To what extent is shared instructional leadership related to teacher self-efficacy and student academic performance in China?

ABSTRACT

Even though the concept has been introduced more than 2 decades ago, available evidence conventionally operationalises shared instructional leadership as a composite, which has missed the opportunity to reveal to what extent principal and teacher instructional leadership helps improve instructional outcomes. Using the complex survey data collected in China, this research employed a three-level structural equation model to investigate the multidimensional relationships among principal and teacher instructional leadership, teacher self-efficacy, and student learning outcomes. The results suggest principal instructional leadership is significantly related to teacher instructional leadership. Both are positively related to teacher self-efficacy and student performance, though the effect sizes vary noticeably. Using a survey design, this study has added international and nuanced evidence to the shared instructional leadership research, through an integrated model emphasising both principals’ and teachers’ leading roles.

KEYWORDS:

• Shared instructional leadership
• principal instructional leadership
• teacher instructional leadership
• teacher self-efficacy
• student performance
• international perspective

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China 111 program [grant number B21036]; the Annual National Social Science and Humanity [ZDA338].

Notes on contributors

Yan Liu

Yan Liu recently joined the Department of Educational Leadership as an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She utilises advanced quantitative approaches to investigate how educational contexts, educational policies, and expertise possessed by school personnel interactively outline educational leadership practices and educational outcomes. Her most recent research examined the intersection of school human capital, leadership functions, and contexts in fulfilling varied school leadership responsibilities, and the impact of different leadership patterns on teaching capacity and student learning outcomes using large-scale international data.

Ling Li

Ling Li is a professor and the director of the Center for Educational Policy at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. She leads a team of researchers to investigate educational policy in China, particularly in educational equity, rural school teacher retention, and educational leadership. She specialises in examining the policymaking process and the impacts of educational policy and leadership on student learning and teacher wellbeing in the Chinese context.

Chen Huang

Chen Huang is an associate researcher working at the Center for Educational Policy at Southwest University in Chongqing, China. Cheng Huang’s research interests include educational policy, educational equity, and educational opportunities for rural students. He utilises advanced quantitative approaches to examine the impact of educational policy on student learning outcomes in China.