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1 – 10 of over 2000Hui-Ling Wendy Pan and Wen-Yan Chen
The importance of teacher leadership in enhancing school outcomes is recognized, but there remains a scarcity of research addressing the conditions for principals to nurture such…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of teacher leadership in enhancing school outcomes is recognized, but there remains a scarcity of research addressing the conditions for principals to nurture such leadership. This study examined how school contextual factors, i.e. faculty trust and academic emphasis, moderate the impact of principals' distributed leadership lon teacher leadership.
Design/methodology/approach
A nationwide survey was conducted among junior high school teachers in Taiwan. The sample encompassed schools from different geographical regions and sizes, yielding a total of 1,340 valid responses. Hierarchical regression analyses were employed to analyze the potential moderating effects of interest.
Findings
There were interactive effects of principals' distributed leadership and school contextual factors on teachers' adoption of leadership roles. The impact of principals' distributed leadership on teacher leadership was amplified in environments marked by elevated levels of trust relations and reduced academic emphasis.
Practical implications
This study uncovers the critical prerequisites principals must address to cultivate teacher leadership. To effectively encourage heightened teacher engagement in leadership, principals must place a premium on nurturing trusting relations with their teaching staff and acknowledge that the influence of their leadership might be lessened in an environment where credentialism holds sway.
Originality/value
The exploration into faculty trust and academic emphasis yields insights into the conducive conditions for principals to foster teacher leadership. The identified attenuating impact of academic emphasis on principal effect within an Asian societal context highlights its significance not only as an organizational property but also as a manifestation of national cultural values.
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Peng Liu, Xiao Fei Chen, Ya Xi Cheng and Shan Shan Xiao
Teacher well-being has been a concern, but there has been a lack of research on how teacher leadership can contribute to teacher well-being in a high-accountability context and a…
Abstract
Purpose
Teacher well-being has been a concern, but there has been a lack of research on how teacher leadership can contribute to teacher well-being in a high-accountability context and a hierarchical education system such as that of China, particularly through the meditating roles of trust in the leader and teacher efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being while exploring the mediating roles of trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrap methods with valid answers from 1,144 teachers in 25 primary schools in 1 Chinese city, this study mainly answered three questions: Is there a significant relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of trust in leaders on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of teacher efficacy on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being?
Findings
This study reported a positive relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being. This study also found positive mediating roles for trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being in a high-accountability and hierarchical system like that of China.
Originality/value
This study provides an understanding of the transferability of teacher leadership theories across cultures and has practical significance for educational practice in high-accountability and hierarchical education contexts similar to that of China.
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Christina Donovan and Hannes Hautz
This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to illustrate how interventionist education reforms shape dis/trust-building processes and their impact on teacher professionalism in vocational education and training (VET) across national contexts. Using trust as the object of analysis, we discuss the affective mechanisms of becoming a professional in a standards-based neoliberal environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Through an analysis of VET teacher narratives in England and Austria, the paper draws attention to the ways in which policy instrumentalism has created a culture of distrust in VET. Drawing upon foundational work on system trust developed by Niklas Luhmann, we illustrate how conditions for trust sit at symbolic thresholds, which set the conditions for professional recognition within VET.
Findings
Our analysis revealed that attempts to standardise VET strategy are fuelled by the need for existential security and predictability, leading to tensions in the cultivation of system trust. Conditions for professional recognition across both contexts were based on practices of documentation and subordination, narrowly defining modes of legitimate self-expression in organisations. This constitutes a crisis of trust in VET teacher professionalism, which undermines pedagogical autonomy and integrity.
Practical implications
We seek to highlight the impact that reduced trust in the governance of VET can have on issues associated with teacher motivation, well-being and retention. The consideration of trust is therefore essential both for policy design and implementation in VET organisations.
Originality/value
The application of trust theory offers a distinctive lens through which to understand the impact of accountability, performativity and governance processes upon teacher subjectivity within VET across national contexts.
