The Effect of Professional Job Satisfaction on School Leadership - Mesleki İş Tatmininin Okul Liderliğine Etkisi

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of job satisfaction of high school principals on school leadership. For this purpose, the data obtained through the "School Leadership Scale" and "Job Satisfaction with Profession Scale" in the "Teaching and Learning International Survey -TALIS- data set published by OECD were used. The sample of the study consists of 448 high school principals randomly selected by TALIS through two-stage stratified sampling method to represent the international population. The test of variability between the perceptions of principals according to the personal variables of the research was tested by causal comparison model; whether there is a relationship between principals' professional job satisfaction and school leadership was tested by correlation model; the predictive power of high school principals' professional job satisfaction on school leadership was tested by multiple regression model. As a result of the research, it was revealed that there is a positive and significant relationship between high school principals' professional job satisfaction and school leadership, and as principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction increase, school leadership behaviour levels increase. For practitioners, it is suggested that renumeration, benefits and workplace conditions job satisfaction elements be put into practice and structural arrangements be made in this direction in order to ensure the professional job satisfaction of school leaders.

Full text

The Universal Academic Research Journal
281
The Effects of Professional Job Satisfaction on School Leadership
Aysun Bay Dönertaş1, Engin Dilbaz2
ARTICL E INFO
ABSTRACT
Article Hi story:
Received 01.09.2023
Received in revised form
13.10.2023
Accepted
Available online 15.10.2023
In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of job satisfaction of high school principals on school
leadership. For this purpose, the data obtained through the "School Leadership Scale" and "Job
Satisfaction with Profession Scale" in the "Teaching and Learning International Survey -TALIS- data
set published by OECD were used. T he sample of the study consists of 448 high school principals
randomly selected by TALIS through two-stage stratified sampling method to represent the
international population. The test of variability between the perceptions of principals according to
the personal variables of the research was tested by causal comparison model; whether there is a
relationship between principals' professional job satisfaction and school leadership was tested by
correlation model; the predictive power of high school principals' professional job satisfaction on
school leadership was tested by multiple regression model. As a result of the research, it was revealed
that there is a positive and significant relationship between high school principals' professional job
satisfaction and school leadership, and as principals' p erceptions of professional job satisfaction
increase, school leadership behaviour levels increase. For practitioners, it is suggested that
renumeration, benefits and workplace conditions job satisfaction elements be put into practice and
structural arrangements be made in this direction in order to ensure the professional job satisfaction
of school leaders.
©TUARA Journa l. All rights reserved
Keywords:3
Professional job satisfaction, school leadership, high school principals.
INTRODUCTION
In the twenty-first century, the codes of change have redefined the expectations of the individual from
education and learning in line with the expectations of society from the individual. Transformations in the
source and nature of knowledge have challenged the traditional functions of the school as a source of
knowledge and created new needs and skill areas in agreement with the changing cultural, educational and
economic needs of the individual and society (Leahy, Holland & Ward, 2019). This challenge to the traditional
functions of the school has defined the key roles for concepts such as school effectiveness, managerial
effectiveness and leadership in administrative processes (Fidler & Atton, 2004; Hallinger & Heck, 2003;
Weindling & Earley, 1987). In this context, the concept of leadership became prominent in the process and
started to be handled differently from the concept of management (Bolman & Deal, 1997; Bush & Glover, 2003;
Ofsted, 2003).
Traditionally, leadership has been seen as a unique and solid substance within itself for a long time.
However, in the process of change and transformation of school organisations, it can be ascertained that this
understanding has evolved into a pluralistic leadership understanding such as school leadership, teacher
leadership, distributive leadership (Leithwood, Sun & Schumacker, 2020; Yalçın et al, 2023). Especially,
increased school autonomy and a greater focus on education and school outcomes have made it essential to
reconsider the role of school leaders. School leadership is now an education policy priority around the world
(Pont, Nusche & Moorman, 2008).
