Abstract:

The school, as a social institution, is a form of social life in which all the means converge that enable the child to share in the most effective way the resources bequeathed by humanity and that enable him to use his powers for public ends (John Dewey, 1897). School should be a place where individuals have the opportunity to test their powers and to act and communicate in the bosom of organized freedom. The fulfillment of this mission is the most important achievement for the school community. There are many studies dealing with effective school management and leadership. Good school leadership means that the school functions as a team, that learning is understood as the learner's experience, and that the teaching provides an organized and purposeful environment for that experience.

The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of school leadership style on the school community's sense of belonging and well-being, as well as their perceptions of teaching and learning. The study was conducted using a mixed research design. Specifically, interviews with school leaders, focus groups, and surveys of students and teachers were conducted. The study relied on 210 schools, using a stratified sample.

Based on the qualitative data, the following school leadership styles were distinguished using the grounded theory approach:
a. Bureaucratic leadership - relationships are based on hierarchical roles, clearly defined instructions, and their effective execution. The functioning of the school as a good executive unit is considered a success.
b. Autocratic leadership - the decision is made by the school leadership alone, and effective management consists in the execution of this decision and its control.
c. Delegative leadership - tasks are distributed and members of the school community take responsibility for the work done, individual responsibility VS shared responsibility.
d. Transformational leadership - a collaboration that promotes the emergence of new situational leaders and the implementation of positive changes, the formation of a sense of identity.

Based on the research, the characteristics of the identified leadership styles were described in detail.

Leadership style was found to be reliably related to a positive learning construct among students and a sense of belonging to the school among school community members (students, teachers, and administrators). The student-centered teaching style is a mediating variable for the influence of leadership style on students' sense of belonging to the school.
The results of the study are of interest to policymakers in education and to all those involved in the teaching-learning process.

Keywords:

School leadership, Sense of belonging to the school, Delegative leadership, Autocratic leadership, Bureaucratic leadership.