Abstract:

Modern schools operate in a constantly changing environment that affects both the way they are organized and the daily lives of teachers and school leaders. Research shows that the increasing demands in the working environment of school leaders to provide quality education, transparency, accountability and to adequately meet the internal and external expectations of stakeholders (e.g. staff, parents, students) have led to the experience of excessive job stress. As a result of these stressors, the 'well-being' of school principals has been a topic of contemporary literature and research in recent years.

This study investigates the level of professional well-being of primary school principals in Greece and the factors that, according to the principals' self-reports, influence their professional well-being. Using "cognitive and affective appraisals", this research focuses on subjective professional well-being, how principals feel about the quality of their professional life in relation to the school reality they experience, with the help of the following research questions:
α) To what extent do school leaders perceive that they experience professional well-being,
b) Which factors do school leaders perceive as influencing their well-being, and
c) Which factors influencing their professional well-being have an impact on their professional practice.

Τhe study adopted a quantitative methodological design and data were collected through an electronic questionnaire created using Microsoft Forms software. The study used convenience sampling and the electronic questionnaire was administered to Greek primary school principals attending a training seminar in 2023. The questionnaire was completed by 155 participants (response rate 81.58%). The questionnaire, which was anonymous, included statements on the demographic information of the participants and statements asking the participants to indicate their level of agreement with views related to the six dimensions of professional well-being (physical, emotional, psychological, cognitive, social and spiritual), the factors that shape professional well-being and the factors that influence their professional practice.

The findings show that the majority of school leaders experience positive professional well-being and wish to continue working as principals in the same school. The results highlight the importance of school climate, relationships with staff and parents, working conditions and school context for the professional well-being of school leaders. Principals' well-being emerges from their evaluation of the quality of their professional life, as a so-called positive imbalance is achieved, i.e. positive evaluations outweigh negative ones.

The findings are expected to add to the literature on the professional well-being of primary school principals and provide feedback to those responsible for designing professional empowerment and support programmes.

Keywords:

Professional well-being, school leaders, principals, primary education.