In recent years the issue of school leadership has steadily gained significance (cf. e.g. Leithwood et al., 2006). Over the course of the extended legal freedom of schools, German schools are confronted with new challenges and multiple requirements. On conceptual terms the principal holds a key role which not only increasingly manifests itself on juridical level but also more frequently becomes the subject of empirical research (cf. e.g. Bonsen, 2003). One leadership concept which proved to be especially considerable in times of innovations on school level is the concept of transformational leadership (cf. Bass & Avolio, 1994). It is meant for realization of changes with school leaders as change agents and is also related to various indicators of successful personnel management (e.g. commitment).

One of these many new challenges for schools is the advancement of teacher health. Regarding the demographic change and the high number of cases of early retirement, teacher health is becoming both a new objective for school leadership as well as a quality criterion for schools. The concept of transformational leadership is frequently used to explain health and illness in the teaching profession. The concept comprises on the one hand basic factors of mental health such as individual support or appreciation and on the other hand the influence on e.g. self-efficacy of teachers which are considered central aspects of well-being (Franke & Felfe, 2011).

Although scientific interest towards the association between leadership and health has increased in recent years, the German-speaking area hardly possesses any empirical evidence regarding the relevance of school leadership for teacher health (Dadaczynski, 2012). Findings for the link between leadership and health in general are inconsistent. One reason for this could be that transformational leadership is oftentimes operationalized via global measure and thus leaving unanswered which dimension of this concept is mostly relevant for staff health.

Explanations of health and illness in the teaching profession see the work situation as well as individual resources as relevant factors for a person to subjectively assess a situation as straining (Rudow, 1994). Against this backdrop of subjectivity of health and illness in terms of the transactional concept (Lazarus, 1966) and the significance of individual assessment, the teachers’ perception of school leadership action is vital in order to define the role the principal plays for teacher health.

Considering the aforementioned increasing requirements for individual schools, e.g. regarding teacher health and the augmented significance of the principal who is also responsible for health-promoting measures, this paper pursues the following global research question: In how far is the perception of transformational leadership in its particular dimensions related to teacher health as an indicator of school quality?

In order to answer the research question a model of school quality covering the association of perceived transformational principal action and teacher health is developed. To account for the different points of view, this model considers principal characteristics, school context characteristics and work-related features (e.g. incentive systems and information flow) as well as personal features (e.g. self-efficacy) of the teacher.

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