School leaders have to not only transform themselves into leaders but also, by promoting a positive school
climate, orient and motivate their teachers for the contemporaneous education system to be renovated in line
with the new transformation era of education (Atasoy, 2023). Effective school leadership is essential to improve
the efficiency and equity of schooling, and it plays a crucial role in improving school outcomes by influencing
the motivations and capacities of teachers, as well as the school climate and environment (Pont, Nusche &
Moorman, 2008). In this context, it is clear that ensuring motivation and job satisfaction and staff
empowerment for improving school outcomes are among the main areas of responsibility of school leadership.
As proactive and risk-taking individuals, leaders instil confidence to the people they lead and direct them
(Kavrayıcı, 2023). In this framework, it can be put forward that high level job satisfaction of employees has a
critical importance for achieving the determined organisational goals.
1 Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, aysunbay@gmail.com, orcid.org/0000-0003-1219-7181
2 Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı, engndilbaz@hotmail.com, orc id.org/0000-0001-9382-9691

Bay-Dönertaş A., & Dibaz, E. (2023) . The effec ts of professional job satisfaction on school leadership. The Universal Academic Research J ourn al, 5 (3),281-290.
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It can be stated that job satisfaction, which is not encountered much in classical organisational
approaches, has started to be given importance with the modern and post-modern management approaches
and is among the most studied subjects in the field of management and organisational behaviour. However,
there are different definitions and descriptions of the concept in the related literature. According to Locke
(1976) job satisfaction can be defined as "pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal
of one's job or job experiences" (p. 1300). On the other hand, Mottaz (1988) argues that job satisfaction is an
effective response resulting from an evaluation of a work situation. Similarly, Lee (2000) regards that it is a
general feeling and attitude towards the job. When the dimensions that consists job satisfactio n, generally they
can be classified as management, supervision or leadership of organization, renumeration, benefits, workplace
conditions, organisational practices and relationships with co-workers (Misener et al., 1996; Smith, Kendal &
Hulin, 1969).
The relationship between leadership and job satisfaction is multidimensional. As a matter of fact, when
the literature is examined, there are many studies on the effect of leadership on job satisfaction (Aksu & Aktaş,
2005; Belias & Koustelios, 2014; Bhatti et al., 2012; Rad & Yarmohammadian, 2006; Tsai, 2011; Wilderom, Berg
& Peter, 2004). However, it can be said that the number of studies examining the effect of job satisfaction on
leadership and the leader's leadership style is quite inadequate in the literature. When the studies conducted
in Turkey are reviewed in general, it is seen that these studies mostly aimed at investigating the effect of
different leadership styles or characteristics on job satisfaction (Akkuş, 2022; Bıyık, Şimşek & Erden, 2017;
Mert, Dördüncü & İncaz, 2019; Tan 2016; Tekin, 2020). Akkuş (2022), who focused on the effect of responsible
leadership characteristics of school administrators on job satisfaction, found that school administrators have a
high level of responsible leadership characteristics based on teacher opinions and that these characteristics
positively affect teachers' job satisfaction levels. Besides, Tan (2016) concluded that team leadership
behaviours of primary school administrators are a strong and significant predictor of teachers' job satisfaction
levels. In their study examining the effect of transformative leadership behaviours on job satisfaction; Mert,
Dördüncü & İncaz (2019) figured out that transformative leadership behaviour positively affects job
satisfaction.
In organisations such as as schools, where the interaction plays a crucial role, there are still many aspects
in question about job satisfaction and school leadership. In this regard, besides the relationship between school
leadership and job satisfaction, it is an important problem area to discuss the effects of job satisfaction on
school leadership. As a matter of fact, it is clear that school leaders, as employees, are not isolated from the
issue of job satisfaction. In this study, it is aimed to examine the effect of job satisfaction of school principals
working in high schools on school leadership. For this purpose, the study examined the effect of job
satisfaction of high school principals on school leadership using the "Teaching and Learning International
Survey (TALIS)" data set published by OECD (2019). In the TALIS data set, "Intenational Standard
Classification of Education (ISCED 3)" school leadership is discussed in two dimensions/scales; (i) school
leadership, (ii) participation among stakeholders, principals. In this study, the data set obtained from the
"School Leadership (PLEADS)" subscale was used. Similarly, in the title of the study, job satisfaction was
addressed in three dimensions: (i) job satisfaction with work environment, (ii) job satisfaction with profession,
(iii) satisfaction with target class autonomy. In the job satisfaction dimension of this study, the data set
obtained from the "Job Satisfaction with Profession (JSPRO)" subscale was used and the study was narrowed
in this context. In the literature, it is observed that the related studies focus on the effect of various dimensions
of leadership on employees' job satisfaction, and it is noteworthy that the studies on the effect of job satisfaction
on school leadership are limited. This study is expected to set an example for future studies on the effect of job
satisfaction on school leadership.
