Principal empowering leadership and teacher innovative behavior: a moderated mediation model

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to extant literature by linking principal empowering leadership to teachers’ innovative work behavior. By doing so, the author attempts to provide a more nuanced understanding of this relationship by examining a moderated mediation model which encompasses exploration as a mediator and role conflict as a moderator.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 201 public teachers. In order to examine the present hypotheses bootstrapping analysis, Sobel test and SPSS macro were used.

Findings

The results demonstrated that teacher exploration mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and innovative work behavior and, further, that this indirect effect is contingent on role conflict.

Practical implications

Based on the present findings, in order to enhance innovation, schools need to promote both empowering leadership style and their teachers’ exploration. Moreover, principals should refrain from providing conflicting orders and expectations from their teachers because such conditions will eliminate the positive effect of their empowering behaviors on teachers’ exploration and innovative work behavior.

Originality/value

This is the first study that develops and tests a moderated mediation model regarding the relationship between principal empowering leadership and teacher innovative behavior.

Citation

Gkorezis, P. (2016), "Principal empowering leadership and teacher innovative behavior: a moderated mediation model", International Journal of Educational Management, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 1030-1044. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-08-2015-0113