Abstract
This study examines how teacher classroom leadership is enacted and how it shapes student emotions in lower secondary-level EFL classrooms in Türkiye. Adopting a microecological perspective, the study employed a descriptive case study design and a multi-informant methodology, including teacher and student interviews, open-ended surveys, reflective journals, and classroom observations. Findings indicate that effective EFL classroom leadership is perceived as an integration of three core competencies: instructional expertise, strong interpersonal rapport, and effective classroom management. Relational qualities, such as empathy, fairness, and emotional support, were consistently identified as central to effective classroom leadership. Positive student emotions, including enjoyment, enthusiasm, and hope, were fostered by supportive teacher behaviors, engaging and varied pedagogies, and a calm, equitable approach to discipline. Negative emotions, such as boredom, anxiety, and sadness, were often linked to unclear instruction, perceived unfairness, or inconsistent classroom management. From these findings, the Connect–Engage–Manage (CEM) Model was developed, framing EFL classroom leadership as the interplay between building rapport (Connect), sustaining learner motivation through interactive and adaptive pedagogy (Engage), and maintaining an emotionally supportive, structured learning environment (Manage). Pedagogical implications highlight the importance of embedding relational, pedagogical, and managerial competencies into teacher training and professional development to enhance both language learning and emotional well-being. The study recommends fostering emotionally responsive leadership practices, integrating student-centered activities, and promoting flexible, adaptive management strategies in EFL classrooms.
Plain Language Summary
This study examines how English teachers’ leadership behaviors influence students’ emotions in lower secondary schools in Türkiye. Drawing on interviews, open-ended surveys, classroom observations, and student journals, the findings show that students thrive when teachers are kind, cheerful, fair, and emotionally present. Student-centered activities, respectful discipline, and strong teacher–student relationships foster motivation, happiness, and active participation. By contrast, unclear instructions, inconsistent discipline, or emotional distance generate frustration and disengagement. To capture these insights, the study proposes the Connect-Engage-Manage (CEM) Model, which highlights three essential areas of classroom leadership: building emotional connection with students, engaging them through meaningful activities, and managing classrooms with calm, consistent authority. The findings underscore the practical value of emotionally supportive and composed teacher leadership in promoting student well-being and participation, offering teachers concrete strategies for creating more positive and effective English learning environments.
Introduction
In an era when teaching is no longer limited to sharing information and managing a classroom, but rather is about a much more multifaceted and multiperspective approach aligning with the complex demands of contemporary education, leadership stands as one property that fundamentally shapes the learning environment. It has long been acknowledged that classrooms function as small-scale organizational settings where the application of leadership theories is relevant (Cheng, 1994; Leithwood & Jantzi, 2000). Leaderful organizations seek to leverage individual expertise and capabilities by responding to diverse needs and learning objectives and given that language classrooms similarly comprise learners with varying goals, needs and expectations, the integration of leaderful practices in such settings holds promise for enhancing educational effectiveness (Egitim, 2025; Kang & Zhu, 2022).
Classroom leadership as one area of teacher leadership has drawn scholarly interest since early 1990s (Baba & Ace, 1989; Cheng, 1994). In a recent review, leadership has been identified as one of the components of a good language teacher (Ngo & Nguyen, 2025). Indeed, even though the classroom leadership concept is not explicitly emphasized in teachers’ conceptions, it is inherently integrated into teaching practices (Greenier & Whitehead, 2016; Warren, 2021). Defined as “the actions teachers take to create an environment that supports and facilitates both academic and social-emotional learning” (Ertesvåg, 2009, p. 515), classroom leadership roles include managing classroom effectively, inspiring and motivating students, reinforcing participation, establishing effective communication, promoting cooperation, problem solving and creativity, and encouraging desirable student behaviors (Barbuto, 2000; Can, 2009).
EFL classroom leadership literature highlights the importance of strong teacher-student relationships in creating supportive and successful learning environments (Greenier, 2023; MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012; Oxford, 2016) and determining the effectiveness of EFL classrooms (Frymier & Houser, 2000; Khany & Ghasemi, 2021). The establishment of a trusting and supportive relationship between teachers and students fosters a secure learning environment. A classroom where positive teacher-student relationships prevail can nurture self-confidence, optimism, and enjoyment of learning, and cultivating positive emotions such as hope and pride (Shao et al., 2020), significantly influencing motivation and learning outcomes (Pekrun, 2023; Pekrun et al., 2002). Given the validated significance of motivation as the prerequisite for all other factors that influence foreign language learning (Dörnyei, 1998), emotions deserve a closer scrutiny in second/foreign (L2) research.
Improving classroom climate is among teachers’ leadership roles (Lantolf & Swain, 2019; Sherrill, 1999), and an essential component of classroom climate is emotions (Alonso-Tapia & Nieto, 2019). In second language acquisition, affective factors are consistently identified as critical influences on learners’ trajectories (Figueiredo & Silva, 2008, 2009). Students’ emotions fundamentally influence their engagement, learning achievement (Wang et al., 2023), sense of agency (Chen et al., 2025), and academic satisfaction (Iqbal et al., 2024). Dewaele et al. (2019) metaphorize emotions as the heart of language learning, and argue that emotions have remained in the shadows for decades, and it is now time to attend to their presence, which is a shift that Prior (2019) characterizes as the affective turn. Apparently, the field is moving away from treating emotions as secondary to cognition, and from isolating them from the broader ecological and relational dynamics in which they are embedded. The adoption of positive psychology—a branch of psychology framing human strengths and virtues as central to a fulfilling life (Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 2011; Seligman, 2011)—in second language acquisition research (MacIntyre & Mercer, 2014; Oxford, 2016) might have accelerated this shift by repositioning emotions at the core of the learning process. This evolving focus on emotions may well highlight the teacher’s pivotal role in creating an environment that could potentially place emotional well-being centrally within effective educational frameworks.
The critical role of leader teachers in establishing a positive affective ecology in EFL classrooms is acknowledged in relevant literature (Karakus et al., 2021; Memari & Gholamshahi, 2020). According to Goleman et al. (2013, p. 5), the primary task of leadership is “driving emotions in the right direction.” Emotional support in language classrooms enables students to manage emotions naturally associated with language learning and fosters a positive self-perception as language learners (Alonso-Tapia & Nieto, 2019; Karakus et al., 2021; Méndez López, 2011). Research has documented creating an emotional discourse as one structural component of teacher leadership (Zydziunaite et al., 2021). However, scholarly work on classroom leadership is largely cumulated in the higher education context (Bogler et al., 2013; Bolkan et al., 2011; Harrison, 2013; Hoehl, 2008; Noland & Richards, 2014; Walumbwa et al., 2004), and research addressing classroom leadership EFL teachers and its affective outcomes at K-12 education is almost non-existent. To rectify this gap, this article aims to investigate classroom leadership in lower secondary-level English classrooms and the emotions of students associated with teacher classroom leadership.