This study was conducted to investigate the effect of high school principals' professional job satisfaction
on school leadership. In line with this purpose, the research questions were formed as follows:
1. Is there a significant difference between the professional job satisfaction perceptions of high school
principals according to gender, educational level, working time in the current school and total
experience as a principal?
2. Is there a significant difference between the school leadership behaviour levels of high school
principals according to gender, education level, working time in the current school and total principal
experience?

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3. What is the relationship between professional job satisfaction of high school principals and school
leadership?
4. Are high school principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction an important predictor of
school leadership?
METHOD
Research Design
This study, which aims to examine the effect of professional job satisfaction of high school principals on
school leadership, was designed with a quantitative research approach. The findings obtained in quantitative
research can be expressed in numerical values and have a measurable quality (Ekiz, 2020). In the study, causal
comparison design, one of the survey models, was also used. Survey research is used to determine the
attitudes, actions, ideas and beliefs of individuals and is known for its superiority in showing cause and effect
relationship (Christensen et al., 2020). In this study, cause and effect relationships between variables were
investigated with a causal comparison design. With the causal comparison design, the possible causes of a
behaviour pattern are tried to be determined by comparing those who have this pattern with those who do
not (Balcı, 2021). The variability test between principals' perceptions according to the personal variables of the
study (gender, education level, working time in the current school and total principal experience) was
conducted with the causal comparison model. Whether there is a relationship between principals' professional
job satisfaction and school leadership was tested with the correlation model, and the power of high school
principals' professional job satisfaction to predict school leadership was tested with the multiple regression
model.
Research Sample/Study Group/Participants
The research is based on the data collected from school principals in the Teaching and Learning
International Survey (TALIS) 2018 study organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). The topics included in the questionnaires applied to school principals in TALIS 2018
are personal information, school information, school leadership, teacher evaluation, school climate, induction
and counselling activities, training in situations of diversity and professional satisfaction (OECD, 2019).
TALIS 2018 collected the data from the principals working at the International Standard Classification of
Education (ISCED); ISCED 1, ISCED 2 and ISCED 3 levels. In the TALIS 2018 technical report, it is stated that
the sample was randomly selected by two-stage stratified sampling method to represent the population. In
this study, the data collected from 448 school principals from 457 schools at ISCED 3 (9th grade-12th grade)
level were used. A total of 29 forms, which were omitted, not filled in and indicated as missing data, were
excluded from the data set, and the number of participants included in the analyses was 419. The distribution
of the participants according to personal variables is indicated in Table 1.
Table 1. The number of school principals in the sample according to personal variables
Variable
Categories
N
%
Gender
Female
26
6.2
Male
393
93.8
Education Status
Licence
283
67.5
Postgraduate
136
32.5
Experience at Current
School
0-3 years
232
55.4
4-7 years
146
34.8
8 years+
41
9.8
Management Experience
0-4 years
185
44.2
5-9 years
113
27.0
10-14 years
55
13.1
15 years+
66
15.8
Total
419
100
As seen in Table 1, 26 (6.2%) of the principals participating in the study were female and 393 (93.8%) were
male. The number of principals with bachelor's degree is 283 (67.5%) and the number of principals with
postgraduate degree is 16 (32.5%). 232 (55.4%) of the principals have 0 -3 years of experience, 146 (34.8%) of
them have 4-7 years of experience, and 41 of them (9.8%) have 8 or more years of experience. As for the
experience of the principals, 185 (44.2%) of them have 0-4 years, 113 of them (27%) have 5-9 years, 55 of them
(13%) have 10-14 years, and 66 of them (15.8%) have 15 years or more.
