How Does Distributed Leadership Enhance Teacher Innovativeness? The Mediating Roles of Teacher Self-Efficacy and Collaboration

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Leadership Orientation Cross Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Despite growing interest in distributed leadership, empirical research unpacking its mechanisms for promoting teacher innovativeness remains limited, particularly in the Chinese context. To address this gap, this study investigates the mediating roles of teacher self-efficacy and teacher collaboration in the relationship between distributed leadership and teacher innovativeness. Drawing on a sample of 3,803 teachers from TALIS 2018 Shanghai database, this study employed structural equation modeling to test a chain-mediated model. Results reveal that distributed leadership significantly predicts teacher innovativeness, both directly and indirectly, via self-efficacy and collaboration. These mediators function in both parallel and sequential forms. This study advances understanding of how distributed leadership fosters teacher innovativeness by revealing its underlying psychological and relational mechanisms in the Chinese context.

Author

• Yang Yu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University