Theoretical Framework
This article is grounded in three theories: Sociocultural Learning Theory, Emotional Response Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory. Vygotsky’s (1978)Sociocultural Learning Theory argues the crucial role of social environment and social interactions of the learner in the development of cognitive and affective domains of learning. Teachers’scaffolding and mediating roles as defined in this theoretical approach align with the presumptions of the present research regarding the active role of a leader teacher in students’ learning processes, including social and affective dimensions. Emotional Response Theory emphasizes engagement with the environment through emotionally mediated responses, reflecting the dynamic interplay between context and affect. It has been adapted to educational contexts to examine how teachers’ communicative behaviors elicit emotional responses in students (Mottet et al., 2006; Jacobin & Johnson, 2025). It might therefore be considered a well-suited conceptual basis to identify the connection between teacher-student interaction and learner emotions. Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) is a framework that defines any setting where people interact as a system, and the ecology in this term refers to the interconnectedness between people and their environment within that system (Chong & Isaacs, 2023). Bronfenbrenner (1979) illustrated multiple-level nested ecologies; namely, chronosystem, macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem, and finally microsystem, ranging from the broadest (macro) to the immediate (micro) levels. The Ecological Systems Theory is now widely adopted in L2 research, specifically for areas like computer-assisted language learning, teacher education, assessment, and L2 instruction (Chong et al., 2023). According to Tudor (2003), a key principle of the ecological perspective is that it enables researchers to examine how learning revolves around the student and how each learner interacts with and adapts to their unique learning environment. This study is designed with a microecological perspective since language classrooms represent the micro-level ecology, where the learner is considered as the focal individual interacting with other students and the teacher (Chong et al., 2023), and therefore, where teacher leadership behaviors and peer dynamics form the immediate context potentially influencing learner’s emotional responses to learning. While acknowledging that emotions are shaped by a constellation of influences operating across ecological levels as well as intrapersonal determinants such as motivation, perseverance, or resilience (Oxford, 2016), the present study deliberately adopts a microecological lens to foreground the immediate, situated dynamics of the classroom, where emotions are most vividly enacted and observed. Figure 1 presents an illustration of the theoretical background of the study.
The theoretical framework of the study.
Literature Review
A growing body of scholarship has drawn on a diverse set of leadership frameworks to conceptualize teacher leadership within language pedagogy. In their recent review, Reinders et al. (2025) identify servant, distributed, shared, transformational, situational, generative, and authentic leadership as the most frequently cited models. Servant leadership prioritizes the needs and growth of followers, with constructs such as empathy and awareness demonstrated to apply to EFL classrooms (Stewart, 2012; Yousofi & Rahimzad, 2024). Distributed and shared leadership both conceptualize leadership as collective and interactional, emphasizing the dispersal of responsibilities and multidirectional collaboration (Pearce & Conger, 2003; Spillane, 2005). Transformational leadership highlights vision-setting, motivation, and the cultivation of supportive learning cultures (Bass, 1985; Day et al., 2016; Pounder, 2014). Studies consistently link it to student satisfaction, motivation, participation, and various learning outcomes, including cognitive, affective, deep, and strategic learning (Bolkan & Goodboy, 2009, 2010, 2011; Bolkan et al., 2011; Harvey et al., 2003; Noland & Richards, 2014; Pounder, 2008, 2009). Situational leadership signifies adaptability to followers’ developmental levels (Meier, 2016), and in the classroom context, it concerns teachers’ ability to “accurately assess who needs what instruction when” (White & Greenwood, 2002, p. 30). More recently, generative leadership has focused on problem-framing and idea generation (Bushe, 2019), while authentic leadership emphasizes trust and respect as the foundation of teacher–student relationships (Whitehead & Greenier, 2019). Collectively, these models point to the multidimensional nature of teacher leadership, attesting to its potential to be enacted through a variety of relational, adaptive, and collaborative practices within educational contexts.
Research on EFL classroom leadership remains at an early stage, with only a limited number of studies attempting its conceptualization or measurement. In a conceptual paper, Greenier (2023) frames it around teacher engagement and the cultivation of supportive learning environments, while Whitehead and Greenier (2019) highlight passion, rapport, purpose, and flexibility as defining qualities from the viewpoints of learners. From teachers’ perspectives, Gokgoz-Kurt and Karaferye (2023) report effective management, positive teacher-student relationships and effective learning environments as the indicators of effective EFL leadership. The field has been advanced by the development of a classroom leadership scale (Khany & Ghasemi, 2021), yet its validation across diverse contexts is still lacking.
Although still nascent and fragmented, research on EFL classroom leadership has increasingly demonstrated its multidimensional role in shaping both instructional quality and learner outcomes. Studies consistently highlight transformational leadership as a facilitative force, linked to teachers’ classroom management and reflective thinking (Khany & Ghoreyshi, 2013), and students’ autonomy (Erdel & Takkaç, 2019). Yet cultural factors also mediate its enactment, with Schenck (2024) showing that Confucian values shape Korean learners’ preferences for more hierarchical forms of transformational leadership. Extending beyond transformational models, authentic and pedagogical leadership approaches emphasize alignment with effective teaching practices, teacher education, and curriculum design (Greenier & Whitehead, 2016; Zhang et al., 2024). Recent scholarship further connects classroom leadership with teacher self-efficacy (Wang, 2024), professional identity (Egitim, 2025), and pedagogical innovation (Nguyen et al., 2025), suggesting that teacher leadership in EFL is best understood as a dynamic, context-responsive practice that enhances both teacher agency and student engagement.
Parallel to these developments, a growing body of work underscores the affective dimension of classroom leadership. Transformational leadership, in particular, has been shown to support students’ psychological needs, foster well-being, and mitigate frustration (Jacobin & Johnson, 2025; Moreno-Casado et al., 2022; Peng & Wang, 2025). Other research highlights how leadership behaviors shape learner reticence (Kang & Zhu, 2022) and enhance engagement by regulating classroom emotional climate (Wang et al., 2024). Collectively, these findings converge on the view that effective classroom leadership extends beyond instructional competence; it entails the orchestration of relational and emotional dynamics that underpin both student participation and well-being.
Significance and Aim of the Study
Recognizing teachers as leaders in EFL instruction highlights the relational aspects of teaching, extending beyond grammar and vocabulary to shaping learning environments and student development (DeDeyn, 2021). Teacher leadership styles that foster a positive classroom climate and emotional performance are crucial for both teacher development and education (Cheng, 1994). However, research on teacher leadership in lower secondary schools and its impact on students’ emotions remains underexplored. Such research would benefit teachers, school administrations, policymakers, and researchers by promoting emotionally intelligent leadership, informed policies, and interdisciplinary discussions on educational leadership and affective learning. This study aims to scrutinize EFL classroom leadership, both as perceived and tangibly performed, in secondary school classrooms and the influence of teacher leadership on students’ emotions. From these objectives, the following research questions arose:
How is teacher leadership enacted in secondary-level Turkish EFL classrooms?
How does classroom leadership influence students’ emotions in secondary-level Turkish EFL classrooms?
Method
The study was conceptualized as a descriptive case study embedded within a microecological perspective and theoretically grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) Ecological Systems Theory. Within classroom research, an ecological orientation positions the learning process as situated in a dynamic constellation of interdependent elements, encompassing teacher and learner actions, interactional practices, and language use (van Lier, 2010). The inquiry was guided by an interpretive stance privileging “meaning in the particular” over “meaning in the general” (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 27), thereby aligning with methodological traditions of qualitative inquiry that emphasize depth, contextual specificity, and ecological validity. This attempt to achieve a fine-grained understanding of a rarely examined phenomenon in an idiosyncratic setting mirrors the epistemological commitments and methodological rigor characteristic of case study research. To generate rich, context-sensitive accounts of the classroom’s emotional and interpersonal climate, a multi-informant design was adopted, incorporating teacher and student interviews, open-ended student surveys, unstructured observational field notes, and reflective student journals. Primary data for the analysis were drawn from equally weighted observations, interviews, and the survey, which collectively informed the central findings. Reflective journals were incorporated as ancillary evidence, with their role constrained by their primary focus on the second research question and by the gap in completion rates among participants, as further elucidated below.