Research Instruments and Processes

Bay-Dönertaş A., & Dibaz, E. (2023) . The effec ts of professional job satisfaction on school leadership. The Universal Academic Research J ourn al, 5 (3),281-290.
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TALIS 2018 data were used in the research. TALIS asks teachers and school principals about the working
conditions and learning environments in their schools to help countries face various challenges. TALIS 2018
school principal surveys aim to better understand the characteristics of principals and their status regarding
professional development. For this purpose, information on the distribution of high school principals by
gender, experience, working activities, educational background, age distribution, professional development
activities, professional development needs and barriers to professional development, school education and
policies were analysed. The survey was organised and conducted in three phases: (1) the pilot phase whose
aim was to develop and trial the content of the survey questions with a small number of TALIS participants;
(2) the field trial phase which wasdesigned to test and evaluate the questionnaires and item formats as well as
the survey procedures and data collection modes; and (3) the main survey phase which focused on collecting
the TALIS data in the 48 participating countries and economies (OECD, 2019).
In this study, "School Leadership (SL)" and "Professional Job Satisfaction (subscale) - (VJS)" scales were
used. In the OL scale, principals were asked to report how often they fulfilled the three statements in the scale
in the last 12 months (1= Never or rarely, 4= Very often). In the MIT scale, school principals were asked
questions about how they felt about their work in general, and they were asked to indicate their degree of
agreement (1= Strongly disagree, 4= Agree) with four different statements. The research data were obtained
from the OECD web page (OECD, 2023). Information on the validity and reliability of data collection tools is
given in Table 2.
Table 2. Information on validity and reliability of measurement tools
Scales
Article
Number
Validity
Reliability/
Omega (ω)
CFI
TLI
RMSEA
SRMR
Job Satisfaction with Profession
Scale
4
.985
.911
.045
.026
.711
School Leadership Scale
3
.920
.799
.092
.045
.808
The fit indices in Table 2 show that the validity of the data collection tools is high (Çokluk, Şekercioğlu &
Büyüköztürk, 2012; Sümer, 2000; Şimşek, 2007; Tabacnick, & Fidell, 2015) and gives reliable results (Şencan,
2005).
Data Analysis
SPSS 21.0 was used to analyse the research data. Before starting the analyses, a new file was created by
copying the data set of the scales related to the personal variables to be used in this study from the TALIS 2018
data file. Then, 29 instruments that were omitted, not filled in, and indicated as missing data were deleted
from data set. The limit of p<0.05 was accepted for differences. Before the analyses, outliers were found by
calculating Mahalonobis distances with regression analysis. In the chi -square table, values lower than
(X²<0.001) were checked, it was observed that no deletion was required (Tabacnick & Fidell, 2015b). Then, the
skewness and kurtosis coefficients and graphical outputs were analyzed to check whether the data showed a
normal distribution. Skewness and kurtosis values close to zero indicate that the distribution is normal. In
general, the values between ± 1.0 are considered as perfect (George & Mallery, 2016). In this study, it was seen
that the skewness value of the distribution of the "Vocational Job Satisfaction Scale" scale items (-.371), and the
kurtosis value (-.419), the skewness value of the distribution of the "School Leadership Scale" scale items (-
.186) and kurtosis value (.306) are appropriate for the normality assumptions since they are between ± 1.0.
Additionaly, the normality of the items can be determined by graphical methods; It was also evaluated with
histogram, Q-Q dot plot and box-whisker plot (Durmuş, Yurtkoru & Çinko, 2011; Tabacnick & Fidell, 2015b).
As a result of the analyses, it was seen that the items showed a distribution close to normal level.
