Principal Support of Teacher Psychological Needs: The Conceptualization and Measurement of a New Construct

Abstract

There is a lack of evidence explaining the generative process by which intentional leader behavior might promote changes in the social-psychological well-being of teachers toward improved principal-teacher relationships. Addressing persistent educational problems, like teacher job satisfaction, commitment, or turnover, may be as simple as changing how principals talk to and with teachers. Still, no clear framework exists to study the nature of generative principal-teacher interactions. This study advances Principal Support of Teacher Psychological Needs (PSTPN) as a tool to globally measure teacher perception of principal-teacher interactions, namely conversations, which have the potential to ignite teacher personal and professional well-being, motivation, and development. The purpose of this study is to establish the foundation for a line of inquiry around PSTPN by (1) situating PSTPN within the broader leadership literature, (2) describing the role of conversation as a core and defining component of school leadership, (3) conceptualizing PSTPN by utilizing organizational conversation and self-determination theory, (4) developing PSTPN as a measurable construct, (5) empirically testing the validity and reliability of the PSTPN scale, and finally (6) providing initial evidence of the viability of PSTPN by examining the relationship of PSTPN with conditions that facilitate leader effectiveness.