Pages: 46-63

Abstract

Educational scholars and reformers have reached a consensus on the importance of ‎teacher’s well-being in education. Teacher’s and student’s well-being can be considered two ‎sides of the same coin. It is considered by a lot of researchers as an essential ingredient for ‎building human capacity in a first-rate educational system. Therefore, the need to improve ‎teacher’s well-being is essential within the education industry. However, teacher’s well-‎being is a broad concept governed by multiple variables. The effect of school leadership on ‎teacher’s well-being has been under the microscope recently not only within educational ‎research but also as part of well-being and organizational studies. This study examines the ‎effect of Appreciative Leadership on teacher’s subjective well-being through the ‎perspective of teachers (instructional and non-instructional staff). It uses a mixed method ‎approach using both a qualitative and quantitative instrument. It also provides interventions ‎to promote teacher’s well-being through Appreciative Inquiry (AI) 4-D cycle. The study ‎targeted 94 instructional and non-instructional staff from different phases (K-12) in 4 ‎schools in Dubai that has different KHDA rating. However, the Appreciative Inquiry ‎Summit was delivered in one of those schools only for convenience issues. The current ‎study consulted different theories that Appreciative Leadership is grounded in as social ‎constructionism, Appreciative Inquiry, and positive psychology. The major results of the ‎study indicate that Appreciative Leadership affect teacher’s subjective well-being at school. ‎The positive core shared through the Appreciative Inquiry Summit indicates that ‎Appreciative Leadership strategies and practices have a positive effect on teacher’s well-‎being. The Appreciative Inquiry summit produced several interventions designed ‎collaboratively and positively by teachers and leaders to be delivered within schools to ‎promote teacher’s well-being‎.