In the analyses, t-test for independent samples was used for pairwise comparisons (gender, education
level). More than two comparisons (tenure in the current school, experience as a principal) were tested with
one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance). Tukey and Scheffe test results were interpreted for pairwise
comparisons (Durmuş, Yurtkoru & Çinko, 2011). Pearson correlation analysis was used to examine the
relationship between principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction and school leadership behaviour
levels. The correlation coefficient between the variables was interpreted according to the values of 0.00 - 0.30
low level relationship, 0.30 - 0.70 medium level relationship, 0.70 - 1.00 high level relationship (Büyüköztürk,

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2020). Multiple linear regression method was used in the analyses related to the prediction of school leadership
by Professional job satisfaction.
FINDINGS
In this part of the study, the analyses on whether school principals' perceptions of professional job
satisfaction and school leadership behaviour levels differ according to personal variables, and the power of
principals' professional job satisfaction to predict school leadership are included in the results of multiple
linear regression analysis.
Differentiation of Principals' Professional Job Satisfaction Perceptions According to Personal Variables
In this section, the differentiation status of school principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction
according to personal variables, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA results are given. The
results of the analysis of school principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction according to personal
variables are displayed in Table 3.
Table 3. Differentiation of school principals' professional job satisfaction perceptions according to
personal variables
Variable
Categories
N
X
SS
Sum of
Squares
sd
Mean
Squares
t/F
P
Gender
Female
26
2.95
1.81
417
.313
.754
Male
393
2.97
1.63
Education
Status
Licence
283
2.99
1.62
417
1.226
.221
Postgraduate
136
2.94
1.67
Experience at
Current
School
0-3 years
232
2.93
1.65
13.898
1112.63
2
416
6.949
2.684
2.589
.076
4-7 years
146
3,02
1.60
8 years+
41
3.02
1.67
Management
Experience
0-4 years
185
2.93
1.59
8.136
1122.39
3
415
2.712
2.705
1.003
.391
5-9 years
113
3.01
1.70
10-14 years
55
2.99
1.54
15 years+
66
3.00
1.74
***p < .05
According to the independent sample t-test results in Table 3, there is no significant difference between
the perceptions of school principals on professional job satisfaction according to gender (t(417)=0.313, p>0.05)
and educational status (t(417)=1.226, p>0.05) variables. In other words, school principals' perceptions of
professional job satisfaction do not differ according to gender and educational status, principals have similar
perceptions. When the results of one-way ANOVA in Table 3 are analysed; there is no significant difference
between school principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction according to the working time in the
current school (F(2,416)=2.589, p>0.05) and experience in administration (F(3,415)=1.003, p>0.05). In other words,
principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction do not differ according to their working time in the
current school and administrative experience, principals have similar perceptions.
Differentiation of Principals' School Leadership Behaviour Levels According to Personal Variables
In this section, the differentiation status of principals' school leadership behaviour levels according to
personal variables, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA results are given. The results of the
analysis of the differentiation of principals' school leadership behaviour levels according to personal variables
are given in Table 4.

Bay-Dönertaş A., & Dibaz, E. (2023) . The effec ts of professional job satisfaction on school leadership. The Universal Academic Research J ourn al, 5 (3),281-290.
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286
Table 4. Differentiation of school principals' professional job satisfaction perceptions according to
personal variables
Variable
Categories
N
X
SS
Sum of
Squares
sd
Mean
Squares
t/F
P
Gender
Female
26
3.05
1.62
417
2.324
.021***
Male
393
2.84
1.80
Education
Status
Licence
283
2.86
1.83
417
.865
.387
Postgraduate
136
2.82
1.74
Experience at
Current
School
0-3 years
232
2.83
1.88
9.301
1354.80
2
416
4.650
3.257
1.428
.241
4-7 years
146
2.89
1.69
8 years+
41
2.78
1.67
Management
Experience
0-4 years
185
2.84
1.95
15.718
1348.392
3
415
5.239
3.249
1.613
.186
5-9 years
113
2.87
1.68
10-14 years
55
2.76
1.59
15 years+
66
2.93
1.69
***p < .05
Considering the independent sample t-test results of the differentiation of principals' school leadership
behaviour levels according to personal variables in Table 4, there is a significant difference between principals'
school leadership behaviour levels according to gender (t(417)=2.324, p<0.05), but there is no significant
difference according to educational status (t(417)=0.865, p>0.05). In other words, while school leadership
behaviour levels of principals differ according to gender, they do not differ according to educational status.
