This research brief examines teacher data from the 2024 National Survey of Primary Schools – specifically, how school leadership practices shape teachers’ interest in becoming a principal. Our findings show that early-career teachers are more open to leadership roles than those later in their teaching careers. This highlights the need to better understand how we can sustain leadership aspirations throughout a teacher’s career.
We found that strong leadership practices (reflected in school culture, collaborative relationships, and professional learning and development) positively predict teachers’ autonomy, job satisfaction, and confidence in teaching the updated New Zealand Curriculum and about diversity. These two beliefs, in turn, statistically significantly predict teachers’ interest in principalship.
This illustrates a clear pathway to cultivating leadership aspirations for teachers. Positive school culture shaped by effective school leadership can enhance teachers’ professional beliefs and experiences, ultimately supporting their leadership aspirations.
Our findings suggest that cultivating leadership interest among teachers requires more than just reducing workload or increasing autonomy. Instead, it hinges on fostering professional confidence and building teachers’ positive beliefs in the curriculum. These teaching beliefs are most likely to thrive in school environments that: promote inclusive cultures; establish a shared professional vision; and allow meaningful professional learning and collaboration. By prioritising these conditions, schools are likely to create a climate that not only inspires leadership aspirations, but also actively supports the development of future school leaders.
These findings underscore the importance of school conditions and teacher capability building in fostering sustainable leadership aspirations and bolstering the pipeline of future tumuaki in Aotearoa.