Setting and Participants
The study was conducted in two Turkish lower-secondary schools. English language education is compulsory from grades 5 to 8, as outlined by the Ministry of National Education (MoNE). The curriculum focuses on developing students’ listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills, with recent reforms emphasizing learner-centered approaches, real-life contexts, and technology integration. Teachers follow the MoNE curriculum using prescribed course books, and weekly class hours are typically 4.
After obtaining ethical committee approval and the official permissions from MoNE, I selected the schools and participants through personal networks and school visits. I conducted surveys and interviews in a pilot school (reflective journals and observations were not a part of the pilot), and based on participant feedback, both instruments were refined for improved clarity and comprehensibility, primarily by simplifying the lexicon and rephrasing complex statements to enhance respondent understanding.
Three volunteer teachers from two schools participated in the main study. The study focused on 7th and 8th grade classrooms because the students’ mental and social skills are more advanced at this stage. Their developmental readiness, specifically their capacity for abstract thought and their relatively acute awareness of social dynamics and autonomy, ensures they are credible and reliable informants on the multifaceted concept of teacher classroom leadership. Once the consent forms (participant forms for teachers and parental consent forms for students) were obtained, surveys were administered to students, and interviews were conducted with both the teachers and the students. Reflective journals were randomly assigned to six volunteer students (two from each teacher’s class). All participants were clearly informed that participation was voluntary and that their data would be held in strict confidence. Pseudonyms were used for the teachers, and student participants were anonymized as S1 to S17. Table 1 shows the details.
Information About Participating Students and Observations.
A total of 64 students from the classes of three teachers completed the surveys. For in-depth qualitative insights, 17 volunteer students were interviewed. Six reflective journals were assigned (Selin: 2, Naz: 2, Arzu: 2); whereas four returned. Classroom observations totaled 31 hr.
Data Collection and Analysis Procedure
Research data were collected over a four-week period in the second semester of the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
Observations
The microecological perspective of the study required classroom observations to gather insights into teacher-student interactions (Hafen et al., 2015). Unstructured and non-participant, I observed the actions, expressions, and interactions of teachers and students, and made reflective notes. The ecological validity of the observations was preserved through unobtrusive and non-intrusive presence with minimal interaction to avoid cueing or influencing the participants. The observation notes were carefully transcribed and organized with contextual details. Through content analysis, I systematically categorized the data to reveal recurring themes.
Surveys
I administered a two-section survey at the end of observed classes (see Supplemental materials). The students were asked to identify ten teacher qualities associated with EFL classroom leadership and to specify the emotions triggered by these teachers during English lessons. To ensure clarity, a simple definition of classroom leadership was provided, and the emotional responses were based on the paper by Pekrun et al. (2002). The survey took about 10 min to complete, and 64 valid forms were collected. After several cycles of content analysis, overlapping terms were merged, and frequency tables were created.
Interviews
Interviews were conducted after the observations and surveys, with separate protocols (see Supplemental materials) for the teachers and students, though the questions were conceptually similar. The interview questions were developed after a thorough literature review; those about classroom leadership were particularly informed by Greenier and Whitehead (2016) and Whitehead and Greenier (2019). Both protocols addressed participants’ perceptions and experiences regarding EFL classroom leadership and associated student emotions. All interview recordings were transcribed and analyzed using Quirkos software for inductive thematic analysis, allowing for the development of categories based on the participants’ experiences (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
Reflective Journals
As shown in Table 1, six students were asked to keep reflective journals during the research period, writing about their feelings and the sources after each English lesson. However, two students did not return the journals. The remaining journals were included in the data as valuable supplementary information. The journals were analyzed inductively to identify codes and emerging themes.
To enhance the study’s trustworthiness and mitigate limitations of being a sole investigator, both methodological and data source triangulation were employed. By integrating multiple data collection methods—interviews, observations, journals, and surveys—and gathering diverse perspectives, the study cross-validated findings for a more comprehensive understanding. This triangulated approach strengthened the analysis’s depth, credibility, and confirmability. Data source triangulation also minimized shared variance bias (Hernández et al., 2016). Intra-coder reliability was ensured through recursive and multiple organization and categorization of data. Finally, the overall data analysis process was overviewed with a field expert holding a doctoral degree in applied linguistics through peer debriefing sessions in order to mitigate the researcher’s bias. The researcher had no prior relationships with the teachers, students, or school administrations.
Findings
Research Question 1: How is Teacher Leadership Enacted in the Secondary-Level Turkish EFL Classroom?
Students’ Perspectives
Interviews
Student interviews provided valuable data regarding their perceptions of classroom leadership. Figure 2 below illustrates their conceptualizations of leadership, good EFL teachers, and EFL classroom leadership.
Codes, categories, and themes for student responses.
Students associated leadership with generosity, authority, empathy, tolerance, and discipline. Leadership was seen as a balance of authority and democracy, with leaders being empathetic and non-prejudiced. Other essential traits included sincerity, benevolence, inspiration, and efficiency in decision-making, reflecting the students’ appreciation for both personal qualities and practical leadership skills.
Good EFL teachers were conceptualized as engaging students through fun and diversified activities, ensuring that all students are encouraged to participate. Supportive teaching was emphasized, with a focus on clear, adequate practical instructions and responsiveness to students’ needs, particularly in making lessons accessible. Classroom management skills, such as avoiding verbal aggression, maintaining discipline, and demonstrating patience, were seen as crucial. Additionally, students emphasized the importance of building strong rapport through empathy, tolerance, fairness, cheerfulness, kindness, and care.
As regards student perceptions of EFL classroom leadership, illustrative excerpts from the student responses regarding their English teachers’ leadership features are presented below:
S5: When she enters the classroom, everybody gets happy, stops speaking and listens to her. (Classroom management—rapport—discipline) S14: She is so nice and kind to her students. (Rapport—benevolence) S9: She is such a good teacher … She knows and teaches English very well. (Pedagogical skills, field knowledge) S9: She never favors successful students over the others; she makes effort for the less successful. (Rapport—fairness) S5: She gave us extra writing so that we could understand the topic better. (Pedagogical skills—fostering comprehension) S2: She places great importance on speaking activities. She gets our attention with meaningful things. (Pedagogical skills—communicative activities and meaningful interaction) S17: She gives us extra time when we cannot memorize (vocabulary), she would never get angry about it. (Rapport—flexibility and tolerance) S2: She is usually a calm teacher, but when she wants to make her words listened to, she adjusts her voice very effectively. (Communication skill—adjusting tone of voice)
The analysis revealed that effective EFL leadership involves a blend of interpersonal sensitivity, emotional rapport, and structured classroom management, with traits like empathy, tolerance, and fairness central to both teaching and leadership. It emphasizes the importance of fostering comprehension, communication, and a positive learning environment in EFL classrooms.
Open-Ended Surveys
Survey data were analyzed and categorized into instructional and interpersonal themes. The results are presented in Table 2.
Codes for EFL Classroom Leadership.
The results showed that students prioritized interpersonal traits like affection, kindness, and respect, highlighting the importance of emotional support in effective leadership. Emotional sensitivity and creating a positive, safe learning environment were also emphasized. In the instructional domain, engaging activities, effective teaching, and diverse methods were valued, with a focus on classroom management and corrective feedback.
Teachers’ Perspectives
Teacher interviews culminated in three themes denoting the conceptualization of (1) leadership and leader teacher, (2) the good EFL teacher, and (3) EFL classroom leadership. The classroom leadership category consisted of three subcategories: EFL classroom leadership roles, leadership features, and leadership self-image.
