Transformational school leadership and the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceptions of teachers in Cyprus

Abstract

The role of contextual factors has been highlighted in the school leadership literature. This points to the importance of examining the extent to which leadership models apply to, or are useful in, specific contexts. The paper investigates the extent to which school leaders adopted transformational leadership behaviours and practices during the pandemic crisis based on the perceptions of teachers. Qualitative research was conducted with 30 primary school teachers in Cyprus. The findings of the research show that overall, school leaders used behaviours and practices associated with transformational leadership to a great extent. Of the five transformational leadership dimensions proposed by Bass and Avolio, teachers were more likely to report weaknesses in the area of individualised consideration. Moreover, the perceptions of teachers suggest that the behaviours and practices of school leaders during the pandemic crisis can be linked to different leadership conceptualisations and/or models. The paper provides implications regarding educational policy and practice.