Tab 1

CHAPTER 2

Reviews related literature and studies

The Leadership plays an important role in creating a positive and productive school
environment. In educational institutions, area coordinators are expected to guide teachers,
communicate school goals, monitor academic activities, provide support, and encourage
professional development. Their leadership practices may influence how teachers feel about
their work, their responsibilities, and the school organization.

Teachers' job satisfaction not only influences their own professional development and
well-being but also directly affects students' learning outcomes and the overall
performance of educational institutions. This paper aims to reveal the mechanisms by
which job satisfaction affects performance through a review of domestic and international
literature, integrating theoretical models and empirical evidence to provide theoretical
support for optimizing educational management.

Effective educational leaders are expected to communicate clearly, provide guidance, involve
teachers in decision-making, recognize their contributions, and address their professional
concerns. When area coordinators demonstrate supportive and participative leadership,
teachers may feel respected, valued, and includ in achieving the goals of the school. These
leadership behaviors may also strengthen teamwork and create a positive working environment.

According to Cansoy (2019), leadership behaviors have an important relationship with teachers’
job satisfaction. The systematic review examined 27 studies and found that transformational
leadership had a stronger positive relationship with teachers’ job satisfaction than some other
leadership approaches. The study also showed that supportive, flexible, participative, ethical,
and teacher-centered leadership behaviors may improve teachers’ satisfaction in their work.

Transformational leadership encourages leaders to inspire teachers, provide support, promote

professional development, and motivate them to achieve common goals. A review by Restiani,
Hariri, and Rini (2024) found that transformational leadership has a significant positive influence
on teachers’ job satisfaction. This suggests that leaders who encourage, recognize, and support
teachers may contribute to a more positive work experience.

Teachers job satisfaction

Teachers’ job satisfaction refers to the positive feelings and attitudes teachers have toward their
work and professional responsibilities. It may be influenced by leadership support, working
conditions, relationships with colleagues, opportunities for professional development,
recognition, workload, participation in decision-making, and communication within the school.

Teachers who experience job satisfaction may demonstrate stronger commitment, motivation,
cooperation, and willingness to contribute to school activities. On the other hand, limited
support, poor communication, excessive workloads, and a lack of recognition may negatively
affect teachers’ satisfaction and performance.

Tria (2023) reviewed studies about job satisfaction among educators and emphasized that
teachers’ satisfaction is connected to several personal and organizational factors. The findings
provide school administrators and educational leaders with important information about the
conditions that may improve teachers’ work experiences and professional well-being.

Relationship Between Leadership Teachers” job satisfaction

Previous studies generally indicate that leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction are positively
related. The way educational leaders communicate, make decisions, provide support, recognize
teachers’ efforts, and encourage professional development may affect how teachers feel about
their work.

Cogaltay, Yalcin, and Karadag (2016) conducted a meta-analysis on educational leadership and
teachers’ job satisfaction. The study found that educational leadership had a strong positive
effect on teachers’ job satisfaction. Transformational, cultural, visionary, and educational
leadership were among the leadership approaches associated with higher levels of job
satisfaction.

A large meta-analysis by Shi and colleagues (2024), which examined 98 studies involving more
than 740,000 participants, found positive relationships between teachers’ job satisfaction and
several leadership styles. These included transformational, instructional, distributed, ethical,
servant, authentic, and transactional leadership. Ethical and servant leadership showed
particularly strong positive relationships with teacher satisfaction.

Distributed leadership may also improve teachers’ job satisfaction because it encourages
collaboration and shared responsibility. Zhang, Alias, and Nordin (2025) found that distributed
leadership had a strong positive relationship with teachers’ job satisfaction. Teachers’
participation in decision-making, collaboration, professional support, communication, and
coordination contributed to a more supportive working environment.

The role of middle-level leaders is also important in schools. Area coordinators may be
considered middle leaders because they connect school administrators and teachers while
helping coordinate programs and academic activities. A study on middle leadership by
researchers in 2024 suggested that effective middle leadership may positively influence
teachers’ commitment through improved job satisfaction. This indicates that coordinators’
leadership may contribute not only to teachers’ satisfaction but also to their commitment to the
school.