Leadership Conceptualized
Teachers’ conceptions of leadership shared standard features like discipline and immediacy, with Arzu linking leadership to authority and Selin emphasizing effective classroom organization. Both highlighted emotional bonds as key to teacher leadership. Altruism and inspiration were also necessary, with Selin referencing Atatürk’s leadership and Naz discussing an inspiring university instructor. Distinct traits included authenticity and emotional transparency.
Good EFL Teacher Conceptualized
Teachers highlighted key qualities of a good EFL teacher, with open-mindedness and professional development being central. Selin emphasized staying updated with technology and innovations, while Naz stressed self-development. Establishing positive teacher-student relationships was also crucial, with a focus on emotional attunement and regulation. Selin advocated for a cheerful and calm demeanor, and Naz emphasized the impact of emotional control on students. Arzu highlighted linguistic competence and balanced classroom authority, ensuring students felt comfortable while maintaining discipline.
EFL Classroom Leadership Conceptualized
The analysis of teacher responses revealed three interrelated categories for the conceptualization of EFL classroom leadership: leadership roles, leadership features, and leadership self-image. The codes and categories of this theme are illustrated in Table 3.
Categories of EFL Classroom Leadership Conceptualization.
Teachers conceptualized their leadership roles as encompassing key instructional and classroom management practices, including establishing authority, motivating students, promoting participation, giving corrective feedback, distributing leadership, monitoring student progress, and providing clear instructions. Sample quotations:
Arzu: … the ability to maintain control, manage students during class, and have them listen to the lesson. (Establishing authority) Naz: Involving passive students in classes without intimidating them, saying “you can do this, just come and try,” which is actually encouraging them. (Promoting participation) Selin: In today’s system, we have to keep students active, and the teacher should not be at the center. Teacher and students must do this task together. (Distributing leadership) Naz: (…) when we give instructions, we tell them what we expect from them. (Clear instructions) Naz: and feedback … telling students what the mistake is and discussing why. (Corrective feedback) Arzu: … attracting students’ attention and motivation. (Motivating students)
The leadership roles were supported by a range of personal and interpersonal features including being consistent, fair, cheerful, responsive, flexible, caring, and demonstrating individualized consideration and idealized influence—traits typically associated with transformational leadership. Excerpts to exemplify each attributed EFL leadership characteristic feature are as follows:
Arzu: One has to be consistent to have an influence on students, and not act differently from 1 day to the next. (Consistent) Arzu: (…) students should not be discriminated against, no matter what, they should be treated equally. (Fair) Selin: … has to be friendly, not sulky but cheerful. (…) Who would like to listen to a strict or constantly sulking person? (Friendly and cheerful) Naz: There must be permanent learning rather than teaching all content because when you try to catch up with the curriculum, I see that students do not learn at all. (Flexible) Naz: Sometimes it is necessary to meet the students outside, calling them at break times, and if needed, show guidance. (Caring and mentoring) Naz: We must monitor them. So monitoring the developmental process of the students and seeing if they have any special needs (…), you understand that every child is unique (…). (Individualized consideration) Naz: (…) teachers can change the emotional world of the kids. (…) sometimes you want to be a role model for them, maybe in choosing their future fields (of study); our words should not discourage them. (Idealized influence)
The teachers’ leadership self-images included both shared and unique traits. Arzu focused on being respectful, fair, and authoritative, employing effective teaching practices while acknowledging her limited leadership. Selin, also embracing a non-dominant leadership identity, emphasized insightfulness, flexibility, rapport, student-centeredness, and discipline. Naz highlighted ethical grounding and innovation, alongside fairness, classroom management, and rapport, prioritizing values like freedom of expression, social responsibility, and transparency. Selected statements are below.
Arzu: not humiliating students (…) and without discriminating, respecting their differences (showing respect and fairness) (…) at the same time, maintaining the discipline and authority in the classroom. (Authority) Selin: Knowing students well, in all ways, personally and all their families … that is how I could have some influence. (Insightful) Arzu: I remember having done a group work activity once. (…) I could see the influence. (Engaging activities) Selin: (…) generally speaking, I do not consider myself as a good leader. (Limited leadership) Arzu: Honestly, in my social context, not just in the classroom, I do not think I have leadership features. (Limited leadership) Selin: … it always changes according to the lesson or the activity. I think I am a flexible leader. (Flexibility) Naz: I think I would describe myself as cheerful. I enter classrooms smiling to energize the kids. (Building rapport) Selin: (…) I use different techniques. Sometimes I use a picture, as in the direct method; I usually use realia. (…) Sometimes I return to the grammar translation method and explain a tense. (Using different methods) Naz: I like this freedom zone I created in my classes. They can speak about anything. (…). (Freedom of speech). Naz: (…) I have lists throughout the year. When they come and ask why (about assessment), I show them their behaviors. (Transparency) Naz: I tell my students to talk about irrelevant issues at the end or beginning of the class. If I have 20 min for a task, I give the 20-min lesson its due. (Task management) Naz: (…) I grade classroom behaviors and participation separately. (…) I keep telling them not to interrupt others and warn them when they do so. (Setting classroom rules) Naz: When we work on the internet (topic), I try to cover cyberbullying, harassment, and all kinds of things. We talk about so many things, from the greenhouse gas effect at the poles to everything else. (Value-oriented) Naz: I ask them to be the teacher (…) I personally do my best to practice the different and to be better. (Innovative) Naz: They will be integrated into the society and be doctors, dentists, or people we come across at markets. I consider this as preparing the infrastructure of the society. (Social responsibility)
The teachers’ views on EFL classroom leadership and effective teaching overlapped in key areas, including the importance of teacher-student relationships, classroom authority, and professional competence. Leadership was also linked to transformational traits such as motivating students, distributing leadership, and idealized influence, emphasizing a dynamic approach to classroom management. Notably, Naz’s perspective stood out for its focus on value-driven, socially conscious leadership and her inclination to transform students.
Observation Notes
Based on the observation data, classroom leadership behaviors varied considerably across the teachers’ instructional practices, classroom management, emotional climate, and approach to language teaching. The findings are organized into teacher profiles to reflect their distinct enactment of leadership.
Arzu’s Case
Arzu’s instructional approach seemed to rely predominantly on traditional methods, and the use of the mother tongue was observed to be consistent. The excerpts below illustrate this:
Excerpt 1: Isolated word lists are written on the board. She is asking who memorized them. The medium of instruction is Turkish. Excerpt 2: She explains “comparatives.” She briefly talked about the form; no context is given. (…) All instructions are in Turkish; there is very limited use of English.
Her classroom presence showed signs of frustration and disengagement, evident in frequent raised voices and difficulty maintaining student attention. While she acknowledged the importance of discipline and authority during the interview, challenges were observed with classroom control and student engagement. The following excerpt reflects this finding:
Excerpt 3: She walks between desks, trying to control the class, but she is doing this with frustration and scolding, without any emotional rapport, so it is not effective. The class defocuses when she turns her back. Excerpt 4: There is a lot of loud-voiced scolding, which is formidable and makes a tense atmosphere, but the effect disappears very quickly. Excerpt 5: She has big reactions to minor misbehaviors; maybe she has no tolerance anymore. She gets frustrated at a student who needs to wash his hands, and to another student who just reads the wrong item.
Clear instructions and smooth lesson transitions were not evident, which led to overlapping student voices and occasional inattentiveness. The following excerpt illustrates this:
Excerpt 6: She asks the activity questions to the whole class, so voices are overlapping. Excerpt 7: There are very long breaks between activities. One class hour is wasted with trivial talk, and very little progress was made. Excerpt 8: Minutes pass until an activity starts. Students are chatting right now. Nobody knows what is waited for. Her phone rings and she leaves the class. Excerpt 9: Without focusing the class on the activity, she reads vocabulary from the smart board, nobody is listening. Students have lost their attention. The teacher started to talk about an irrelevant topic. Twenty min have passed since the class began, but the activity has not been started.
