Principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Turkish schools: examining the mediating effects of collective teacher efficacy and teacher trust

ABSTRACT

The present study sought to contribute to the growing international knowledge base regarding the influence of school leadership on teacher learning by examining the relationship between principals’ instructional and transformational leadership types and teachers’ professional learning perceptions with the mediating effects of teachers’ perceptions of collective efficacy and trust. A cross-sectional survey design of the quantitative research method was employed using the data collected from a total number of 1,200 teachers in Turkey. Mediation analysis in structural equation modelling (SEM) with the bootstrapping method was used to analyse the structural relations among variables. The result showed that both principals’ instructional and transformational leadership types were significantly related to teacher professional learning, mediating by teacher trust and collective teacher efficacy. The study reconfirmed the results of the growing body of global literature on the relationship between principal leadership and teacher professional learning and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Instructional leadership
• transformational leadership
• collective teacher efficacy
• teacher trust
• teacher professional learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mehmet Fatih Karacabey

Mehmet Fatih Karacabey is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Sciences, Harran University. His research interests include educational management and leadership, school principals’ professional development, school dropout and educational policies.

Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş

Mehmet Şükrü Bellibaş is currently working as an associate professor in the Department of Educational Sciences at Adıyaman University, Turkey. He received his PhD in K-12 Educational Administration from College of Education, Michigan State University, USA in 2014. His research interests include comparative and international education, educational leadership, school improvement and teacher professional learning.

Donnie Adams

Dr. Donnie Adams is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. He obtained his PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Malaya. He is a recipient of the University of Malaya’s Bright Sparks scholarship and a recipient of University of Malaya’s Excellence Award 2016: PhD Completion in Less than 3 Years. He is actively involved in research and development work towards the area of leadership in special educational needs in Malaysia.