IMPROVING PRINCIPAL AND TEACHER RELATIONSHIP: PREDICTIVE POWER OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP WITH TEACHERS’ ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST PERCEPTION - Study

Oct 15, 2026

Trust is a critical component of successful schools, especially the trust between principals and teachers. This study examines teachers’ perceptions of principals’ leadership behaviors and teachers’ trust in colleagues, students, parents, and principals. Data from 1891 teachers in Burdur, Turkey (2009–2010) were analyzed using the Omnibus T Scale and a Leadership Behavior Questionnaire to test predictive relationships. Results show high principals’ leadership and strong trust in colleagues and principals, with medium trust toward students and parents.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

IMPROVING PRINCIPAL AND TEACHER RELATIONSHIP: PREDICTIVE POWER OF SCHOOL PRINCIPALS’ LEADERSHIP WITH TEACHERS’ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST PERCEPTION EMINE BABAOGLAN ABSTRACT Trust is a critical component of successful schools, especially trust between the principals and the teachers. Trust does not happen automatically. It has to be a part of overall planning for the professional development of both principals and teachers. The aim of this study is to identify the level of teachers’perception of school principals’ leadership behaviors; and the level of teachers’ trust in colleagues, in students and parents, and in principals. The study also aims to detect the predictive power of teachers’perception of school principals’ leadership over teachers’ organizational trust perception. The participants of this research are the teachers working in the primary and secondary schools located in the districts and villages of Burdur City of Turkey which provided education during 2009-2010 school years. For the research, the entire population of 2230 teachers in the Burdur City was invited. Of the 2230 teachers, 1891 responded to the questionnaire. They worked in 196 schools throughout Burdur, 154 of which are primary and 42 are secondary. Omnibus T Scale (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 2003) and Leadership Behavior Questionnaire (Ekvall & Arvonen, 1991) were used in the research. In the study it is found that, with respect to teachers’perception, the level of principals’ leadership was high; the perception level of teachers’ trust in colleagues and principals was high, whereas their perception of trust in students and parents was at medium level. It is also found that the relationship between teachers’ leadership perception and their perception of trust in their principals was positive and significant at a high level while the relationship between teachers’perception of trust in colleagues and in students and parents was positive and significant at low level. INTRODUCTION Educational planning is critical to the success of schools. Having an understanding of where a school has been, where it is now, and where it is heading will help the principal and the teachers’better plan for the future. While educational planning is often focused on student outcomes, successful schools also create and implement plans for the improved relationship between the principals and the teachers. In particular, the trust that develops (or doesn’t develop) between the principals and the teachers can have a significant impact on how well students learn. Leadership studies have been a focus of the literature in management and organizational behavior. Since leadership is an interdisciplinary field, a wide range of research has been published in the areas of psychology, sociology, politics, management, educational administration and government (Yukl, 1989) . Researchers define leadership from their own points of view with different definitions. Bass (1990, p. 11) stated that leadership is a “group process”,“a personality case (issue)”, “a case of inducing compliance”, “influencing experience”, “exclusive behaviors”, “a form of persuasion”, “power relations”,“a means for goal achievement”,“an effect of interaction”,“a differentiated role”, “initiation of structure” and the various combinations of these definitions. Yukl (1989) defined leadership as influencing the objectives and the strategies of the mission; the loyalty and compliance to achieve these objectives; and the group and the organizational culture. Leadership is, for Northouse (2009), a process in which a person influences the group in order to achieve a common goal. For Erdoğan (2010), leadership is realizing the objectives of an organization and initiating a new structure and procedure to change the objectives. For ùişman (2002), it is the power to influence and prompt others to act in line with certain goals and objectives. Leadership comprises forethought, setting a prudential and credible vision and goals

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

The study identifies teachers’ perceptions of principals’ leadership behaviors and evaluates how these perceptions predict teachers’ organizational trust toward principals.

How is teachers’ trust measured in the research?

Teachers’ trust is assessed across trust in colleagues, students, parents, and principals, using established scales reported in the study.

What relationships were found between leadership perception and trust?

The relationship between teachers’ leadership perception and their trust in principals is positive and significant at a high level, while the links between trust in colleagues and in students/parents are positive and significant at a low level.

Oct 15, 2026

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