Unintended Consequences of Teacher Autonomy and Principal Leadership: Evidence from Teacher–Parent Communication and Teacher Well-Being

Motivated by recent tragedies highlighting teacher stress stemming from parental demands, this study examines the relationships among teacher–parent communication, teacher autonomy, principal leadership, and well-being in South Korea. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2022) with school fixed-effects models, we find that increased hours spent communicating with parents are negatively associated with multiple dimensions of teacher well-being. Furthermore, we uncover a critical autonomy paradox: Although perceived autonomy generally enhances well-being, high levels of autonomy significantly exacerbate the negative association between communication hours and well-being. We also reveal that strong principal instructional leadership fails to mitigate this paradox and may even intensify the perceived burden. These findings challenge the assumption that autonomy and leadership function as protective resources. Instead, within high-pressure contexts and bureaucratic systems, autonomy and leadership may operate as managerial devices and sources of personal liability, characterized by isolated responsibility rather than professional support.