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The current study investigated the impact of organisational trust on emotional well-being and performance of middle leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Abstract
Purpose
The current study investigated the impact of organisational trust on emotional well-being and performance of middle leaders during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
A convenience sample of 265 middle leaders in kindergartens in China responded involving trust in schools (e.g. trust in principal and trust in colleagues), emotional well-being and job performance. Both confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SEM) were used in the investigation.
Findings
Three hypotheses on the relationships between the three constructs were verified. Trust in schools significantly influenced emotional well-being and job performance of middle leaders which correlated with each other. The interactive effects of trust in principal and trust in colleagues were discussed for improving the well-being and job performance of middle leaders. Relationships between the two kinds of trust and pride were also identified in the research.
Research limitations/implications
Further studies may put efforts towards improving these three outcomes synchronously.
Practical implications
Based on the evidence of the current study, future research may focus on how middle leaders act as a bridging role between different stakeholders such as principal and teachers, principal and parents, teachers and children, meanwhile how to boost the leaders' own well-being and performance in the early childhood education (ECE).
Originality/value
This study established the empirical linkages between school trusts, emotional well-being and job performance.
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Curt Adams and Olajumoke Beulah Adigun
This study addressed a relatively understudied process of school leadership: the principal-teacher conversation about instructional change. Two distinct conversation structures…
Abstract
Purpose
This study addressed a relatively understudied process of school leadership: the principal-teacher conversation about instructional change. Two distinct conversation structures were examined: controlling conversation and transformative leadership conversation (TLC). Self-determination theory (SDT) was used to make the case that TLC is a better fit for instructional change than controlling conversation. Hypotheses were developed on the relationship between principal-teacher conversation and teacher trust in the principal, teacher autonomy and teacher vitality. These mental states were identified for empirical testing because of their influence on change processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study used a correlational research design with survey data. The data came from a random sample of 2,500 teachers from the population of certified teachers in a southwestern state in the USA. Useable survey responses were obtained from 1,615 teachers, for a response rate of 65 percent. Teachers in the sample averaged 15 years of teaching experience, with 7 years in their current school. Around 81% of teachers identified as female and 18 percent as male and 79% of teachers listed a racial identification as white. Hypotheses were tested in a path model using AMOS 28.0 with robust maximum likelihood (MLR).
Findings
As hypothesized, TLC had moderate to strong positive relationships with teacher trust in the principal, teacher autonomy and teacher vitality. Controlling conversation had small, negative relationships with teacher trust in the principal and teacher autonomy. Controlling conversation was not related to teacher vitality in the path analysis. Compared with controlling conversation, TLC had stronger relationships with teacher mental states.
Originality/value
The results of this study begin to reveal useful evidence on the inherent social-psychological mechanisms active in principal-teacher conversations. With results indicating that conversation structure has consequences for positive teacher mental states, the study directs attention to a ubiquitous yet understudied leadership process.
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Teachers leave the profession for various reasons, such as inadequate pay, work demands, and lack of support from their administrative leaders. Hargreaves (2004) attributed the…
Abstract
Teachers leave the profession for various reasons, such as inadequate pay, work demands, and lack of support from their administrative leaders. Hargreaves (2004) attributed the growing teacher burnout phenomenon to accountability pressures in the forms of high-stakes testing and increasing work demands. This stress can result in teacher's low self-efficacy and the perception of workplace alienation. Seyfarth (2008) described an alienated teacher with the “feeling that one's work is meaningless and that one is powerless to bring about change” (p. 198). Administrative leadership can further inhibit a teacher's professional growth by failing to meet the teacher's needs with respect to instructional coaching and lacking opportunities for professional self-reflection.
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Co-teaching is a prevalent and productive coaching activity that coaches can leverage when working with teachers to support teaching and learning. However, there is insufficient…
Abstract
Purpose
Co-teaching is a prevalent and productive coaching activity that coaches can leverage when working with teachers to support teaching and learning. However, there is insufficient research detailing how coaches can and should implement this coaching activity with teachers. Hence, the purpose of this qualitative interview study is to better understand the challenges that make co-teaching coaching cycles difficult for coaches to enact with in-service teachers, as well as the supports that can enhance the co-teaching experience for all involved parties.
