Communication at school and teachers’ wellbeing: An Italian qualitative study

Introduction. Teachers’ wellbeing is closely linked to the quality of communication within the school environment, as it influences daily relationships and practices (Addimando, 2019; Kuusimäki et al., 2017; Tsuyuguchi, 2025). This qualitative study explored how Italian teachers experience communication with colleagues and head teachers, and thus respectively in horizontal and vertical relationships at school. Methods. Seventy-six teachers (67 females; M age=46.6 years, SD=11.2) working in three school institutes (M years of job experience in those schools=9.3 years, SD=8.4) participated in three semi-structured focus groups exploring their perceptions of wellbeing at school. Three guiding questions focused specifically on experiences with colleagues and school leaders. All discussions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) to identify recurrent communicative patterns in horizontal and vertical interactions. Results. Four themes emerged concerning communication with colleagues: informal exchanges, professional collaboration and reciprocal support, conflictual communication, and limited communication. Regarding communication with head teachers, four themes were identified: approachability and availability, organizational communication, professional support, trust and respect. Positive communication was associated with pleasant emotions (e.g., joy, satisfaction), whereas negative communication was more frequently linked to unpleasant emotions (e.g., frustration, demotivation, feeling of isolation). Negative communication patterns and associated negative emotions were reported more often in interactions with school leaders. Conclusions. The findings highlighted an asymmetry in horizontal (i.e., with colleagues) and vertical (i.e., with head teachers) communication. As positive communication is related to experiences of positive emotion, this study highlights the importance of creating structured opportunities for collegial dialogue and strengthening leadership communication to support teachers’ psychological wellbeing.