Leadership Styles, Organizational Climate, and School Climate Openness from the Perspective of Slovak Vocational School Teachers

Abstract

The aim of the proposed study is to present the partial results of a research study on the organizational climate in vocational schools as perceived by teachers. Special attention is paid to the applied leadership style by school leaders, and the existence of associations between school leaders’ and teachers’ behaviour in schools. Organizational climate was measured by the standardized OCDQ-RS adapted to the conditions of the Slovak educational environment on the sample of 474 vocational schoolteachers. The scale measures five dimensions: Supportive principal behaviour; Directive principal behaviour; Engaged teacher behaviour; Frustrated teacher behaviour; and Intimate teacher behaviour, allowing for calculation of the Index of school climate openness, which is an indicator of the quality of the organizational climate. The obtained results confirmed the existence of associations between teacher and principal behaviour and school climate openness. It can be assumed that the applied leadership style in an institution can affect the quality of interpersonal relationships and teacher behaviour both in positive and negative directions. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to building favourable organizational climate in schools, which represents a challenge for school leaders and educational systems that should provide school leaders with sufficient learning opportunities in the field of school leadership.

Organizational climate of kindergartens and teacher professional learning: mediating effect of teachers’ collective efficacy and moderating effect of mindfulness in teaching

“…We used the Chinese version of the Kindergarten Organizational Climate Description (OCDQ-RE) questionnaire, which was developed originally by Hoy and Tarter (1992) and adapted by Li et al (2017) for kindergarten teachers. The questionnaire consisted 33 items in six dimensions to describe teachers' perceptions of the organizational atmosphere: (i) "Supportive principal behavior (SPB)" (six items) references to support and care for teachers by principals; (ii) "Directive principal behavior (DPB)" (six items) referred to whether the principal's leadership was assignment-oriented, showed little attention to teachers, and involved close supervision and little delegation of authority to teachers; (iii) "Restrictive principal behavior (RPB)" (four items) referred to the principal's tendency to ask teachers to do additional work that was not directly related to instruction; (iv) "Collegial teacher behavior (CTB)" (eight items) addressed the level of appreciation among teachers and their readiness to collaborate and engage in (Barnová et al, 2022). The value of Cronbach's alpha for this questionnaire was 0.8, Cronbach's alpha in the range of 0.65-0.88 for each dimension.…”

Investigating the Interplay of RAAT Leadership Qualities in Shaping School Leadership Competence in the Bani Landscape

“…Exploring factors that influence organizational climate in Slovak vocational schools, Barnová et al (2022) discovered the connection between leadership styles and school climate.…”

“…Despite the lack of conclusive evidence regarding direct impacts on performance, the research underscored the significance of predictors like gender and educational degree. This comprehensive exploration provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay of organizational factors and leadership styles influencing teacher performance (Barnová et al, 2022;Pulumbarit, 2023). Within the context of the current research, these variables emerge as crucial focal points, shedding light on their collective impact on educational dynamics.…”

Transformational educational leaders inspire school educators’ commitment

“…The supportive and democratic communication from the school principals were strongly correlated with the job attitude of teachers, which has a positive effect on the commitment of teachers (De Nobile and Bilgin, 2022). The principals with transformational leadership style are supportive and hardworking leaders, who motivate teachers by means of constructive criticism and support in both personal and professional lives, to direct them towards task achievement (Barnová et al, 2022). The leaders of the school often communicate the vision and mission of the organisation to the staffs of the respective organisation, to ensure that the teachers are moving towards development of the organisation (Leithwood, 2021).…”

“…On a regular basis, superiors give their staff members feedback on how they are doing, so that the employees' skill and knowledge development is aided by positive feedback (Leithwood, 2021;Vinh et al, 2022). Some of the major findings from previous literature address the leadership styles influencing institutional development, selfdevelopment and student development (Leithwood, 2021;Barnová et al, 2022;De Nobile and Bilgin, 2022); dimensions of leadership styles are vital determinants in making educators dedicated to their institution (Bass and Avolio, 1990;Parveen et al, 2022). Nazari et al (2012) suggest that transformative leaders have a significant impact on their employees and are successful in enhancing employee commitment.…”