This article explores the interplay between educational leadership, school management, and educational psychology in shaping value-oriented school cultures, based on a research project conducted in pre-university institutions across Romania. The study aimed to identify how leadership practices grounded in psychological principles can foster ethical awareness, emotional well-being, and a coherent value system in schools. A total of 62 school principals and 348 teachers from urban and rural schools in five counties participated in the study. The research combined quantitative data—collected through validated questionnaires on leadership styles, school climate, and perceived value integration—with qualitative data derived from structured interviews and reflective journals.

Results indicate that transformational and participative leadership styles, when consciously aligned with psychological needs such as autonomy, competence, and relatedness, significantly improve the perceived ethical coherence and emotional stability of the school environment. Teachers working under leaders who emphasize intrinsic motivation, empathetic communication, and shared decision-making reported higher levels of job satisfaction, moral engagement, and trust in institutional governance. Moreover, schools where psychological safety and ethical consistency were cultivated saw improvements in student-teacher relationships, classroom management, and conflict resolution.

The research also highlights several challenges specific to the Romanian educational context, including limited training of school leaders in psychology and ethics, inconsistent implementation of national values in institutional practice, and resistance to reflective leadership practices. However, case studies of high-performing schools revealed successful models of ethical leadership that integrate psychological principles in school development plans, peer mentoring systems, and emotional education programs. These schools often functioned as local innovation hubs, with leadership teams actively engaging in community partnerships and collaborative reflection sessions with staff.

Based on the empirical findings, the article proposes a framework for ethical school leadership grounded in psychological theory and contextualized in the Romanian educational system. The framework includes six core components: value articulation, emotional climate regulation, participative governance, professional development centered on ethics and well-being, distributed leadership, and reflective institutional practices. The authors argue that strengthening the psychological foundations of leadership is essential for building sustainable, value-oriented school cultures capable of responding to the complex demands of contemporary education.

The article concludes by recommending policy-level support for leadership development programs focused on ethics and psychology, alongside the integration of reflective practices into school self-evaluation processes. These measures are essential for promoting not only institutional quality and innovation, but also a deeper alignment between educational goals and the moral, emotional, and social development of all school actors.

Keywords: Educational leadership, school culture, psychology of education, value-oriented management, ethical governance, teacher development.