Page 28 - ELG2312 Dec Issue 487

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FEATURE

Spillover

How can management and leadership affect teacher morale?

Teacher trainer and English language expert, Giovanni Licata explains
how ‘spillover’ could be to blame for poor teacher wellbeing.

ducation is a dynamic field where with distinct characteristics that influence autocratic management styles have been
school management styles have a teachers’ experiences. linked to burnout and demotivation among
significant impact on the wellbeing When it comes to management styles, educators. The organisational climate shaped
Eof teachers. The role of school however, scholars have often focused on by school management can also influence
administrators and academic managers goes the phenomenon rather than its roots. Most workplace stressors, teacher turnover rates,
beyond mere oversight. They shape the of us will spontaneously agree from our and student outcomes. Teacher wellbeing is
working environment for educators, affecting experience that autocratic leaders tend to intricately connected to students’ learning
their job satisfaction, stress levels, and exert strict control, potentially diminishing experiences, emphasising the importance of
morale. Educators and academic managers teacher autonomy and increasing stress. understanding how management styles can
familiar with the field’s seminal literature In contrast, we will all have observed either support or hinder educators’ ability to
have encountered various leadership and that transformational leaders inspire perform optimally.
management styles. and motivate through shared vision and However, one of the limits of many studies
Just like fashion eras, these styles have mentorship, fostering a more positive work into management styles and wellbeing is
blossomed, sometimes replacing their atmosphere. that they tend to describe management
predecessor, and sometimes overlapping and Research has demonstrated that phenomena as clear-cut dichotomies – good/
mixing: the autocratic, transformational, and transformational leadership positively bad, autocratic/transformational – as they
laissez-faire styles, to name a few, have been affects teacher morale, job satisfaction, become apparent. What would be more useful
explored in the context of education, each and overall wellbeing. On the other hand, for our educational institutions’ wellbeing is
28 December 2023