The silent emotional engine: Wellbeing at the core of teacher leadership

Abstract

This cross-national study investigates how teacher leadership (TL) influences distributed leadership (DL) in K–12 schools across six Arab countries, with teacher wellbeing (TWB) positioned as a central mediating factor. Drawing on a research-grounded conceptual model, the findings reveal that TWB significantly enhances the impact of TL on DL, particularly when driven by professional growth, learning leadership, and school community support. Notably, collaboration and communication—though linked to wellbeing—do not independently foster DL, exposing limitations in prevailing assumptions about their sufficiency. This study challenges the conventional belief that collaboration alone can catalyze leadership distribution, arguing instead for holistic, wellbeing-centered leadership models. TWB emerges not merely as a byproduct of leadership practices but as a pivotal enabler of distributed leadership. The findings offer implications for rethinking leadership development policies, urging educational systems to center teacher support and wellbeing as strategic levers for systemic transformation and sustainable school leadership.