School Leaders’ Mentoring Skills, Motivation and Management Skills as Predictors of Teacher Support

Abstract

Aims: This study aims to explore how school leaders’ mentoring skills, motivation practices, and management skills influence the support that teachers feel they receive at work. It focuses on identifying which of these leadership competencies— mentoring, motivation, or management—has the strongest impact on teacher support and how these practices contribute to fostering a supportive and effective school environment. Study Design: Quantitative predictive-correlational research design. Place and Duration of Study: Teachers teaching in the selected public elementary schools in Mt. Apo District, Digos City, were included in the study. The data collection was conducted between September to October 2025. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative predictive-correlational research design to examine the extent to which school leaders’ mentoring skills, motivation practices, and management skills predict teacher support. The study utilized simple random sampling, having 100 elementary teacher respondents from public schools of Mt. Apo District, Digos City, with the sample size determined using Raosoft calculator. Data were collected using adapted questionnaires measuring school leaders’ mentoring skills (Virtič et al., 2023), motivation practices (Gokce, 2010), management skills (Naidoo, 2019), and teacher support (Karacabey, 2020). The questionnaire was pilot-tested, yielding a reliability coefficient of α = 0.88, and administered via Google Form, with responses automatically recorded. Data were analyzed using Jamovi software, where Pearson correlation analysis examined the relationships between leadership competencies and teacher support, and multiple regression analysis determined which competencies significantly predicted teacher support. Results: Correlation analysis showed that school leaders’ mentoring skills, motivation practices, and management skills were significantly and positively associated with teacher support. Mentoring skills had a moderate correlation (r = 0.525, df = 98, P < .001), while motivation practices (r = 0.727, df = 98, P < .001) and management skills (r = 0.773, df = 98, P < .001) showed strong correlations. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the combined leadership competencies predicted 65.5% of the variance in teacher support (R = 0.816, R² = 0.655). Individually, management skills were the strongest predictor (b = 0.478, SE = 0.099, t = 4.831, P < .001), followed by motivation practices (b = 0.368, SE = 0.121, t = 3.045, P = .003) and mentoring skills (b = 0.204, SE = 0.074, t = 2.748, P = .007). The intercept was not statistically significant (b = -1.336, SE = 0.381, t = -0.882, P = .380). These findings indicate that higher levels of school leaders’ mentoring, motivation, and management skills are associated with greater teacher support, with management skills exerting the most pronounced effect. Conclusion: School leaders’ mentoring skills, motivation practices, and management skills play a key role in fostering teacher support, which in turn contributes to a more positive and effective school environment. Among these, management skills appear to have the greatest impact. However, further studies are needed to confirm the reliability of these findings across different schools and contexts.