Examining school leadership and teacher wellbeing through a psychosocial safety climate lens : a case study in an Aotearoa New Zealand school : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine how leadership at different levels operationalises and transfers psychosocial safety climate (PSC) across school teams and how the leadership competence of school leaders supports the implementation of PSC. Additionally, it investigates how PSC shapes four common indicators of teacher wellbeing that remain underexplored in the PSC literature: teacher stress, job satisfaction, teacher commitment, and teacher self-efficacy. This research builds on a growing body of PSC scholarship within educational settings that has provided new insights primarily into teacher distress, emotional exhaustion, and engagement. While recent studies have examined how various leadership styles influence PSC, limited attention has been given to how school leaders at different levels develop and implement PSC in practice.

A qualitative explanatory case study of a secondary school in Aotearoa New Zealand was conducted, including data collection over a six-month period. This comprised the analysis of 19 organisational documents, 26 semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and three focus groups. Thematic analysis identified themes that extend theoretical and practical understanding by linking school leadership to PSC and to the four indicators of teacher wellbeing.

Three key findings were identified. First, this thesis demonstrates how the principal and line managers play a dual and collaborative role in employing leadership approaches to operationalise 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 key policies, practices, and procedures that facilitate the transfer of PSC across school teams. Second, this research introduces leadership competence as a complementary lens to the leadership styles literature in understanding how school leaders’ skills, knowledge, and behaviours support PSC implementation. Third, it demonstrates how a positive PSC environment may address challenges associated with teaching roles (e.g., workload, student misbehaviour, staff conflict) and create conditions (e.g., feeling valued, meaningful work, educator autonomy) that support teacher wellbeing.

Two emergent findings were also identified. The first emergent finding highlights the house system (mini-schools within a school) as a contextual factor that shapes PSC perceptions through co-leadership and workspace dynamics. The second emergent finding demonstrates how mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and worldview) provides a complementary framework for PSC through relational and holistic approaches to improving teacher wellbeing, guided by culturally responsive leadership within an Aotearoa New Zealand school context. Importantly, from a practical perspective, this research developed two leadership tools. The first is the Multilevel Policies, Practices, and Procedures Model, which provides a conceptual illustration for operationalising and transferring PSC across school teams. The second is the Leader Competence–PSC Framework for developing leaders’ capabilities and implementing PSC within a school setting.

This thesis proposes that the Multilevel Policies, Practices, and Procedures Model could support further exploration of how PSC is operationalised and transferred across teams within different school organisational structures. It also suggests that the Leader Competence–PSC Framework would be useful for examining how shifts in leadership competence influence PSC over time.