THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL IN TEACHER EMPOWERMENT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Keywords:
teacher empowerment, professional development, school principal, instructional leadershipAbstract
This article examines the role of the school principal in connecting teacher empowerment with meaningful professional development. Its purpose is to highlight the leadership practices through which teachers acquire stronger professional agency, influence, self-confidence and capacity for continuous learning. A structured synthetic literature review was conducted. Nineteen empirical studies, research syntheses and institutional sources published between 2004 and 2026 were included in the synthesis, with emphasis on evidence from 2021 onward and on research concerning Greece. The synthesis identified five mutually reinforcing functions of school leadership. The principal empowers teachers by ensuring meaningful participation in decision making, distributing responsible leadership roles, organizing collaborative learning within the school, providing time and resources for development, and linking feedback and evaluation with professional growth. International evidence indicates that the influence of leadership is expressed mainly through self-efficacy, collaboration, trust and shared responsibility. Greek studies similarly highlight communication, pedagogical guidance, motivation and the creation of a learning-oriented culture. The article concludes that empowerment and professional development constitute a reciprocal process. The proposed approach positions the principal as an architect of professional learning who combines instructional, distributed and developmental leadership.
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