longitudinal research.
Finally, the nature of this sample, that of elementary school teachers who
voluntarily attended a professional development program, may limit the generalization
of the research conclusions. For instance, elementary and secondary school teachers may
experience school leadership and its impact on their motivation and burnout differently
due to their different school structures, subject matters, student ages, bureaucratic
controls, standardizations, and market mechanisms. In addition, teachers who are highly
committed to professional development (as sampled in the current study) may possibly
endure varying levels of burnout andmay relate differently to school leadership’s effort to
motivate them, compared to other teachers. Therefore, to permit wider generalizations,
further research is needed on the relations among leadership styles, teacher motivation
types, and teacher burnout among a diversified sample of teachers with regard to
characteristics such as age, tenure, education, school type, subject matter specialization,
attendance in ongoing professional development programs, and designated roles in school.
Despite its shortcomings, the current study holds potential to fill an important gap in
our empirical knowledge concerning the relations between educational leadership and
teachers’ motivation. As educational systems have recently tightened their control
over schools, which in turn may drive principals to practice transactional leadership
associated with controlled motivation, the role of principals in generating autonomous
motivation among teachers cannot be overstated. Although controlled motivation can
lead teachers to comply with the system’s standards, it is the autonomous motivation
that transforms their jobs into a meaningful experience, drives them to practice
autonomy-supportive teaching, protects them from burnout, increases their well-being,
improves their effectiveness, and fosters their retention in the system.