Promoting psychosocial safety climate across school teams: A schoolwide leadership responsibility

Abstract

This qualitative case study uses document analysis, interviews, and focus groups to explore how the principal and line managers promote psychosocial safety climate (PSC) across teams in an Aotearoa/New Zealand school. While principals’ support for teachers’ psychological health has been examined, how they support line managers in developing team and individual-level PSC remains unclear. Findings indicate that PSC is not always directly transferred from the principal to teachers but operationalized by line managers, positioning PSC as a multilevel, collectively enacted process. A multilevel model shows how leadership helps operationalize and transfer PSC across school, team, and individual levels.