Transformational leadership and its relations to teacher outcomes in Singapore: Mastery goals and self-efficacy as mediators

ABSTRACT

This study investigated how teacher mastery goals and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher outcomes (work engagement, engagement in professional learning, job satisfaction, and intention to quit). A sample of teachers in Singapore (n = 495) completed an online questionnaire. We conducted path analysis to test the hypothesized model based on person measures obtained in Rasch analysis. We found that transformational leadership was associated positively with teacher mastery goals and self-efficacy, both of which partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and teacher outcomes. The findings enhance our understanding of the motivational mechanism between transformational leadership and teacher outcomes.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In addition, as discriminant validity evidence, transformational leadership had a modest positive correlation (r =.31) with contingent reward (a component of transactional leadership) in the larger research project, which is consistent with findings reported in previous studies (e.g., Coad & Berry, 1998; Hamstra et al., 2014).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Education Research Funding Programme [OER 06/17LWS].