The links between the management competences of gymnasium heads and teachers’ professional well-being are particularly significant in the current educational context, when school communities face major challenges (e.g., shortage of competent teachers) and rapid change. Modern schools are affected by globalisation, digitalisation, and various educational reforms and such conditions pose new demands on both school heads and teachers. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that gymnasium heads have sufficient management competences that allow not only to effectively manage school activities, but also to adapt to new conditions, ensuring teachers’ successful professional well-being.

A quantitative methodology was used in the study. Empirical data were collected through an online survey using a closed-ended questionnaire. The questionnaire, developed after the analysis of the scientific literature, consisted of three parts:
1) questions about the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents;
2) assessment of the areas of competence of gymnasium heads (strategic planning, leadership, change management, organisational communication, conflict management, staff development);
3) assessment of the areas of teachers’ professional well-being (satisfaction with the organisation of work, social support, communication, relations with colleagues and the manager, physical and mental health, workload, working conditions, opportunities to improve professional competence).

A Likert scale was used to assess the competences of gymnasium heads and the professional well-being of teachers (ranking the responses from ‘strongly disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’). The study involved 165 respondents – gymnasium teachers. Descriptive statistics were used for the analysis of the study data, ANOVA linear regression was used to search for relationships between variables, correlation analysis was performed to determine Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The IBM SPSS software was used for data analysis.

The empirical study has identified positive and statistically significant relationships between the management competences of gymnasium heads and the areas of teachers’ professional well-being. The strongest correlations were found between teachers’ satisfaction with the work community (work organisation, social support and communication, relationships with colleagues and the manager) and the assessment of all the management competences of the manager. The results of the regression analysis showed that as the assessment of managers’ ability to manage changes and resolve conflicts improves, the overall assessment of teachers’ well-being also improves statistically significantly. The teachers who participated in the study positively evaluate their managers’ abilities in the areas of strategic planning, change management, organisational communication, and staff development. The study also revealed that a large proportion of the respondents face stress due to workload, have work-life balance problems. In crisis situations some teachers feel that they are not heard. The study found that as teachers’ qualifications and length of service increase, their satisfaction with their physical and mental health and workload decreases, some of the abilities of gymnasium heads, such as strategic planning and change management, are assessed less favourably. Attention should be paid to the need to ensure the professional well-being of teachers throughout their careers.

Keywords: Gymnasium heads, management competences, teachers, professional well-being.