A STUDY OF EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS UNDER THE SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE BANGKOK 2

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to: (1) investigate the level of empathetic leadership of school administrators under the Secondary Educational Service Area Office Bangkok 2, and (2) compare teachers' perceptions of empathetic leadership according to gender, age, and teaching experience. The sample consisted of 374 teachers under the Secondary Educational Service Area Office Bangkok 2, selected using Yamane's sampling formula. The research instrument was a five-point Likert-scale questionnaire covering four dimensions of empathetic leadership: understanding others, empowering others, providing opportunities for others, and social skills. Data were analyzed using percentage, mean, standard deviation, the Independent Samples t-test, and One-way Analysis of Variance (One-way ANOVA). The findings revealed that the overall level of empathetic leadership among school administrators was high. All four dimensions were rated at a high level, with understanding others receiving the highest mean score, followed by empowering others, providing opportunities for others, and social skills, respectively. In addition, teachers with different genders and teaching experience showed statistically significant differences in their perceptions of empathetic leadership at the .05 level, whereas no statistically significant difference was found among teachers of different age groups. The findings suggest that empathetic leadership enhances trust, collaboration, and participation among school personnel and can serve as a guideline for developing leadership competencies of school administrators to improve educational management in the twenty-first century.