About this Research Topic

Background

Both teachers and principals deal with a broad variety of demands, such as the request for more accountability and having to fulfill multiple roles (teacher, coach, manager, administrator, …). At the same time, teachers and principals are depending on decisions of central administrators, decisions they do not always agree with, which might give them the feeling they are not in control. In short, their job demands are increasing while, in many countries, their decision latitude decreases, which puts their wellbeing at risk.

The threat to teachers and principals’ well-being is also likely to have consequences for effective teaching and student learning. In literature it is argued that principals are one of the key elements contributing to teacher success and, in turn, to student performance. For this reason, the well-being of both principals and teachers is getting more attention from policy makers and management.

There seems to be a growing consensus that the social capital of teachers and principals might buffer against the high demands put on them and thus promote their well-being. Social capital refers to “the actual and potential resources embedded in relationships among actors”. In general, different forms of social capital have been distinguished, based on the type of relationships formed, namely internal or external to the organization or school, or between people with the same or different formal power and/or authority. These relationships know a certain strength and frequency and might involve personal relationships, which are more or less trustful and based on a shared vision. Although social support for teachers and principals and its relationship with their well-being has been studied a lot, social capital goes further than feeling socially supported.

This Research Topic will gather different types of articles that focus on the role of social capital for teachers’ and/or principals’ learning and/or well-being. More specifically, we welcome:

- studies that examine teacher and/or principal well-being

- studies that conceptualize (types of) social capital of teachers and/or principals

- studies on the relations between (subcomponents of) social capital and well-being

- studies on the relations between (subcomponents of) social capital and teacher learning

- studies that develop and validate instruments to assess teachers and principals’ social capital and/or well-being

- studies on the development of social capital of teachers and/or principals across time

- studies comparing social capital of teachers and/or principals across levels of education (kindergarten, primary schools, secondary schools, higher education)

Keywords: Social capital, social support, well-being, principals, teachers

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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