The following excerpt illustrates the confusion caused by limited instruction and monitoring:
Excerpt 10: She started a listening activity without noting what page it was on or what the students should do. When the audio was finished, students seemed confused. She explained the task afterwards. Seeing that students still had difficulty in understanding, she skipped the activity completely.
Teacher responses were generally brief, and opportunities for formative feedback or active monitoring appeared limited:
Excerpt 11: There is no feedback to student responses. She accepts correct answers with silence and makes superficial corrections to incorrect ones. Excerpt 12: She started a listening activity without specifying the page from the book. Some students asked the page, but she did not respond. She sat at her desk and did not monitor students as they listened to the audio. She did not accept the students’ request to listen for a second time.
Despite these challenges, there were times she displayed tendencies to build immediacy and show interest, but such cases were rare and relatively less effective since instructional and managerial shortcomings followed them:
Excerpt 13: She invited distracted students to participate. She went next to them, patting their back, showing warmth, but soon afterwards she threatened those making noise with grading.
In summary, Arzu struggled with effective leadership. She was observed to rely on traditional methods and frequent use of the mother tongue, limiting her pedagogical effectiveness. Formative feedback, clear directives, and emotional disengagement were not practiced.
Selin’s Case
Selin demonstrated a more neutral and occasionally restrained leadership profile in her classroom practices. While she appeared to enter lessons with a general plan, her teaching practices did not seem to align with recognized approaches to L2 pedagogy, although she stated otherwise in the interview. Her use of the target language, as in Arzu’s case, was relatively limited, and instructional scaffolding was not always prominent. In most activities, the focus was on the content rather than the language, which extensively restricted students’ exposure to L2. A memo reflects this:
Excerpt 14: It feels like the objective of this class is not teaching a language but the content (…). There is just a word-level elicitation, again in Turkish, for example, asking “Ay kimin uydusu? [moon is the satellite of what?] to get the response ‘earth’.”
Corrective feedback was observed to be minimal, and correct answers were not consistently reinforced:
Excerpt 15: All instructions, eliciting questions, and explanations are in Turkish (…). Task instruction is minimal. She asks probing questions but passes to the next without giving any feedback to the responses.
Students with signs of disengagement or passivity were not actively redirected. Despite addressing behavioral issues, she tended to be reactive:
Excerpt 16: Students seem to be lost due to the lack of sufficient and clear instruction (…). They seem so uninterested. They make irrelevant jokes. Even when she warns them, she continues with the next activity without any intervention.
Despite these patterns, there were occasional displays of tolerance and emotional warmth, though they seemed to occur irregularly. In one memo, I interpret this as follows:
Excerpt 17: She seems to have a good harmony with the class, but even if she approaches the students with sincerity, that does not encourage the distracted student to participate. More clearly, her immediacy has no effect on her teaching efficacy.
To summarize, Selin’s leadership profile was marked by neutrality and occasional detachment, with instructional practices that often deviated from effective L2 pedagogy. Limited use of English, minimal scaffolding, and inconsistent feedback constrained language exposure and learner engagement. While instances of warmth and tolerance emerged sporadically, they lacked consistency and did not substantially enhance instructional efficacy.
Naz’s Case
Naz demonstrated a student-centered and emotionally responsive leadership style. She consistently used the target language while balancing students’ needs for clarification. Attentive to pronunciation and grammar, she provided both teacher-led and peer feedback, often framing corrections in a constructive, non-threatening manner. The following excerpt illustrates these practices during a microteaching lesson:
Excerpt 18: She is having students give feedback to their friends’ microteaching. She warns students about taking turns and listening. She encourages students to speak English. She also gives feedback (…).
The excerpt below showcases how she attended to the students’ personal problems:
Excerpt 19: (…) She praises the class for their good behavior. She also reminds the students that they are graded with respect to their behaviors, politeness in particular.
Naz seemed to maintain a structured classroom environment, where transitions between tasks were smooth and students generally remained focused. Classroom expectations were conveyed clearly, off-task behavior was limited, and classroom rules were repeatedly reminded:
Excerpt 20: She starts the lesson by introducing the first activity. She kindly declines a student who asks an irrelevant question and continues the activity.
Additionally, her use of collaborative and communicative activities suggested an intention to promote participation. Below are example cases:
Excerpt 21: (…) She transformed the activity into collaborative group work. Each row is working on the vocabulary activity. She monitors the groups and give feedback. Excerpt 22: One of the students wants to create a sentence with a different structure. She encourages the student and elicits the relevant vocabulary and correct language form.
Affective indicators of leadership were also evident in her interactions. She appeared cheerful, tolerant, and emotionally available, frequently using verbal and non-verbal behaviors that conveyed encouragement and support:
Excerpt 23: She calls for students’ attention with kind words, not shouting at or scolding anyone. She silences them calmly and reasonably. She walks between the desks during a listening activity, monitoring students’ comprehension. She touches and pats students and shows individual interest.
At times, she was observed to provide affective scaffolding by showing understanding when students struggled. She reinforced positive behavior:
Excerpt 24: She administers a vocabulary game for 15 min. The students with the highest number of correct words get bonus marks. The majority of the class takes part in the activity. There is entertaining competitiveness.
Naz’s observed practices indicated a well-balanced leadership style integrating pedagogical structure, emotional attunement, and student empowerment. Her profile reflected a capacity for both managing the classroom effectively and nurturing learners’ motivation and engagement.
Research Question 2: How Does Classroom Leadership Influence Students’ Emotions in Secondary-Level Turkish EFL Classrooms?
Students’ Perspectives
Interviews
The categorization of student emotions related to their teachers’ classroom leadership is shown in Figure 3.
Categories for learner emotions theme (student perspectives).
Student responses reflected positive emotions such as happiness, excitement, calmness, enthusiasm, and motivation, all linked to supportive teacher behaviors like fairness, encouragement, emotional attentiveness, engaging activities, and a cheerful classroom presence. The quotations below illustrate the codes for positive feelings:
S13: Our teacher told us English is easy and it will be easier if we study hard. She motivated us to study. That made me feel good. (Feeling good when motivated) S14: I feel excited when we do a lot of activities. That feels good. And my teacher uses a lot of activities. That raises our excitement. (Excited) S11: She cares about us. (…) About a week ago, I stood up to answer a question in class and fell. All my friends laughed at me, and I was embarrassed. The teacher came next to me, stood me up, and cheered me up. I felt so positive. (Happy when the teacher shows interest) S5: I want to study more for her lessons. (Enthusiasm) S15: We were playing a game from the smart board. The boys did not behave, but the teacher did not allow them to disturb us and spoil the game. That made me happy. (Happy when treated fairly/equally) S6: My teacher is so friendly. She makes jokes, caresses our head. She is so sympathetic in class. (Happy when the teacher is cheerful/fun) S16: I had difficulty in making sentences. (…) Then she said “let’s do it together.” (Encouraged/motivated)
The following quotations illustrate students’ negative emotional responses associated with specific classroom dynamics and teacher behaviors:
S10: I find the classes a bit boring. (…) I do not think that it is about the teacher. She speaks in another language after all, and sometimes she does not regulate her tone of voice. Maybe that is why… (Bored) S13: Sometimes I cannot answer some questions, and that gives me anxiety. (Anxiety/fear of failure) S6: She sometimes comes in an angry mood when she is the hall monitor or a student frustrates her. When she arrives in that mood, we do not feel well either. (Upset for the teacher’s frustration) S4: My classmates talk a lot, and the teacher just sits there, doing nothing about it. (…) She just gives up. I feel bad about it. I feel both sorry and upset. (Upset for the teacher’s indifference) S1: One day, when I was passing by the teacher, I did the moon walk. She asked me why I did it and then gave me a poor grade. I did nothing wrong there. It was unfair, and I was demoralized. (Unfair treatment)
The students’ statements reflected a range of negative emotions linked to classroom experiences and teacher behaviors. Feelings of boredom and disengagement were attributed to limited voice modulation and overly calm delivery. Anxiety and fear of failure emerged when students struggled to answer questions. Some students expressed emotional discomfort due to the teacher’s frustration, indifference to disruptive behavior, or perceived unfair treatment, which appeared to influence their motivation and well-being in the classroom negatively.
