Email this article Beyond Bureaucratic Supervision: Humanistic Adaptive Supervision and Teacher Psychological Safety in Rural Indonesian Elementary Schools
This study examines how school principals reconstruct supervisory practices and foster teachers’ psychological safety in rural elementary schools in Indonesia. Using a qualitative multiple-case study design, the study involved 18 participants: six school principals, nine teachers, and three school supervisors from six public elementary schools in Grobogan Regency, Central Java. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, observations, and school documents and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The findings indicate that supervision is gradually shifting from bureaucratic monitoring toward more dialogic, supportive, and developmental professional mentoring. Teachers’ psychological safety is fostered through open communication, emotional support, constructive feedback, shared reflection, and greater flexibility in responding to professional challenges. The findings also indicate that principals increasingly position themselves as professional mentors who support teachers’ reflection, learning, and instructional adaptation. The study shows that humanistic and adaptive supervisory practices can create more supportive conditions for teachers’ professional learning and psychological safety in rural elementary schools.
Keywords: adaptive leadership; humanistic supervision; psychological safety; rural elementary school; teacher well-being.
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