IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsoctx/v14y2024i10p209-d1501512.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Principal–Teacher Relationships Under the Pressure of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Critical Factors and Implications for School Leadership During Crises

Author

Listed:
  • Eleftheria Spyropoulou

    (Department of Psychology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece)

  • Theodore Koutroukis

    (Department of Economics, Democritus University of Thrace, 69100 Komotini, Greece)

Abstract

This paper aims to present the views of Greek school principals on whether and how working amid the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected principal–teacher relationships. It mainly focuses on the factors that contributed to the quality and course of these relationships. A qualitative methodology was adopted. Data were collected from 57 principals of public primary and secondary schools who answered the open-ended questions of an online questionnaire. Written answers were analyzed using the method of thematic analysis. The analysis revealed that, given the adverse working conditions, principal–teacher relationships were affected to varying degrees and in different ways in each school unit. For forty-seven percent of principals, the relationships remained unaffected; for forty percent, the relationships worsened; and for thirteen percent, they became stronger. It was found that teacher-related factors (attitude towards increased duties/obligations and ability to manage stress and fear), as well as work climate-related factors (communication and interaction, togetherness, and pre-existing work climate) contributed to the course of principal–teacher relations amid the pandemic. The findings provide practical and theoretical implications for school leadership and human resources management in a crisis context.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleftheria Spyropoulou & Theodore Koutroukis, 2024. "Principal–Teacher Relationships Under the Pressure of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Critical Factors and Implications for School Leadership During Crises," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-13, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:209-:d:1501512
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/10/209/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/14/10/209/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:14:y:2024:i:10:p:209-:d:1501512. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.