Negotiating Power and Teacher-leader Relationships: Evidence from Lower Secondary Schools in Central Vietnam

Thang Dinh Truong; Hung Van Bui; Hien Ngoc Nguyen

doi:10.52296/vje.2026.786

Authors

Thang Dinh Truong Quang Tri Teacher Training College, Vietnam; Quang Binh University, Vietnam
Hung Van Bui Vinh University, Vietnam
Hien Ngoc Nguyen Vinh University, Vietnam

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52296/vje.2026.786

Supporting Agencies

This work was supported by the Vietnam Ministry of Education [Grant number B2024-TDV-02].

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Truong, T. D., Bui, H. V., & Nguyen, H. N. (2026). Negotiating Power and Teacher-leader Relationships: Evidence from Lower Secondary Schools in Central Vietnam. Vietnam Journal of Education, 10(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.52296/vje.2026.786

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Abstract

In education systems shaped by hierarchical traditions and collectivist cultural values, school leadership is not only exercised through formal authority but also through the everyday negotiation of relationships, trust, and professional legitimacy. This study examines how power dynamics shape teacher-leader relationship building in Vietnamese lower secondary schools, with attention to how principals navigate authority within a hierarchical and collectivist cultural context. Drawing on a post-structuralist lens, the research employed a qualitative multiple-case study design. Data were generated through semi-structured interviews with 18 participants (principals, deputy principals, and teachers) across three public schools. The findings show that hierarchy remains a strong structuring force, but authority is continuously produced and legitimised through relational and moral work. Principals combined formal decision-making power with relational strategies - such as recognition, informal dialogue, and community-building - to foster trust and collaboration, while simultaneously shaping the terms under which teacher voice and dissent could be expressed. Cross-case comparison further indicates that leadership practices were contextually negotiated, resulting in different configurations of hierarchical, hybrid, and more participatory approaches. The study contributes to educational leadership scholarship by offering a culturally grounded account of how authority and relationality intersect in everyday leadership practice, with implications for leadership development and policy design in hierarchical and collectivist education systems.

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