Empowering Leadership Among Middle School Principals in Jeddah and Its Relationship to Organizational Trust from the Perspective of Teachers

This study aimed to identify the extent to which middle school principals in Jeddah practice an "empowering leadership" style, as well as the level of organizational trust from the perspective of teachers. Furthermore, the study sought to uncover any statistically significant correlations between the principals' practice of empowering leadership and the teachers' level of organizational trust. It also aimed to determine whether there were statistically significant differences in teachers' assessments of these leadership practices and organizational trust levels based on gender and years of experience. To achieve these objectives, the researchers employed a quantitative approach, utilizing both survey and correlational methods. Data were collected using the empowering leadership scale developed by Ahearne et al. (2005), while organizational trust was measured using a validated scale by Farfoura (2018). The study population consisted of 8,588 middle school teachers. A convenience (opportunity) sampling method was used to select a sample of 382 participants, representing 4.44% of the total population. The study concluded that middle school principals tend to practice empowering leadership to a high degree. Specifically, all dimensions—demonstrating confidence in high performance, removing bureaucratic constraints, emphasizing the significance of the work, and fostering autonomy and participation in decision-making—were rated as being practiced to a high degree by the principals. Additionally, the level of organizational trust was also perceived as high from the teachers' perspective. The results indicate a moderate positive correlation between the extent to which school principals practice "empowering leadership" and the level of organizational trust. Furthermore, the findings reveal statistically significant differences in teachers' assessments of their principals' use of empowering leadership based on the variable of gender. Similarly, statistically significant differences were found in teachers' assessments of the level of organizational trust, also attributed to the variable of gender. Conversely, the results show no statistically significant differences in teachers' perceptions regarding their principals' practice of empowering leadership based on the variable of "years of experience." Likewise, no statistically significant differences were found in teachers' assessments of the level of organizational trust based on years of experience. The study recommends the design of training programs—developed by the Educational Training Department in collaboration with universities in Jeddah—to enhance empowering leadership among school principals. It also suggests creating training programs that foster positive behavior among teachers, which would contribute to increasing organizational trust within the school. Additionally, the study recommends providing teachers with greater opportunities to participate in decision-making processes.