Enhancing Teacher Credibility: What We Can Learn From the Justice and Leadership Literature

ABSTRACT

Enhanced perceptions of instructor credibility are related to positive outcomes in the classroom, including participation and learning (Chory, 2007; Frymier & Thompson, 1992; McCroskey & Teven, 1999; Myers, 2004; Teven & McCroskey, 1997). We contend that student perceptions of instructor credibility can be directly impacted by applying management research to classroom practices. In other words, actionable management research is useful in the classroom not just to share with students because it may make them better managers, but also to improve teaching practices and related outcomes. The present article explores this tenet, first discussing why we believe applied research findings can and should be transferred to the classroom and then using Implicit Leadership Theory (ILT) and organizational justice literature to demonstrate how these concepts can be generalized to the classroom environment to ultimately enhance instructor credibility.

KEYWORDS:

• Actionable research
• classroom design
• classroom management
• implicit leadership theory
• instructor credibility
• justice

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Barbara A. Ritter

Barbara A. Ritter, PhD, is Dean and Professor of Management at Coastal Carolina University. Her interests are in leadership, justice, and teaching and learning. She is the chairperson of the Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management and is on the board of the Teaching Theme Committee. She also serves on the board of the Organizational Behavior Teaching Society and is a recent recipient of the OBTS Peter Frost Mentoring Award. Barbara’s previous publications appear in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Business Ethics, Human Relations, and Psychology of Women Quarterly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Patricia R. Hedberg

Patricia R. Hedberg, PhD, is an associate professor of management in the Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas, where she teaches courses in management, leadership development, and organizational behavior. Her research and consulting activities include reflective learning, leading change, and copreneurial power dynamics in family business. Pat was a 3M Professor in Residence, consulting on leadership development. She has published in Family Business Review, Journal of Family Business Strategy, and Journal of Management Education. She can be reached at [email protected].

Kim Gower

Kim Gower, PhD, is a Visiting Professor at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. She received her PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2012, and teaches a wide variety of business and leadership courses. Her research interests lie in teaching methods, including community-based learning, the classroom as an organization, contemporary format delivery and reflection, and experience-based learning, and in multi-source leadership assessment and measurement. She is an active member of the Management Education and Development Division of the Academy of Management. She can be reached at [email protected].