Preferred style of leader among UK primary school teachers: comparing social identity, transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire approaches

The UK is experiencing a teacher retention crisis, marked by increasing attrition rates and vacancies, highlighting the need for effective school leadership. No past work has investigated leadership preferences within UK primary school settings, nor compared more contemporary models of leadership, such as social identity leadership, to established models including transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership. This quantitative mixed-design study (within- and between-subjects factors) investigated the preferred leadership styles of UK primary school teachers, focusing on preferences for social identity leadership relative to alternative models. A secondary aim was to examine leadership preferences as a function of gender identity, age, and experience. One hundred and one current and former primary school teachers participated in an online survey adapted from the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire and the Social Identity Leadership Inventory, enabling an evaluation of job satisfaction and retention in relation to three widely studied leadership styles and one emerging style. Results indicated a clear preference for social identity leadership across all demographic groups. These findings challenge established leadership assumptions and have important implications for leadership practices. Future research should examine these patterns across broader educational contexts and explore situational influences on leadership preferences.