Destructive leadership in education: A systematic review

Educational leadership studies have largely focused on the positive aspects of leadership. However, knowledge of the dark side of leadership in educational contexts remains limited. This systematic review aimed to reveal the contextual and methodological trends of destructive leadership studies in education, to synthesise the prevalence, behavioural patterns, antecedents, outcomes, mediators and moderators of destructive leadership and provide directions for future research. A descriptive and thematic analysis was conducted on 47 high-quality empirical studies. The findings indicate destructive leadership in education produces four broad categories of outcomes: (a) teacher behaviours and professional outcomes, (b) organisational outcomes, (c) individual outcomes and (d) leader-directed outcomes. Additionally, the prevalence, behavioural patterns, antecedents and mediators/moderators of destructive leadership, as well as the contextual and methodological trends of the studies, were identified. This systematic review synthesises existing evidence and outlines directions for future research in educational leadership. The review may also serve as a foundation for future research on destructive leadership in education. Furthermore, given the multidimensional effects of destructive leadership, this study provides practical insights for policymakers and educational decision-makers.