Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers
Educational Point, 2(1), 2025, e114, https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
Publication date: Mar 31, 2025
ABSTRACT
This qualitative study explores the impacts of leaders’ leadership skills on the well-being of Vietnamese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants selected through purposive sampling from both public and private sectors. This study is important because it addresses a significant gap in existing research by focusing on the well-being of EFL teachers in Vietnam, a context where English proficiency is increasingly prioritized but where teachers face growing pressures and challenges. Understanding how leadership skills contribute to teacher well-being can inform leadership practices and policies that enhance teacher retention, job satisfaction, and ultimately, the quality of English language education. The findings revealed a range of leadership skills and practices that positively influence teacher well-being, including fostering collaboration and teamwork, adapting to changes, respecting teachers’ professional judgment, providing emotional support and fair workload distribution, promoting work-life balance, providing continuous feedback and growth opportunities, ensuring clear communication, empowering and appreciating teachers, resolving conflicts, and establishing trust.
KEYWORDS
CITATION (APA)
Le, T. T., Pham, T. T., & Tran, T. T. (2025). Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers. Educational Point, 2(1), e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
Harvard
Le, T. T., Pham, T. T., and Tran, T. T. (2025). Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers. Educational Point, 2(1), e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
Vancouver
Le TT, Pham TT, Tran TT. Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers. Educational Point. 2025;2(1):e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
AMA
Le TT, Pham TT, Tran TT. Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers. Educational Point. 2025;2(1), e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
Chicago
Le, Thao Thanh, Thuy Trut Pham, and Thuy Thi Tran. "Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers". Educational Point 2025 2 no. 1 (2025): e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
MLA
Le, Thao Thanh et al. "Leadership skills and teacher well-being: Under the lens of Vietnamese EFL teachers". Educational Point, vol. 2, no. 1, 2025, e114. https://doi.org/10.71176/edup/16218
REFERENCES
- Al-Maaitah, D. A., Majali, T. E., Alsoud, M., & Al-Maaitah, T. A. (2021). The role of leadership styles on staffs job satisfaction in public organizations. Journal of Contemporary Issues in Business and Government, 27(1), 772–783. https://doi.org/10.15174/au.2014.597
- Audenaert, M., Vanderstraeten, A., & Buyens, D. (2017). When affective well-being is empowered: The joint role of leader-member exchange and the employment relationship. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(15), 2208–2227. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2015.1137610
- Bell, A. S., Rajendran, D., & Theiler, S. (2012). Job stress, wellbeing, work-life balance and work-life conflict among Australian academics. Electronic Journal of Applied Psychology, 8(1), 25–37. https://doi.org/10.7790/ejap.v8i1.320
- Birks, M., & Mills, J. (2015). Grounded theory: A practical guide. Sage.
- Bodewig, C., Badiani-Magnusson, R., Macdonald, K., Newhouse, D., & Rutkowski, J. (2014). Skilling up Vietnam: Preparing the workforce for a modern market economy. World Bank Publications. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0231-7
- Bogler, R. (2001). The influence of leadership style on teacher job satisfaction. Educational Administration Quarterly, 37(5), 662–683. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131610121969460
- Brackett, M. A., Palomera, R., Mojsa‐Kaja, J., Reyes, M. R., & Salovey, P. (2010). Emotion‐regulation ability, burnout, and job satisfaction among British secondary‐school teachers. Psychology in the Schools, 47(4), 406–417. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20478
- Carrington, S., Park, E., McKay, L., Saggers, B., Harper-Hill, K., & Somerwil, T. (2024). Evidence of transformative leadership for inclusive practice. Teaching and Teacher Education, 141, Article 104466. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104466
- Clutterbuck, D., & Hirst, S. (2002). Leadership communication: A status report. Journal of Communication Management, 6(4), 351–354. https://doi.org/10.1108/13632540210807170
- Collie, R. J., Shapka, J. D., & Perry, N. E. (2012). School climate and social–emotional learning: Predicting teacher stress, job satisfaction, and teaching efficacy. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(4), 1189–1204. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029356
- Day, C., & Qing, G. (2009). Teacher emotions: Well being and effectiveness. In P. Schutz, M. Zembylas (Eds.), Advances in teacher emotion research (pp. 15–31). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0564-2_2
- Doan, D. H. (2005). Moral education or political education in the Vietnamese educational system? Journal of Moral Education, 34(4), 451–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240500414733