Open-Ended Surveys
As presented in Figure 4, students experienced a broad spectrum of emotions in relation to their teachers during English lessons, with positive emotions generally prevailing. Enjoyment emerged as the most commonly expressed feeling, particularly in Naz’s classroom, where students frequently described moments of genuine fun and engagement during lessons. Joy related to success, along with feelings of satisfaction and hope, also featured prominently in students’ reflections. On the other hand, negative emotions—though less dominant—were still present and significant. Boredom stood out most clearly, intriguingly among Naz’s students. Sadness and anxiety also surfaced across the classrooms. The presence of these negative emotions highlights that while many students responded positively to their teachers’ leadership, certain teacher behaviors or classroom moments still had the potential to hinder emotional well-being. Together, these findings underscore the emotional complexity of language classrooms and the importance of teacher sensitivity and consistency in shaping students’ emotional experiences.
Survey results.
Reflective Journals
The students’ journal entries, though somewhat superficial, probably due to their age, still provided meaningful data. Their reflections encompassed a range of emotions, including positive ones like enjoyment, happiness, excitement, motivation, and enthusiasm, as well as negative ones such as sadness, anxiety, anger, boredom, and pessimism. Key factors influencing these emotions were tasks, assessments, and teacher behaviors. Games, group work, and competitions were linked to positive emotions, while exams were the primary source of negative feelings. Teacher-related behaviors, such as encouragement and a cheerful demeanor, were closely tied to positive emotions like happiness and motivation, as reported by Selim and Meltem (Naz’s students):
Selim: My teacher’s energy and happiness encouraged me to participate in the lesson as much as I can. Her happiness gave me happiness, too. Meltem: My teacher knew that I had already learnt the subject, and did not ask me any questions. I was so happy about this.
The teacher’s guidance also contributed to motivation, as reported by Sema (Selin’s student):
I was so excited because we had 2 days before the high school entrance exam. My teacher made a motivating speech, which elevated my self-confidence. Now I believe that I can do it.
Teachers’ perceived fairness and effective pedagogies indirectly fostered enjoyment and excitement. Meltem wrote: “We had a word competition and I was very excited about it.” Berfin (Selin’s student) also noted: “I was happy in class today because I enjoyed the class and could understand it.”
Teacher-related behaviors, including encouragement, recognition, and a cheerful demeanor, fostered students’ happiness, motivation, and energy. Teachers’ utilization of engaging activities, such as competitions and games, also boosted confidence, enjoyment, and excitement.
Teachers’ Perspectives
Teachers’ reflections on their contributions to students’ emotional well-being highlighted relational, pedagogical, and reflective practices, such as building rapport, using engaging activities, and creating a positive classroom atmosphere. Arzu and Selin emphasized rapport and emotional bonds. Arzu explained: “I believe that I extend my affection to my students. When they feel it, I get the same in response. So, I do not know, it is about mutual love.” Selin attributed her cheerful attitude to her students’ well-being: “I have not been that strict. Yes, they sometimes demoralize me, but I smile at them all the time. That made them feel comfortable, too.” Both Selin and Naz highlighted the impact of engaging activities on student emotions. Selin shared: “I use games at the end of each unit. (…) They kept talking about who would win the games when the units ended. That motivated them to learn much vocabulary.” Naz also used fun activities, such as a pronunciation game that entertained her students: “Once we played a pronunciation game, and the whole class was just struggling to pronounce words because there was a reward at the end. That lesson hour we had so much laughter and fun.” Naz’s approach to student emotions was unique. She motivated reluctant students with simple tasks and created a positive atmosphere by celebrating special days, having casual moments, and incorporating reflective writing: “Sometimes I start a paper game; it is more like I ask the students to just let it all out without writing their names or surnames. Such things also enable us to have some opinions about any serious problems.”
Overall, teacher interviews revealed efforts to reduce negative emotions through tolerance, individual attention, and varied methods, while promoting positive emotions via enjoyment, motivation, and engaging activities. Rapport and adaptability were central, with Naz standing out for her creative, relational, and reflective practices.
Observation Notes
Arzu’s Case
The observations indicated a generally low level of emotional engagement among students, characterized by indifference, lack of enthusiasm, and limited signs of enjoyment. Classroom behavior in some cases reflected disciplinary and respect-related issues and inattentiveness:
Excerpt 25: There are disrespectful behaviors. One student is whistling, and another is playing music and some others are playing practical jokes on one another. Also slang words…
Notes include moments in which students responded nonchalantly to reprimands and provided overly casual explanations for irresponsible behaviors, such as not bringing required materials. Also, a widespread lack of focus was observed; the distraction and hopelessness of some students were attributed to insufficient attention from the teacher in the observation notes:
Excerpt 26: When the usually indifferent students attempt to participate, their interest and effort remain unattended. I see that even the interested ones show their enthusiasm because of the lengthy time wasted between the activities.
In some classes, when the teacher’s warnings failed, students attempted to silence one another, creating a tense atmosphere with displays of anger among peers. The related note wrote:
Excerpt 27: Students talk to each other during a listening test, the teacher ignores them first, but then shows a sudden reaction of frustration, again yelling. Students also get angry with each other and yell(…).
Although some classrooms appeared more inclined to disengagement and undisciplined behaviors than others due to student profiles, comparable patterns were consistently observed across all of Arzu’s lesson hours.
Selin’s Case
In Selin’s classrooms, a range of student emotions shaped by teacher practices and peer interactions was observed. Students frequently displayed enjoyment, enthusiasm, and eagerness to participate, shown through their active engagement, competition for turns, and participation.
The students’ enthusiasm appeared to be largely independent of the teacher’s behavior, as her facial expressions remained predominantly neutral:
Excerpt 28: The classroom atmosphere is really positive. They seem very happy when they give correct answer to questions. The students’ enthusiasm does not receive any reaction from the teacher.
Furthermore, she showed verbal aggression as a reaction to noise, which was a natural outcome of interactive activities:
Excerpt 29: Students are enthusiastic about the group work, but they receive shouting and constant warnings from the teacher.
At the same time, instances of reluctance and indifference, specifically among some male students, were frequent, which was noted on multiple occasions:
Excerpt 30: Students seem to have lost their interest. An enthusiastic student stopped participating in the activity because of the teacher’s reprimand. Excerpt 31: Boys seem to be completely lost. They are so indifferent that their observed emotions are extraneous; they seem happy, but actually they are just joking around about something else.
Similarly, strict or angry reprimands were met with indifference by some students, yet in other cases resulted in demotivation, as in the example of one student:
Excerpt 32: Emrah (pseudonym) is an attentive student, but he is very energetic and talkative. He has a different energy. But this sometimes gets the teacher’s negative reaction. He gets demoralized then, and withdraws himself.
