Servant leadership effects on teacher wellbeing and enthusiasm in Turkish schools and the moderating influence of distributed leadership

There is a consensus in the literature that the integrated leadership approach, which includes different leadership styles, has an impact on teachers' emotions as well as their behaviors. The aim of this study is to examine the moderator role of distributed leadership in the effect of servant leadership on teachers' teaching enthusiasm through their subjective well-being in Turkish schools. In this cross-sectional study, a moderated mediation model was tested with a quantitative approach. The analyses were conducted with data collected from 827 teachers from 81 provinces of Türkiye. The study results revealed that there was no significant direct relationship between servant leadership and teaching enthusiasm; however, there was a significant and positive relationship between servant leadership and teacher subjective well-being and between teacher subjective well-being and teaching enthusiasm. Additionally, the study found that when distributed leadership was high, the relationship between servant leadership and teacher subjective well-being and the indirect effect of servant leadership on teaching enthusiasm through teacher subjective well-being were strengthened. In other words, the study concluded that school principals who exhibit both servant and distributed leadership can increase teachers' teaching enthusiasm by improving teachers' subjective wellbeing.