation involves high school principals’ awareness that some issues are better face-to-face rather than communicating it through email. The fourth recommendation involves more training and education for current and future educators in the area of communications, particularly email. The use of email has changed the dynamics of the twenty-first century organization, including those within education. It is influencing how high school principals communicate with various stakeholders, including their teachers. Furthermore, the communication between principals and teachers is a critical dynamic in a school’s culture and climate. Therefore, developing a greater understanding on the significance of email in education and its role in the ever-changing landscape of organizational communications is worthy of scholarly research.
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