Accordingly, behaviour levels of female ( X= 3.05 ) principals regarding school leadership are higher than
male ( X= 2.84 ) principals.
When we examine the results of one-way ANOVA in Table 4, there is no significant difference between
the school leadership behaviour levels of principals according to their working time in the current school
(F(2,416)=1.428, p>0.05) and administrative experience (F(3,415)=1.613, p>0.05). In other words, principals' school
leadership behaviour levels do not differ according to the working time in the current school and
administrative experience; principals have similar perceptions.
The Relationship between Principals' Professional Job Satisfaction and School Leadership
Under this heading, the results of the analysis of the relationship between the perceptions of professional
job satisfaction and school leadership behaviour levels of school principals working in high schools are given.
Table 5 shows the results of Pearson Correlation analysis.
Table 5. Pearson correlation analysis results showing the relationship between principals' professional job
satisfaction and school leadership behaviours
Variables
N
SH
Skewness
Kurtosis
1
2
1. Professional job
satisfaction
11.41
1.80
-.371
.309
1
.206***
2. School leadership
11.90
1.64
-.186
.306
1
***p < .01
When the values in Table 5 are examined, it is seen that the skewness and kurtosis coefficients of the
variables are between ± 1.0. The kurtosis and skewness values close to zero indicate that the distribution is
normal. Most of the time, these values between ± 1.0 are considered perfect (George & Mallery, 2016). There is
a low level, positive and significant relationship between principals' professional job satisfaction and school
leadership (p< .01; r=206). In another saying, as principals' perceptions of professional job satisfaction increase,
the level of school leadership behaviours also increases.

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The Predictive Power of Professional Job Satisfaction for School Leadership
In this part of the study, the predictive power of professional job satisfaction for school leadership was
analysed by multiple linear regression analysis. The results of the analysis are presented in Table 6.
Table 6. Multiple linear regression analysis results on the predictive power of principal's professional job
satisfaction for school leadership
Variable
B
SH
β
t
p
Binary r
Partial r
Fixed
8.722
.633
13.786
Occupational job
satisfaction
.226
.053
.206
.206
0.000***
.206
.206
R=.206 R²=.043 F(1,417)=18.510 p=<.05***
Table 6 shows that principals' professional job satisfaction predicts school leadership at a significant level
(F(1,417)=18.510, p<0.05). There is a weakly significant relationship (R=0.206) between principals' perceptions of
professional job satisfaction and school leadership behaviours. Principals' professional job satisfaction
explains 4.3% of the total variance of school leadership (R²= 0.43). In other terms, 4.3% of the total variance of
school leadership is explained by principals' professional job satisfaction.
The results of multiple regression analysis reveal that the mathematical model for the prediction of school
leadership by principal's professional job satisfaction was formed as follows:
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
In the study, it was aimed to examine the effect of job satisfaction on the level of school leadership of high
school principals. For this purpose, the results of "School Leadership" and "Job Satisfaction with Profession"
in TALIS data set were used.
When the results related to the first sub-objective of the research are evaluated, it can be concluded that
there is no difference between the perceptions of school principals' professional job satisfaction according to gender,
education level, working time in the current school and administrative experience variables. When the studies
on the job satisfaction perceptions of school principals are examined, Altuntaş et al. (2023) concluded that there
was no difference in job satisfaction levels according to gender, managerial experience and educational status;
however, there were differences in job satisfaction levels according to age, professional experience and marital
status. When the results of the two studies were compared, differentiation was observed in the experience
dimension. Altuntaş et al. (2023) stated that managers with 1-10 years of seniority have lower job satisfaction
than more senior managers. It is thought that the differentiation of the two studies in the context of the
experience variable may be due to the sample. As a matter of fact, in this study, TALIS data set, which is a
multi-cultural data set where the data are collected on an international scale, was used. Yet, Altuntaş et al.
(2023) used a sample size of 144 people selected from the universe of Küçükçekmece district of Istanbul. In
this context, it is anticipated that cultural codes related to the sample may also have affected the results of the
study.
