The Impact of Principal as Authentic Leader on Teacher Trust in the K‐12 Educational Context

Abstract

K‐12 principals exhibiting authentic leadership and the benefits derived from teacher trust in the principal beg for attention in today's educational milieu. Authentic leadership scholars proposed a major conceptual framework, which linked authentic leadership to follower's attitudes and behaviors. The framework purported that authentic leadership leads to trust, yet is mediated through personal and organizational identification. The current study empirically tested these relationships within the context of principals and teachers in the K‐12 setting. The context is ideal because principals are increasingly called upon to create open, collaborative, and positive learning communities. Nineteen public and private schools in the state of Maryland participated in the study, with 398 teachers (77% response rate) responding. The results support a framework of principals exhibiting authentic leadership where personal identification is a mediator in the causal pathway from authentic leadership to teacher trust. The results do not substantiate the framework regarding organizational identification being a mediator in the same causal pathway. Educational leaders can view the study as prescriptive, thereby building overall trust in the often strained asymmetrical relationship between administrators and teachers.