- Doan, L. D., & Hamid, M. O. (2021). Economics of English: Examining the demand for English proficiency in the Vietnamese job market. RELC Journal, 52(3), 618–634. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688219863166
- Fapohunda, T. M. (2013). Towards effective team building in the workplace. International Journal of Education and Research, 1(4), 1–12. https://bit.ly/43usHcj
- Ghamrawi, N. (2011). Trust me: Your school can be better—A message from teachers to principals. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 39(3), 333–348. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143210393997
- Giang, N. T. H., Hai, P. T. T., Tu, N. T. T., & Tan, P. X. (2021). Exploring the readiness for digital transformation in a higher education institution towards industrial revolution 4.0. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy, 11(2), 4–24. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijep.v11i2.17515
- Gillespie, N. A., & Mann, L. (2004). Transformational leadership and shared values: The building blocks of trust. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 19(6), 588–607. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940410551507
- Gioia, D. A., Nag, R., & Corley, K. G. (2012). Visionary ambiguity and strategic change: The virtue of vagueness in launching major organizational change. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(4), 364–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492612447229
- Goleman, D. (2017). Leadership that gets results (Harvard business review classics). Harvard Business Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315250601-9
- Guest, D. E. (2017). Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal, 27(1), 22–38. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12139
- Gurr, D., & Drysdale, L. (2020). Leadership for challenging times. International Studies in Educational Administration, 48(1), 24–30. https://bit.ly/3NVl6gZ
- Guthrie, K. L., & Jenkins, D. M. (2018). The role of leadership educators: Transforming learning. IAP.
- Hai, T. N., Van, T. T., & Thi, H. N. (2021). Relationship between transformational leadership style and leadership thinking of provincial administration leaders. Emerging Science Journal, 5(5), 714–730. https://doi.org/10.28991/esj-2021-01307
- Hallinger, P., Walker, A., & Trung, G. T. (2015). Making sense of images of fact and fiction: A critical review of the knowledge base for school leadership in Vietnam. Journal of Educational Administration, 53(4), 445–466. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-05-2014-0060
- Hargreaves, A. (2004). Inclusive and exclusive educational change: Emotional responses of teachers and implications for leadership. School Leadership & Management, 24(3), 287–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/1363243042000266936
- Hargreaves, A. (2007). Sustainable leadership and development in education: Creating the future, conserving the past. European Journal of Education, 42(2), 223–233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-3435.2007.00294.x
- Hepburn, S.-J., Carroll, A., & McCuaig, L. (2021). Exploring a complementary stress management and wellbeing intervention model for teachers: Participant experience. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(17), Article 9009. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179009
- Hitchcock, M., & Wesner, S. (2009). Vietnamese values, networks and family businesses in London. Asia Pacific Business Review, 15(2), 265–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/10438590701719032
- Hogan, J. P., & White, P. (2021). A self-study exploration of early career teacher burnout and the adaptive strategies of experienced teachers. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 46(5), 18–39. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n5.2
- Hossain, Z. (2016). Towards a lifelong learning society through reading promotion: Opportunities and challenges for libraries and community learning centres in Viet Nam. International Review of Education, 62(2), 205–219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-016-9552-y
- Hu, G., & McKay, S. L. (2012). English language education in East Asia: Some recent developments. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 345–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2012.661434
- Hu, Y., Van Veen, K., & Corda, A. (2016). Pushing too little, praising too much? Intercultural misunderstandings between a Chinese doctoral student and a Dutch supervisor. Studying Teacher Education, 12(1), 70–87. https://doi.org/10.1080/17425964.2015.1111204
- Huyen, B. T. T., Jolliffe, D., Phuoc, H. A., Hong, N. T. T., Thu, T. T. L., Hung, D. H., & Nhan Ai, N. T. (2021). Exploring the relationship between aggression and empathy: A case study in Vietnam. Journal of Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 17(4), 6–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/0973134220210402
- Jacobs, J., Beck, B., & Crowell, L. (2014). Teacher leaders as equity-centered change agents: Exploring the conditions that influence navigating change to promote educational equity. Professional Development in Education, 40(4), 576–596. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.896272
- Khan, M. R., & Wajidi, A. (2019). Role of leadership and team building in employee motivation at workplace. Global Management Journal for Academic & Corporate Studies, 9(1), 39–49.