The school leadership behaviour levels of principals do not differ according to their education level, working
time in the current school and administrative experience. Neverthless, a difference was found between
principals' school leadership behaviour levels according to gender. Accordingly, the perceptions of female
principals regarding school leadership behaviours are higher than male principals. In a study aiming to
determine school leadership behaviour according to teachers' views, Köybaşı et al. (2017) uncovered that
teachers' views on school leadership differed according to the variables of branch, seniority, the number of
teachers in the school, and faculty of graduation, but did not differ according to gender. When the results of
this study in the context of examining school leadership in the context of various variables were compared
with the results of Köybaşı et al. (2017)'s study, it was seen that the results differed in gender and seniority
dimensions. However, the result of Köybaşı et al. (2017) in the context of seniority, in which the participants
with 15-21 years of seniority differed from the other seniority groups, does not coincide with the results of the
present study. It is thought that the difference between the results of the two studies in the seniority dimension
Job Satisfaction= 0,206 x School Leadership

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may be due to the difference between principals' perceptions of their own school leadership and teachers'
perceptions of school leadership in the later periods of their professional seniority. In this context, it is possible
to state that school principals' perceptions of their own school leadership do not show a negative valuation
tendency compared to teachers' perceptions of their own school principals.
Principals' professional job satisfaction significantly predicts school leadership. Principals' professional job
satisfaction explains 4.3% of the total variance of school leadership. In other words, 4.3% of the total variance
of school leadership is explained by principals' job satisfaction. In this context, a positive and significant
relationship was detected between professional job satisfaction and school leadership. As principals'
perceptions of professional job satisfaction increase, the level of s chool leadership behaviours increases. Many
studies on the relationship between different roles, dimensions and styles of leadership and job satisfaction
revealed the existence of a significant and positive relationship between the two concepts (Akkuş, 202 2; Aksu
& Aktaş, 2005; Belias & Koustelios, 2014; Bhatti et al., 2012; Bıyık et al., 2017; Mert et al., 2019; Rad &
Yarmohammadian, 2006; Tan 2016; Tekin, 2020; Tsai, 2011; Wilderom et al., 2004).
As a result, considering the results of the studies in the literature that reveal the existence of the effect of
leadership on job satisfaction and the results of this study predicting the effect of job satisfaction on school
leadership, it is possible to suggest the existence of a bidirectional and reciprocal relationship between job
satisfaction and leadership.
Suggestions
As a result of the research, it was determined that there was a positive and significant relationship
between high school principals' professional job satisfaction and school leadership, and as principals'
perceptions of professional job satisfaction increased, school leadership behaviour levels increased. In the
literature, it is revealed that leadership is effective on employees' job satisfaction and some leadership roles
and styles contribute positively to employees' job satisfaction. In order to increase the job satisfaction of
employees, the idea of improving the leadership qualities of organisational leaders in various ways is a widely
adopted method in theory and practice. However, when the results of the studies in the literature and the
results of this study are evaluated together, it is clear that there is a mutual and positive correlative relationship
between job satisfaction and leadership. Therefore, improving the leadership characteristics of school leaders
through job satisfaction can be an effective and efficient strategy in achieving organisational goals. For
practitioners, it is suggested that renumeration, benefits and workplace conditions job satisfaction elements
be put into practice and structural arrangements be made in this direction so as to ensure the professional job
satisfaction of school leaders. For researchers, it is suggested to conduct quantitative and qualitative studies
to determine the effect of job satisfaction elements on school leadership behaviour.
Ethics Approval
In this article, journal writing rules, publication principles, research and publication ethics rules, journal
ethics rules have been followed. The responsibility for any violations that may arise regarding the article
belongs to the authors. The research data were taken from the TALIS 2018 data set, which is an international
study. Therefore, there is no need to obtain ethics committee permiss ion.
Funding
No specific grant was given to this research by funding organizations in the public, commercial, or not-
for-profit sectors.
Declaration of Author(s) Contribution Rate
In this study, the contribution rate of the first author is 55% and the contribution rate of the second author
is 45%. There is no declaration of conflict of interest.
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