On rare occasions, Selin exhibited positive emotional involvement, seemingly in accordance with the collective classroom energy. Below is an illustration:
Excerpt 33: The overall class seems more interested than the other group. (…) Now I see the teacher cheerful and joking. She seems to enjoy teaching this class and to have a closer bond with this group. (…) Students are amused and enthusiastic to join.
Enjoyment, enthusiasm, and eagerness to participate were common, especially during collaborative tasks, technology use, and positive peer interactions. However, the teacher’s neutral expressions meant students’ enthusiasm often occurred independently of her emotional engagement, and in some cases, verbal reprimands led to demotivation or withdrawal. While strict reactions sometimes dampened participation, occasional moments of teacher positivity and humor aligned with increased student engagement and a more supportive classroom atmosphere.
Naz’s Case
The observations reflected a predominantly positive and cooperative classroom climate, with students demonstrating enthusiasm, happiness, and respectful and attentive behavior towards the teacher, listening quietly, following instructions, and refraining from disruption even when not actively participating.
Excerpt 34: There is a positive, calm classroom atmosphere, and there are no discipline or respect issues. I see higher enthusiasm in some exercises. More than half of the class want to participate, while those who do not sit in silence.
Many students exhibited emotional comfort and self-acceptance, as seen when they responded to their own pronunciation errors with laughter rather than frustration. However, some showed a tendency to become self-critical or display frustration or disappointment when making small mistakes. The following excerpt showcases the insights from the notes:
Excerpt 35: Students are enthusiastic. There is a short disappointment when their responses are not accepted, but they keep talking. They do not seem to worry or get demotivated about pronunciation mistakes; they are joking about it.
Teacher-student relationships appeared warm and amicable, with students showing enjoyment, initiating friendly interactions, and in some cases welcoming the teacher with applause and compliments. Instances of competitive excitement were also observed, such as restlessness and eager requests to participate, particularly during activities that offered extra points or in pair work, which also engaged otherwise disengaged students.
Excerpt 36: There is a friendly competition; students are enthusiastic to participate. Excerpt 37: Students giving correct answers seem very happy and satisfied, but those who do not get a chance to answer a question show permanent anger and protest.
Consistent patterns were observed in all lesson hours, and overall, the findings indicate that mutual respect, friendly rapport, and interactive learning opportunities play a key role in promoting student motivation, emotional engagement, and active participation in Naz’s classrooms.
Findings from interviews, reflective journals, observations, and surveys indicated that students’ emotions are closely linked to teachers’ attitudes, behaviors, and pedagogical methods. Positive feelings emerged when teachers were emotionally responsive, maintained fair and consistent discipline, and used engaging, student-centered techniques. Conversely, emotions such as frustration and disengagement often arose in response to teacher indifference, unpredictability, and poorly organized lessons. Overall, these patterns highlight the crucial role of teacher leadership in shaping the emotional climate of the classroom and in fostering the connection that supports active student engagement.
Discussion
The triangulated findings reveal both convergence and divergence across student, teacher, and observational perspectives on classroom leadership and its emotional outcomes. While students often perceived calmness, patience, and care as indicators of strong leadership, observations suggested that emotional neutrality or inconsistency could undermine engagement and classroom harmony. Similarly, teachers’ self-perceived empathy and motivation were not always mirrored in students’ emotional experiences, highlighting a gap between intention and impact. Taken together, it might be suggested that while the discourse of teacher leadership in EFL contexts is relationally grounded, its authentic realization in practice depends on the teacher’s ability to translate affective awareness into consistent pedagogical and managerial behaviors observable in daily classroom interactions.
Based on findings derived from all data sources, the Connect–Engage–Manage (CEM) Model (Figure 5) of EFL classroom leadership was developed for the present study. The first component, Connect, denotes the teacher’s capacity for rapport building. Evidence across all data sources underscored the critical role of relational competence, encompassing affectionate, empathetic, and approachable dispositions that enable teachers to foster emotionally supportive and respectful learning environments. It was prominently salient in the student perceptions of effective EFL teacher leadership that established strong rapport by exhibiting empathy and tolerance, fairness and integrity, cheerfulness, passion, care, kindness, and benevolence. The surveys comparably underscored students’ understanding of teacher interpersonal skills, such as being respectful, kind, friendly, cheerful, and caring, as prevailing core components. In teachers’ recognition, responsiveness, individual care, and exuberance featured as attributes of leader EFL teachers, and the observations suggested the efficacy of emotional availability, values-based teaching, avoidance of verbal aggression, and building a respectful classroom atmosphere.
Connect–Engage–Manage (CEM) model for EFL classroom leadership.
The Connect domain of the CEM Model aligns with research consistently highlighting the centrality of rapport-building and interpersonal skills in EFL teacher leadership, complementing pedagogical and subject-matter expertise to address the humanistic dimensions of language teaching (Greenier, 2023; Reinders et al., 2025). Learners often perceive caring actions, empathy, trust, and respect as defining features of effective teaching with teacher care, rapport, and immediacy shown to enhance motivation, engagement, willingness to communicate, performance, and L2 achievement (Warner & Diao, 2022; Xie & Derakhshan, 2021). Such perspectives conform to the evidence that students value relationship-building over authority in effective teacher leadership (Bondy et al., 2007; Whitehead & Greenier, 2019). Within the conceptualization of rapport building, individualized attention also emerged as a salient theme across multiple data sources. This was exemplified in Naz’s practice of emotional reflection, which demonstrated sensitivity to learners’ unique circumstances. Such findings resonate with earlier research identifying an individualized approach to students’ capabilities, weaknesses, and needs as a hallmark of effective classroom leadership (Harvey et al., 2003; Pounder, 2008, 2009; Zydziunaite et al., 2021).
The second dimension of the CEM Model is to engage learners, characterized by interactive, student-centered practices and adaptive pedagogy. Student perceptions, as reflected in both interviews and survey findings, involved engagement with attractive and varied types of activities through effective instructional practices. In the same vein, though in contrast to earlier research contending that teachers and students view leadership differently (Whitehead & Greenier, 2019), the teachers’ understanding of leading their classrooms effectively involved learner involvement with student-centered approaches and innovative practices. Observations comparably suggested the contributions of enjoyable activities, teacher monitoring, and constructive feedback to engaging students. The pedagogical significance of learner engagement is corroborated by, and in harmony with, extant empirical evidence identifying EFL instructors’ key leadership strengths as tailoring instruction to the needs and preferences of contemporary learners (Gokgoz-Kurt & Karaferye, 2023), and associating effective teaching with games and collaborative activities (Arıkan et al., 2008). In this study, flexibility was valued in both student perceptions and teacher reflections; for example, Naz prioritized learning over strict adherence to the curriculum—an interpretation that is reinforced by and accords with established evidence in the literature indicating that flexibility entails responsiveness to diverse needs, use of contemporary approaches, and balancing these with curricular demands (Greenier & Whitehead, 2016; Nguyen et al., 2025; Whitehead & Greenier, 2019; Zydziunaite et al., 2021).
Effective classroom management constitutes the third core component of the CEM Model. The convergence of students’ and teachers’ perspectives in this study positioned the maintenance of authority and discipline as a pivotal intersection between effective teaching and classroom leadership. Observational data underscored the pedagogical value of articulating and applying classroom rules with unwavering consistency, employing respectful yet assertive strategies to secure students’ attention, and managing tasks and instructional time with efficiency, as in Naz’s case. In contrast, lapses in discipline were associated with disengagement, apathy, and a consequent erosion of the learning environment’s quality, as in Arzu’s and, to some extent, Selin’s case. Based on these findings, the CEM Model explicitly incorporates calm discipline as an integral facet of classroom management—an approach that privileges composure, fairness, and predictability over coercion. This stance is reinforced by research demonstrating that the use of coercive power—defined as the imposition of punitive measures to influence student behavior—has deleterious effects on classroom climate and students’ affective outcomes (Cheng, 1994). Maintaining effective and equitable classroom management necessitates the clear communication of behavioral norms, expectations, and standards, coupled with the teacher’s capacity to enact them reliably and without recourse to hostility (Greenier & Whitehead, 2016).