- Khan, S., & Abdullah, N. N. (2019). The impact of staff training and development on teachers’ productivity. Economics, Management and Sustainability, 4(1), 37–45. https://doi.org/10.14254/jems.2019.4-1.4
- Kock, N., Mayfield, M., Mayfield, J., Sexton, S., & De La Garza, L. M. (2019). Empathetic leadership: How leader emotional support and understanding influences follower performance. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26(2), 217–236. https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051818806290
- Lee, Y., & Li, J. Y. Q. (2021). The role of communication transparency and organizational trust in publics’ perceptions, attitudes and social distancing behaviour: A case study of the COVID‐19 outbreak. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 29(4), 368–384. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5973.12354
- Leithwood, K., & Sun, J. (2012). The nature and effects of transformational school leadership: A meta-analytic review of unpublished research. Educational Administration Quarterly, 48(3), 387–423. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X11436268
- London, J. D. (2010). Globalization and the governance of education in Viet Nam. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 30(4), 361–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2010.520202
- Maheshwari, G. (2022). Influence of teacher-perceived transformational and transactional school leadership on teachers’ job satisfaction and performance: A case of Vietnam. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 21(4), 876–890. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700763.2020.1866020
- Mai, H. N. T., & Hall, C. (2017). Changing views of teachers and teaching in Vietnam. Teaching Education, 28(3), 244–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/10476210.2016.1252742
- Mai, L. X., & Thao, L. T. (2022). English language teaching pedagogical reforms in Vietnam: External factors in light of teachers’ backgrounds. Cogent Education, 9(1), Article 2087457. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2087457
- McKay, L., & Barton, G. (2018). Exploring how arts-based reflection can support teachers’ resilience and well-being. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 75(1), 356–365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.07.012
- Nguyen, N. T. (2017). Thirty years of English language and English education in Vietnam: Current reflections on English as the most important foreign language in Vietnam, and key issues for English education in the Vietnamese context. English Today, 33(1), 33–35. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078416000262
- Nguyen, N., & Tran, L. T. (2018). Looking inward or outward? Vietnam higher education at the superhighway of globalization: Culture, values and changes. Journal of Asian Public Policy, 11(1), 28–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/17516234.2017.1332457
- Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Walkinshaw, I. (2018). Autonomy in teaching practice: Insights from Vietnamese English language teachers trained in Inner-Circle countries. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 69(1), 21–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.08.015
- Niemeyer-Rens, R. F., Sullivan, G., & Self, S. W. (2022). Leadership adaptability within higher education. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 22(9), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.33423/jhetp.v22i9.5357
- Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. SAGE Publications.
- Pedroso, J. E. P., Siason Jr, N. D., & Tangco-Siason, A. (2021). Principal’s leadership practices during the COVID 19 pandemic: An exploratory study. International Journal of Arts and Humanities Studies, 1(1), 76–87. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijahs.2021.1.1.12
- Phan, N. T. T., & Locke, T. (2016). Vietnamese teachers’ self-efficacy in teaching English as a foreign language: Does culture matter? English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 15(1), 105–128. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-04-2015-0033
- Pollack, J., & Matous, P. (2019). Testing the impact of targeted team building on project team communication using social network analysis. International Journal of Project Management, 37(3), 473–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2019.02.005
- Printy, S. M., Marks, H. M., & Bowers, A. J. (2009). Integrated leadership: How principals and teachers share transformational and instructional influence. Journal of School Leadership, 19(5), 504–532. https://doi.org/10.1177/105268460901900501
- Quynh, L. H. C. (2021). The influences of collectivism on Vietnamese communication style. International Journal of Research in Engineering, Science and Management, 4(7), 10–14. https://bit.ly/3JV5byc
- Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2011). Teacher job satisfaction and motivation to leave the teaching profession: Relations with school context, feeling of belonging, and emotional exhaustion. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(6), 1029–1038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2011.04.001
- Spilt, J. L., Koomen, H. M., & Thijs, J. T. (2011). Teacher wellbeing: The importance of teacher–student relationships. Educational Psychology Review, 23, 457–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-011-9170-y
- Syarif, M. W., Akbar, M., & Supriyati, Y. (2020). The effect of leadership behaviour, interpersonal communication, and work satisfaction on teacher’s work effectiveness. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change, 11(9), 543–565.
