Marcus Pietsch

The COVID-19 pandemic represented an environmental jolt that challenged school leaders’ functioning under conditions of uncertainty and resource constraints, yet longitudinal evidence on how leaders’ psychological resources evolve through and beyond such shocks remains scarce. Grounded in Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this study examines the trajectories and dynamic interplay of school leaders’ self-efficacy (SE) and work engagement (WE). Using a three-wave panel study of German school leaders (2019–2022; N = 405), we applied multivariate latent growth curve modeling to examine changes and dynamics in these two resources across the pandemic. Findings show that WE declined significantly, whereas SE remained stable. SE and WE were temporarily coupled during the acute phase of the pandemic but decoupled thereafter. These findings advance leadership theory by demonstrating how cognitive and motivational resources develop differently during systemic crises.

This study examines whether leader ambidexterity is associated with behavioural heterogeneity among teachers and whether leader–member exchange (LMX) moderates this relationship. Drawing on a behavioural trickle framework, we analyse data from 2890 teachers nested within 222 public schools in Türkiye by estimating a Bayesian mixed-effects location–scale model (MELSM) to examine both average levels and within-organization variability in teacher ambidexterity. Results indicate that leader ambidexterity is positively associated with greater teacher behavioural heterogeneity. LMX is also positively associated with heterogeneity and significantly strengthens the relationship between leader ambidexterity and behavioural variability among teachers. Furthermore, greater behavioural heterogeneity is associated with higher levels of radical innovation, suggesting that embracing variance within schools is a crucial lever for overcoming bureaucratic inertia.

In today’s dynamic and increasingly uncertain educational environments, teachers are expected to constantly acquire new knowledge and demonstrate creativity to ensure quality teaching, that is, the integration of good and successful teaching. Job boredom, as an emotion, is regarded as a key driver of individuals’ knowledge-seeking behavior and creativity. Dyadic leader-member exchange relationships (LMX) have been identified as a critical factor in the emotion regulation of teachers. Using data from 1,406 Nigerian teachers, this study investigates the impact of job boredom on teacher creativity and teaching practices, with a particular focus on the mediating and moderating roles of LMX and pedagogical knowledge absorptive capacity (ACAP) in this relationship. The findings indicate a correlation between teacher job boredom and increased activities aimed at recognizing, assimilating, transforming, and exploiting new pedagogical knowledge, as well as a greater variation in teaching practices. ACAP, in turn, emerged as the key driver of teacher creativity and quality teaching. Crucially, the study introduces a novel curvilinear understanding of LMX in educational contexts, demonstrating that high-quality leader-member exchange weakens the positive influence of boredom on these outcomes. While this suggests that high LMX can provide a stabilizing environment for good teaching, it also implies that too much relational support may dampen the creative potential of boredom. Consequently, school leaders should balance support with constructive challenges to ensure that boredom translates into productive pedagogical innovation rather than complacency, while policy frameworks should prioritize training that enhances teachers’ absorptive capacity.

In an era of rapid global change – from pandemics and climate crises to technological shifts and social inequalities – schools need leadership that sparks collaborative innovation to build resilience and equity in lower secondary education. Drawing on TALIS 2018 data from 48 countries (approximately 260,000 teachers and 15,000 principals), this study uses psychometric network analysis and meta-analytical synthesis to explore how specific leadership and collaboration practices interconnect at the item level across seven key scales: instructional leadership, distributed leadership, partnerships, organizational innovativeness, professional collaboration in lessons, team innovativeness and teacher exchange. Our findings reveal that teacher collaboration forms the vibrant core of these networks, with practices like joint professional learning and team conferences acting as central bridges. While collaboration patterns show remarkable stability across countries, connections between distributed leadership and innovation vary widely ( I ² > 90%), highlighting the importance of context. Instructional leadership practices often appear more peripheral, suggesting opportunities to better integrate them with distributed approaches. These insights strengthen the theoretical integration of instructional and distributed leadership models and offer practical guidance for school leaders: prioritizing professional learning communities and shared decision-making can drive equitable, innovative practices tailored to diverse cultural and ecosocial challenges.

Following the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) framework, this study examines the role of LMX in fostering teacher creativity. We proposed that teacher horizontal trust (job resource) would be related to teacher creativity through increased work engagement, and workplace stress (job demand) would be negatively related to teacher creativity through psychological strain and reduced engagement. Using a dataset of 5,053 teachers in 148 schools in Kyrgyzstan and employing several SEM models, the results showed that LMX was positively related to horizontal teacher-teacher trust but negatively associated with stress. A positive relationship was found between trust and engagement, as well as between stress and strain. While engagement was positively related to teacher creativity, the association between strain and teacher creativity was significant but marginal. We concluded that LMX functions as a lens through which teachers perceive their entire work experience, primarily influencing creativity through the path of work resources. In essence, our findings reveal that LMX boost teacher creativity by strengthening collegial trust and engagement, offering practical insights for educational innovation and change.

This study examines how principals perceive the potential benefits and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) for students’ learning and teachers’ work across 12 countries, utilizing data from the 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS 2023). We utilized latent network models, which allow for a flexible, network-based understanding of latent constructs, to examine the structural relationships between variables related to principals’ perceptions of AI. The findings revealed that while many school leaders recognize AI's potential to enhance student engagement and support teaching, they also express worries about its impact on academic integrity, teacher workload, and instructional practices. Those who view AI as beneficial for students tend to see similar advantages for teachers, whereas concerns about increased workload often accompany negative perceptions of AI's role in education. These insights emphasize the importance of developing balanced AI integration strategies that optimize benefits while mitigating potential challenges for educators. We suggest that policymakers design professional learning opportunities for school leaders that address both the benefits and effective integration of AI in teaching and learning, as well as strategies to mitigate potential negative consequences, such as increased workload or unethical use (e.g. cheating).