The CEM Model was manifest in the study results regarding the relationship between EFL classroom leadership and learner emotions since the findings indicated the variably direct or indirect influence of rapport, effective pedagogies, and classroom management, the key components of CEM, on students’ positive and negative emotions. Within the Connect dimension of the CEM Model, the relationship between teacher leadership and student emotions is foregrounded through the centrality of rapport and emotional attunement. These findings corroborate earlier research contending that the relational and emotional dimensions of teaching require leaders in the classroom to continuously monitor, listen to, and, when necessary, actively elicit students’ emotional states while assessing their needs for learning support (Farrell, 2015). Furthermore, previous research also revealed that students’ satisfaction is influenced more by their perceptions of the teacher as a person than by leadership behaviors alone, highlighting the pivotal role of interpersonal impressions in shaping affective outcomes (Bogler et al., 2013). Collectively, the findings substantiate the Connect component of the CEM Model, demonstrating that teacher leadership rooted in relational competence directly influenced the emotional climate of the classrooms, with significant implications for student engagement and well-being.
The Engage dimension of the CEM Model underscores the role of teacher leadership in fostering active participation and sustaining an emotionally positive classroom climate. Convergent evidence from student interviews, survey data, and reflective journals, substantiated by findings obtained from both teacher interviews and observation notes, indicated that engaging instructional content and stimulating activities were consistently associated with significantly more positive student affective states and elevated emotional tone. For the advancement of both linguistic competence and learner well-being, L2 teachers require enhanced instructional practices that not only support language development but also strengthen the emotional tone of their classrooms (Dewaele et al., 2019). Engagement, a central construct in positive psychology (Wang et al., 2021), functions as both a driver and an outcome of positive emotional experiences; thus, teacher-led strategies that promote engagement directly contribute to cultivating enjoyment, motivation, and resilience. Empirical evidence similarly demonstrates heightened positive emotions such as enjoyment, hope, and pride, alongside reduced negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, shame, hopelessness, and boredom, when classroom activities and outcomes are perceived as meaningful and engaging (Shao et al., 2020). Consistent with these findings, Yeşilçınar and Erdemir (2023) advocate for the use of varied instructional techniques and learner-centered approaches to enhance enjoyment in EFL learning. Collectively, this body of research reinforces the Engage component of the CEM Model, demonstrating that well-designed, interactive, and student-centered pedagogical practices are pivotal in shaping learners’ emotional experiences and sustaining their commitment to the learning process.
The Manage dimension of the CEM Model emphasizes the leadership role of teachers in creating a well-structured, emotionally supportive classroom environment that regulates and sustains student engagement. Observational data particularly substantiated the practical value of consistent, respectful management strategies in sustaining students’ affective well-being. Empirical evidence indicates that learners’ emotions—specifically foreign language enjoyment, classroom anxiety, and boredom—are interrelated and exert significant influence on their engagement in learning activities (Wang et al., 2023). Within the CEM framework, Manage entails employing calm discipline, equitable regulation, and structuring of classroom interactions to ensure that these emotional dynamics are channeled towards productive engagement rather than disengagement. This perspective positions classroom management not as a solely organizational task, but as an emotionally charged leadership function that directly influences the affective climate and, consequently, learning outcomes.
Conclusion
This study aimed to explore teacher leadership enacted in language classrooms and the relationship between classroom leadership and learner emotions in lower secondary schools in Turkiye. With its microecological nature, multiple data sources and methodologies were employed to develop a holistic portrait, creating a model that represents the EFL classroom leadership construct and the teacher leadership-learner emotions association.
Grounded in the research findings, the Connect–Engage–Manage (CEM) Model conceptualizes EFL classroom leadership as a dynamic interplay of three core components: Connect—building rapport and fostering emotionally supportive teacher–student relationships; Engage—designing interactive, student-centered, and adaptive pedagogies that sustain motivation and positive emotions; and Manage—maintaining calm, equitable, and structured classroom discipline to create a climate conducive to both learning and emotional well-being. The results suggest several implications. First, teachers should prioritize rapport-building through empathy, individualized attention, and emotionally supportive classroom climates. A strong teacher–student bond creates a supportive language learning environment in which positive emotions are cultivated and negative emotions are mitigated (Xie & Derakhshan, 2021). Second, they should sustain learner engagement by adopting varied, student-centered, and adaptive pedagogies that foster positive emotions and motivation. Leadership practices such as demonstrating enthusiasm, managing perceived achievement pressure, balancing competition with cooperation, and providing constructive feedback have been shown to shape students’ emotional responses (Pekrun et al., 2002). Third, maintaining calm, equitable, and structured classroom management is crucial to regulating the emotional climate and promoting productive engagement. Embedding these competencies into teacher education, ongoing professional development, and curriculum design can enhance both student well-being and language learning outcomes. This study is significant in that it addresses a clear gap in the EFL leadership literature by theorizing and evidencing the leadership–emotion nexus within the cultural context of Türkiye, and by advancing a comprehensive, triangulated methodology to develop and substantiate the CEM Model. It should be emphasized that the model was created not as a universally generalizable framework, but as an interpretive and illustrative tool designed to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the research findings. Still, based on the available evidence, this constitutes the first model proposed in an attempt to conceptualize teacher leadership within K-12 EFL classrooms, which renders it particularly noteworthy.
Despite its contributions, the study is subject to several limitations. First, the context-specific nature of the sample and its modest size raise generalization concerns. Second, the reliance on self-report instruments and researcher observations may have introduced both response and observer biases, potentially influencing the data in ways that might reflect perceptions rather than objective realities. Finally, the predominantly cross-sectional design constrains the ability to draw causal inferences, as the data capture a single point in time rather than developmental or longitudinal trajectories. Thus, future research should test the CEM Model with larger and more diverse samples across regions and school types, employ longitudinal and experimental/intervention designs, and integrate multi-method emotion measures. Comparative cross-cultural studies, multilevel modelling that accounts for teacher- and class-level variance, and implementation trials of CEM-informed professional development would further clarify mechanisms and establish the model’s effectiveness and transferability.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440251412223 – Supplemental material for A Microecological Analysis of Teacher Leadership and Its Effects on Student Emotions in Lower Secondary-Level English Language Classrooms in Türkiye
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-sgo-10.1177_21582440251412223 for A Microecological Analysis of Teacher Leadership and Its Effects on Student Emotions in Lower Secondary-Level English Language Classrooms in Türkiye by Didem Erdel in SAGE Open
Footnotes
Ethical Considerations
Ethical approval for the study was granted by the Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee of Iğdır University (Document No: E-37077861-900-132940) on March 11, 2024.
Consent to Participate
Permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) of Türkiye, and informed consent was obtained from both teachers and students (using parental consent forms). Participants were assured of confidentiality, voluntary participation, and the right to withdraw at any stage.
Author Contributions
The study was conducted by a single author.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data collection instruments used in this study are provided as supplementary materials accompanying this article. These materials are made available to ensure transparency and replicability of the research process.
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
Figure Share Reference
No figures or visual materials in this manuscript were reproduced or adapted from external sources.
Artificial Intelligence Use Statement
The OpenAI ChatGPT was utilized as an assistive tool in this study to support text and language refinement.
References
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