TITLE:
Primary School Principals’ Perceptions of Leadership Styles: Evidence from Greece
AUTHORS:
Georgios Doupis, Dimitra Bartzi
KEYWORDS:
Educational Leader, Educational Systems, Leadership Styles/Models, Quality of Education, Primary School Principals, Primary Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.17 No.7,
July
23,
2026
ABSTRACT: This quantitative survey study explored primary school principals’ perceptions of leadership styles in Greece and their perceived association with educational change and quality improvement. Data were collected from 150 primary and nursery school principals using a structured questionnaire during the 2022-2023 school year. The study examined the leadership style adopted by principals, their perceptions of leadership’s contribution to educational change, and its role in improving educational quality. Participative leadership was the most frequently reported style (54.7%), followed by pedagogical and interpersonal leadership (10.7% each). Most respondents agreed that their leadership style contributed strongly or very strongly to educational change (64.6%) and played a decisive role in improving the quality of education (87.3%). The findings indicate that participative leadership is the dominant leadership model in Greek primary education and is perceived by principals as an important driver of school improvement and educational quality.