Preferred style of leader among UK primary school teachers: comparing social identity, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire approaches

McIntyre, CJ, Schwarz, A, O'Siochru, C and McIntyre, J ORCID: 0000-0002-5601-524X (2026) Preferred style of leader among UK primary school teachers: comparing social identity, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire approaches. International Journal of Leadership in Education. ISSN 1360-3124

Preview

Text Preferred style of leader among UK primary school teachers comparing social identity transformational transactional and laissez-faire approaches.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The UK is experiencing a teacher retention crisis, marked by increasing attrition rates and vacancies, highlighting the need for effective school leadership. No past work has investigated leadership preferences within UK primary school settings, nor compared more contemporary models of leadership, such as social identity leadership, to established models including transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. This quantitative mixed-design study (within- and between-subjects factors) investigated the preferred leadership styles of UK primary school teachers, focusing on preferences for social identity leadership relative to alternative models. A secondary aim was to examine leadership preferences as a function of gender identity, age, and experience. One hundred and one current and former primary school teachers participated in an online survey adapted from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Social Identity Leadership Inventory, enabling an evaluation of job satisfaction and retention in relation to three widely studied leadership styles and one emerging style. Results indicated a clear preference for social identity leadership across all demographic groups. These findings challenge established leadership assumptions and have important implications for leadership practices. Future research should examine these patterns across broader educational contexts and explore situational influences on leadership preferences.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1301 Education Systems; 1303 Specialist Studies in Education; Education; 3901 Curriculum and pedagogy; 3902 Education policy, sociology and philosophy; 3904 Specialist studies in education
Subjects:	L Education > L Education (General) L Education > LB Theory and practice of education L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
Date of acceptance:	15 December 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	13 January 2026
Date Deposited:	13 Jan 2026 12:32
Last Modified:	13 Jan 2026 12:32
DOI or ID number:	10.1080/13603124.2025.2609274
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27894

View Item