Caring leadership and teacher well-being : perceptual differences between less and more experienced teachers

Teacher well-being (TWB) is a key contributor to teachers' professional commitment and job satisfaction and to student achievement. Research has highlighted the influence of leadership, workplace relationships, and financial reward on TWB; the interrelationships between these factors remain underexplored. This study employs network analysis to explore the structural relationships between TWB, caring leadership, co-worker support, and compensation, with a particular focus on differences in perceptions as a function of teaching experience. A latent network analysis was conducted on survey data from 520 Czech primary and secondary school teachers, with the aim of examining the structural relationships between latent constructs. Additionally, an item-level network analysis explored the associations between TWB and caring leadership at a more detailed level. The results suggest that caring leadership is a central construct that facilitates the connection between TWB and workplace relationships. Notably, while most relationships were positive, weaker links were found between payment and other variables, suggesting their peripheral role in shaping TWB. Furthermore, a distinction was observed between less and more experienced teachers, with the former group perceiving stronger associations between caring leadership and wellbeing. The findings emphasize the pivotal role of caring leadership in promoting TWB and highlight how teaching experience shapes perceptions of workplace support.