Synthesis

The reviewed literature and studies show that leadership is an important factor related to
teachers’ job satisfaction. Leadership practices such as effective communication, professional
support, recognition, collaboration, participation in decision-making, ethical behavior, and
encouragement may help create a positive and supportive work environment. Transformational,
distributed, servant, and ethical leadership are consistently associated with higher levels of
teacher job satisfaction.

Although many previous studies focused on school principals and administrators, fewer studies
specifically examined the leadership of area coordinators and its relationship with teachers’ job
satisfaction. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the relationship between area
coordinators’ leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction. The findings may help determine how
the leadership practices of area coordinators contribute to teachers’ satisfaction and may
provide useful information for improving leadership practices and the school working
environment.

Research gap
Although previous studies have provided comprehensive discussions on the evolution of
leadership theories and styles, there remains a gap in understanding how these leadership
approaches are applied and adapted in specific organizational and cultural contexts. Khan et al.
(2016) focused on the development of leadership theories, while Avolio et al. (2009) examined
emerging leadership concepts and future research directions. Similarly, Van Wart (2003)
emphasized the integration of transformational and transactional leadership, particularly in the
public sector. However, these studies primarily offer theoretical and broad conceptual
perspectives, with limited attention to how leadership styles influence organizational outcomes
in specific institutions or local settings.

Therefore, further research is needed to examine the effectiveness of different leadership styles
within a particular organization or population. Such studies can provide context-specific
evidence on how leadership practices affect employee performance, organizational
effectiveness, or other relevant outcomes, thereby addressing the gap between leadership
theory and its practical application.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on Bernard Bass’s Transformational Leadership Theory and Frederick
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. Transformational Leadership Theory explains that effective
leaders motivate, inspire, support, and encourage their members to achieve common goals. In
the context of this study, area coordinators may influence teachers through effective
communication, motivation, support, decision-making, and leadership practices.

Meanwhile, Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory explains that job satisfaction is influenced by

motivator factors and hygiene factors. Motivator factors include recognition, achievement,
responsibility, and opportunities for growth, while hygiene factors include supervision, working
conditions, relationships, and organizational policies. These factors may affect teachers’ level of
satisfaction in their work.

The two theories support the idea that the leadership of area coordinators may be related to
teachers’ job satisfaction. When area coordinators demonstrate effective leadership by providing
guidance, support, recognition, and motivation, teachers may experience greater satisfaction in
their work. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between area coordinators’
leadership and teachers’ job satisfaction.

Conceptual frame work

The conceptual framework is based on the Full Range Leadership by Avolio and Bass
(2004) that theorized that transformational leadership can be clustered in five
sub-constructs whilst the transactional leadership into two sub-constructs. Each
dimension is measured using four items.

The Full Range Leadership Theory being an effective leadership theory uses both
transformational and transactional attributes in differing degrees depending on the
situation and the ability of the subordinates.

Even though transactional leadership is not able to develop trust and full potential of the
followers but if coupled with the individualized consideration attribute of the leader, it
can provide the platform for transformational leadership to ensue. This then can
positively affect subordinates’ motivation and performance.

Organizations presently are marked by high interdependency and integration; hence the
need for leadership that goes beyond that of transactional to transformational leadership
styles with attributes such as inspiration, stimulation, motivation and charisma as these
attributes are believed to be able to bring about cohesion, commitment, trust and
performance. The conceptual framework assumes that transformational and
transactional leadership-work place engagement is indirect and impacted through the
mechanism of perceived subordinates’ well-being, ultimately leading to job satisfaction.

The importance of the nursing administrator in determining the nature of work

environment is well documented and is of increasing significance to the retention of
nurse educators. Perception of work place engagement could play the role of perceived
work environment and thus mediate between the relationship between leadership styles
and job satisfaction of subordinates.
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