A growing number of scholars consider spirituality to be a critical
component of effective teaching, teacher leadership, and dynamic
organizational life. We share this view and our particular interest
lies in understanding the connections between teachers’ perceptions
of themselves as spiritual beings and leaders and the dispositions of
honesty (truthfulness and fairness in dealing with others), humility
(modesty in behavior and attitude and a genuine willingness to learn),
and a commitment to service to others (assisting or benefiting others).
Beazley (1997) identifies these dispositions as essential to the effective
operation of an organization and, while his research focused primarily
on business organizations, we believe that these dispositions also
contribute in important ways to the effectiveness of schools. This research
serves two purposes. First, we explore the relationships between
teacher’s perception of their own spirituality and leadership and three
dispositions considered to be important to organizational effectiveness:
honesty, humility, and service to others. We examine this relationship
through a quantitative research design. This approach differs from much
of the existing research on spirituality, which is qualitative in design
and theoretical in nature. Second, the Spiritual Assessment Scale was
originally developed to measure the dimensions of spirituality among
business leaders and has not been used with professional educators. We
have adapted the instrument to fit this population. The second purpose