TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN FINLAND
Keywords:
Transformational Leadership, School Performance, Principals, Public Secondary Schools and the Finnish Education SystemAbstract
This study aims to analyze the role of principals' transformational leadership in improving the performance of public secondary schools in Finland, particularly in addressing the complexity of leadership roles and the demands of contemporary educational change. This study used a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and document analysis with principals, teachers, and staff in public secondary schools in Finland. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis through a process of coding, categorization, and drawing out key themes. The results show that principals' transformational leadership contributes significantly to school performance in terms of academic, managerial, and school climate aspects. Principals who implement transformational leadership are able to encourage learning innovation, strengthen professional collaboration, and create a conducive and trust-oriented school climate. Among the dimensions of transformational leadership, intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation are the most dominant dimensions in supporting improved school performance. Intellectual stimulation plays a role in encouraging teachers to think critically, reflectively, and innovatively, while inspirational motivation strengthens collective commitment to a meaningful school vision. Individualized consideration and idealized influence function as supporting factors that strengthen teacher well-being and trust in the principal's leadership. This study confirms that transformational leadership is a relevant and strategic leadership approach in the context of Finnish public secondary schools, which have a high degree of autonomy and demand continuous adaptation. The findings are expected to provide theoretical contributions to the study of educational leadership and practical implications for school leadership development in various educational contexts.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Jonathan Dingel, Mark G. Maffett, Jorge O. Brusa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
