Leadership, Organizational Stressors, and Employee Work Attitudes in Educational Organizations

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Background

The focus of this Research Topic is situated in the intersection between educational leadership and organizational/work psychology disciplines. While the educational settings (e.g., both K-12 schools and higher education) will be the contextual focus, the works in the Research Topic will utilize the prominent theories and concepts that are introduced by several other disciplines including public administration, business, organizational behavior, and work psychology. In a broader sense, the Research Topic intends to examine the influence of current work conditions and organizational stressors on educational professionals' work behaviors and attitudes, as well as on the education and learning of students. A special emphasis will be given to the role of educational leaders in leading change and overcoming crisis in the current climate.

Educational organizations are complex. Expectations from schools are now much more diverse and challenging than before (Catano & Stronge, 2006; Klocko & Wells, 2015; 2018; Oplatka, 2017). The demanding work conditions result in high stress, low morale, and high attrition of teachers and principals alike (Mahfouz, 2018; Tucker 2010). The recent pandemic has posed additional organizational stressors and further increased the job expectations from the educational organizations and their workforce. Without getting through proper preparation or training, educators are expected to respond to this massive crisis effectively.

The relevant literature suggests that current organizational and work stressors adversely affect employees' different work attitudes such as job commitment (Kelly, 2006), job engagement (Richman, 2006; Saks, 2006), psychological well-being (Atkinson, 2013; Chaplian, 2001), professional identity (Kelly, 2006; Riketta, 2005), and organizational identification (Ashforth, Harrison, & Corley, 2008; Duyar, Bogek, & Hunt, 2019; Lasky, 2005). To cope with the organizational work conditions and work stressors, educators (e.g., school teachers and university faculty), and educational leaders employ different coping mechanisms and strategies to sustain in the job and protect their well-being (MacBeath, O'Brien, & Gronn, 2012; Mahfouz, 2018).

The purpose of this proposed Research Topic is to examine (a) the current sources of job stressors for educational organizations (both K-12 and higher education); (b) the effects of current work conditions on the work behaviors of educational professionals; and (c) the coping mechanisms of educational workforce in responding to the new challenging work conditions and organizational stressors.

The Research Topic calls for contributions with different methodological genres such as quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or conceptual studies. The context of the studies may be either K-12 schools or higher educational organizations. While the Research Topic focuses mainly on the influence of new organizational conditions on educational leaders and other professional workforce including teachers, counselors, university faculty member, studies which also focuses on the effects of current work conditions on student learning are also welcome. For instance, studies which examine the influence of new ways of delivery of instruction on student populations with different backgrounds (e.g., race, SES, disability, etc.) would be a great topic for this Research Topic. Studies conducted in settings other than educational organizations are also welcome. Authors of these submissions are suggested to communicate with Dr. Duyar, the editor, at iduyar@astate.edu. Select topics may focus one or more of the following:

· Work conditions in educational settings
· Organizational stressors
· Organizational health
· Leading change
· Crisis management
· Effective leadership
· Organizational support
· Organizational identification
· Coping mechanisms
· Employee well-being
· Psychological safety
· Self- and/or collective efficacy
· Job commitment
· Job engagement
· Job/work load
· Task-role and/or extra-role (i.e., OCB) behaviors
· Innovative delivery of instruction
· Student learning outcomes

Authors are encouraged to contact Dr. Ibrahim Duyar, iduyar@astate.edu, to discuss the fit of their work if their work fall beyond the list of concepts identified above.

Keywords: educational leadership, work conditions and organizational stressors, leading change and crisis, work attitudes and behaviors, coping mechanisms

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