Engaging Teachers through Authentic Leadership: A Study of Private International Schools in Sulaymaniyah

This study examines the relationship between authentic leadership and employee engagement among teachers in four private international schools in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A cross-sectional survey design was used, and 52 teachers completed self-administered questionnaires that measured their perceptions of authentic leadership and their levels of employee engagement on five-point Likert scales. Descriptive analysis showed that teachers reported moderately high levels of perceived authentic leadership and relatively high engagement. Pearson correlation analysis indicated a statistically significant, moderate positive association between authentic leadership and employee engagement (r = 0.346, p = 0.012), suggesting that teachers who perceive their school leaders as more authentic also tend to report higher levels of engagement in their work. These findings are consistent with the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) perspective, which views authentic leadership as a job resource that can strengthen motivation and sustain engagement. The study contributes context-specific evidence from a growing private school sector in the Kurdistan Region and highlights the importance of leadership development initiatives that strengthen self-awareness, relational transparency and ethical decision-making among school leaders. Practical implications for school owners and policy makers are outlined, and directions for future research on leadership and engagement in education are proposed.