Design/methodology/approach
Fourteen semi-structured interviews were completed with one instructional coach and three elementary teachers in one school district in the USA. A combination of emergent as well as literature-driven codes was used to code the data.
Findings
Overall, the participants pointed to six barriers they encountered when engaging in episodes of co-teaching, which spanned the broad categories of management and logistics, pedagogical dilemmas, and teacher learning. Furthermore, participants identified seven supports, spanning the broad categories of coach preparation, contextual factors, and management and logistics, that enabled them to productively engage in co-teaching.
Originality/value
Although coaches may frequently engage teachers in coaching cycles involving co-teaching, there is a lack of research-based guidance for coaches about how to engage teachers most productively in co-teaching episodes. The findings from this study, which shed light on the challenges and support of co-teaching from one coach and three teachers, will enable coaches to more effectively co-teach with teachers as a form of high-quality professional development.
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Claudia G. Vincent, Hill Walker, Dorothy Espelage and Brion Marquez
We describe a holistic approach to promoting school safety that merges an emphasis on student voice with staff training in restorative practices. We first describe current…
Abstract
We describe a holistic approach to promoting school safety that merges an emphasis on student voice with staff training in restorative practices. We first describe current approaches to keeping schools safe based on the existing research literature. Given that most of these approaches rely on access to credible information about potential threats to school safety, we then discuss student voices as one critical source of information, especially at the middle and high school level. We report on a recently developed tool designed to encourage students to share threats to school safety they are aware of with adults. Initial testing identified potential barriers and facilitators to students' willingness to share information. We discuss teacher training in restorative practices as one approach that might address some of these barriers, including anti-snitching cultures in schools, students' lack of trust in adult responses to student-identified concerns, and punitive school climates. Based on recent work, we identify barriers and facilitators to implementing restorative practices in schools. We provide recommendations about potential strategies to merge student voice with school personnel's training in restorative practices to minimize peer victimization that can escalate into violent behavior.
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Bethany R. Mather and Jeremy D. Visone
This study explored teachers' perceptions of a specific, collaborative peer observation structure, collegial visits, and collegial visits' connection to collective teacher…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explored teachers' perceptions of a specific, collaborative peer observation structure, collegial visits, and collegial visits' connection to collective teacher efficacy (CTE). The research question was: how do teachers perceive collegial visits, particularly with respect to their influence on CTE?
Design/methodology/approach
Within this qualitative descriptive study, 13 K-12 educators from three northeastern USA schools (one urban high school and a suburban middle and elementary school) were interviewed individually and/or in a focus group.
Findings
Utilizing social cognitive theory as a framework for analysis, the authors found a theme of a shift from uninformed to informed perceptions of the collective. Results demonstrated that collegial visits foster positive CTE beliefs.
Practical implications
Since collegial visits were found to increase participants' CTE, a construct others have associated with increased student achievement, school leaders should consider implementing collegial visits as a professional learning structure in their schools after considering their specific context.
Originality/value
Though there has been recent scholarship connecting peer observations and CTE, there has been no research, to date, to examine the effect of the specific structure of collegial visits on CTE.
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Marcia Juliana d'Angelo, Marisa Veloso Café and Raysa Geaquinto Rocha
This study analyzes the impacts of trust in the confessional institution of primary education on a students’ spirituality and performance and the moderating effect of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study analyzes the impacts of trust in the confessional institution of primary education on a students’ spirituality and performance and the moderating effect of the families' religion on the relationship between trust in the school and the student's spirituality as perceived by parents and guardians.
Design/methodology/approach
This study takes the form of a survey with 346 parents and guardians from a Brazilian Adventist education network. The authors used partial least squares structural equation modeling by SmarPLS 4 to analyze the data.
Findings
The results reveal that parents' and guardians' trust in the confessional institution of primary education positively influences their perception of students' spirituality, which, in turn, has a positive impact on their performance. In addition, the families’ religion does not strengthen the relationship between school trust and students’ spirituality. It does not matter to which religious group the family belongs – as their overall spiritual development that favors the students’ academic performance.
Originality/value
The research contributes to the literature on school management, individual spirituality and relationship marketing – particularly customer relationship management in schools, involving parents, guardians and students.
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