The prosocial school leader: Theory, research, and action

The purpose of this article is to propose a model of the prosocial school leader that shows how the principals’ social emotional competencies (SECs), wellbeing, and leadership form the foundation that influences the overall school climate, teacher functioning and wellbeing, family and community partnerships, and downstream student outcomes. The authors hypothesize that effective leadership practices, healthy relationships, effective SEL program implementation, and effective family and community partnerships all mediate school climate, teacher performance, and student outcomes. Finally, the authors discuss how to support principals to develop the SECs necessary to lead and implement SEL initiatives in their buildings. We believe that this work has the potential to expand the conversation about how to school administrators’ social emotional competencies are integral for school improvement and positive student performance.