Eureka! Institutional Repository

The contemporary 21st century social conditions, along with the economic, political and mainly technological advances, are changing, bringing about changes, challenges and new prospects in Education. It is, thus, imperative that innovative actions be adopted, so that schools can answer to the needs of a constantly changing and developing international environment. Given that employees' motivation is among the most significant issues concerning Human Resources Administration, it is of utmost importance that the Principal of a school unit apply the appropriate or a combination of appropriate leading styles to ensure that, with his chosen practices, he motivates teachers to be more creative and effective. The aim of the particular research was to study how the educators of Primary education conceive the notion of Motivation and its Dimensions in light of their participation in innovative acts. Moreover, it intended to show the extent to which their attitude towards Motivation were affected by demographic, social and job criteria as well as the correlation of the leading style with the motivation for participation in Innovation. A survey questionnaire was designated as a methodological tool. It consisted of 27 closed-ended questions that were related to the four Dimensions of the Motivation. The questionnaire encluded sentences and two open-ended questions, documenting the good practices of Motivation followed by the schools’ Principals . The specific research took place between May and June 2019, with 178 educators of Primary Education participating in it. Results have shown that the rate of teachers’ Motivation is quite high while they appreciate their Transformational and Participative Principal’ practices. As a whole, they emphasize the effect of Motivation as a means towards Innovation, developement of a positive working environment and the implementation of a fair and flexible leadership. Ultimately, it is ascertained that the more experienced the teachers are, the more it is expected that a Leader should lead by example, promote his/her values, personality and knowledge, leading an innovative, modern and open to the society school.