The effects of instructional leadership on teacher well-being: the mediating roles of professional learning community and teacher self-efficacy

ABSTRACT

This study was prompted by the scarcity of empirical investigation regarding the relationship between instructional leadership and teacher well-being through the mediating roles of professional learning communities and teacher self-efficacy in Chinese school settings. Data from 1158 primary and secondary school teachers in South China were collected for analysis. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed for data analysis. The results indicated a positive relationship between principal instructional leadership and teacher well-being after controlling for teacher demographic factors. Instructional leadership has a substantial impact on the professional learning community. Both professional learning communities and teacher self-efficacy emerged as significant serial mediators in the structural model. Principal instructional leadership, professional learning communities, and teacher self-efficacy collectively explained approximately 43% of the variance in teacher well-being. These findings inform practical and theoretical implications, suggesting avenues for enhancing principal instructional leadership and, consequently, fostering teacher well-being in the hierarchical Chinese education setting.

KEYWORDS:

• Instructional leadership
• partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)
• professional learning community
• teacher self-efficacy
• teacher well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Project “Longitudinal data-driven research on pre-service teacher learning and quality of teacher education“ funded by Major Projects of Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences for Universities, Ministry of Education [22JJD880011]; the International Joint Research Project of Huiyan International College, Faculty of Education Beijing Normal University [ICER201905].

Notes on contributors

Peng Liu

Dr. Peng Liu is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba, Canada. His research interests include Indigenous leadership, effective leadership, higher education leadership, educational change, educational policy, teacher professional development, and international and comparative education. Dr. Liu has published articles in peer-reviewed journals including Education Management, Administration and Leadership, School Effectiveness and School Improvement, the Journal of Educational Administration, Education Psychology, and International Studies in Educational Administration.

Lei Mee Thien

Lei Mee Thien is an Associate Professor at the School of Educational Studies, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Her main research focus is educational management and leadership. Thien shows keen interest in employing advanced statistical analysis techniques within educational studies. She has published papers in refereed journals such as Educational Management, Administration & Leadership, and International Journal of Research & Method in Education.

Huan Song

Huan Song is a professor at Beijing Normal University specialises in teacher professional development, curriculum reform, qualitative research, etc. He has published more than 100 articles in SSCI and CSSCI journals, and several books and reports.

Xinwei Wang

Xinwei Wang is a PhD student at Beijing Normal University. Her research focuses on teacher professional development, teacher leadership and teacher well-being.