- Tang, K. N. (2019). Beyond employability: Embedding soft skills in higher education. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 18(2), 1–9. https://bit.ly/3OiGYo5
- Tarozzi, M. (2020). What is grounded theory? Bloomsbury Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350085275
- Thanh, N. H., Quang, N. V., & Anh, N. N. (2022). The relationship between leadership style and staff work engagement: An empirical analysis of the public sector in Vietnam. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 9(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01354-7
- Thao, L. T., & Mai, L. X. (2022). English language teaching reforms in Vietnam: EFL teachers’ perceptions of their responses and the influential factors. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 16(1), 29–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2020.1846041
- Thao, V. T. T. (2017). The effect of power distance on e-government adoption in Vietnam: Empirical investigation using UTAUT model. IJISET-International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering & Technology, 4(5), 245–249. https://bit.ly/43tJJHe
- Tran, L. T., Nghia, T. L. H., Nguyen, M. N., & Ngo, M. (2020). ‘Let go of out-of-date values holding us back’: Foreign influences on teaching-learning, research and community engagement in Vietnamese universities. Cambridge Journal of Education, 50(3), 281–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2019.1693504
- Tran, Q. H. N. (2019). A pilot study on measuring organisational culture in Vietnamese corporations in light of task and relationship orientations. International Journal of Export Marketing, 3(1), 20–34. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJEXPORTM.2019.101807
- Truong, T. D., & Hallinger, P. (2017). Exploring cultural context and school leadership: Conceptualizing an indigenous model of có uy school leadership in Vietnam. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 20(5), 539–561. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2015.1105388
- Truong, T. D., Hallinger, P., & Sanga, K. (2017). Confucian values and school leadership in Vietnam: Exploring the influence of culture on principal decision making. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(1), 77–100. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143215607877
- Twyford, K., & Le Fevre, D. (2019). Leadership, uncertainty and risk: How leaders influence teachers. Journal of Professional Capital and Community, 4(4), 309–324. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPCC-02-2019-0002
- Van Maele, D., & Van Houtte, M. (2015). Trust in school: A pathway to inhibit teacher burnout? Journal of Educational Administration, 53(1), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2014-0018
- Vinh, L. A., & Hanh, H. P. (2022). Basic education in Vietnam. In International handbook on education in South East Asia (pp. 1–23). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_38-1
- Viruell-Fuentes, E. A., Miranda, P. Y., & Abdulrahim, S. (2012). More than culture: Structural racism, intersectionality theory, and immigrant health. Social Science & Medicine, 75(12), 2099–2106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.12.037
- Vuong, Q. H., Bui, Q. K., La, V. P., Vuong, T. T., Nguyen, V. H. T., Ho, M. T., & Ho, M. T. (2018). Cultural additivity: Behavioural insights from the interaction of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in folktales. Palgrave Communications, 4, Article 143. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-018-0189-2
- Wann, D. L., Hackathorn, J., & Sherman, M. R. (2017). Testing the team identification–social psychological health model: Mediational relationships among team identification, sport fandom, sense of belonging, and meaning in life. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 21(2), 94–107. https://doi.org/10.1037/gdn0000066
- Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Dollard, M. F., Demerouti, E., Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., & Schreurs, P. J. (2007). When do job demands particularly predict burnout? The moderating role of job resources. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(8), 766–786. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710837714
- Yao, C. W., Collins, C., Bush, T., Briscoe, K. L., & Dang, N. L. T. (2022). English as a ‘double barrier’: English medium instruction and student learning at Vietnamese transnational universities. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(4), 1372–1386. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2021.1896485
- Yukl, G. (2012). Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention. Academy of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 66–85. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2012.0088
- Zhang, Z. X., & Wei, X. (2017). Superficial harmony and conflict avoidance resulting from negative anticipation in the workplace. Management and Organization Review, 13(4), 795–820. https://doi.org/10.1017/mor.2017.48
LICENSE

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.