Instructional Leadership Effects on Teachers’ Work Engagement - Roles of School Culture, Empowerment, and Job Characteristics

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore

Investigates how principals’ instructional leadership relates to teachers’ work engagement, focusing on the mediating roles of school culture, psychological empowerment, and job characteristics. Using a sample of 310 elementary school teachers and structural equation modelling, the study applies five validated questionnaires for data collection and evaluates reliability with Cronbach’s alpha. Findings show no direct effect of instructional leadership on engagement, while the relationship operates fully through the indirect variables, and principals are advised to adopt this leadership approach.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Leadership and employee/work engagement

Instructional leadership and school effectiveness

Research design and method

Participants and sampling

Measurement tools and reliability

Findings and implications

Direct and indirect effects

Recommendations for principals

doi: 10.26529/cepsj.181 Instructional Leadership Effects on Teachers’ Work Engagement: Roles of School Culture, Empowerment, and Job Characteristics Adel Zahed-Babelan1, Ghodratollah Koulaei*2, Mahdi Moeinikia1 and Ali Rezaei Sharif1 • In the article, the relations between the principal’s instructional leadership, school culture, psychological empowerment, job characteristics, and teachers’ work engagement was examined on a sample of 310 elementary school teachers. The results showed no direct effects of the principal’s instructional leadership on work engagement; however, they proved the belief that the principal could have an indirect effect on teachers’ work engagement through indirect variables: school culture, teacher empowerment, and job characteristics. The research method is structural equation modelling, for the purpose of which five research tools (the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale, the School Culture Survey, the Job Diagnostic Survey, the Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire, and the Job Engagement Questionnaire) were used for data collection. The participants were selected through a stratified sampling method. The reliability was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. The results showed that the model fitted the data and that the relationship between instructional leadership and job engagement was established entirely through school culture, empowerment, and the job characteristics of teachers. The principals are recommended to apply the instructional leadership approach. By assisting teachers in collaboration, instilling collective leadership, and communicating a shared vision, the principals can contribute to developing a positive and participatory school culture. Keywords: instructional leadership, work engagement, school culture, empowerment, job characteristics 1 Education and Psychology Department, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran. 2 *Corresponding Author. Doctoral Student at Education and Psychology Department, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, Ardabil, Iran; [gkoulaei@gmail.com](gkoulaei@gmail.com). Učinek določitve učnega načrta in usmerjanja pouka, ki ga izvaja ravnatelj, na delo učiteljev: pomen šolskekulture, opolnomočenja in značilnosti poklica Adel Zahed-Babelan, Ghodratollah Koulaei, Mahdi Moeinikia in Ali Rezaei Sharif • V članku smo na vzorcu 310 osnovnošolskih učiteljev preučili odnose med ravnateljem, ki določi učni načrt in usmerja pouk, šolsko kulturo, psihološkim opolnomočenjem, značilnostmi poklica in delovnoangažiranostjo učiteljev. Izsledki niso pokazali neposrednih učinkov ravnateljevega usmerjanja na delovno vnemo, vendar so podprli prepričanje, da bi lahko ravnatelj posredno vplival na delo učiteljev prek posrednih spremenljivk: šolske kulture, opolnomočenja učiteljev in značilnosti poklica. Metoda raziskave je modeliranje strukturnih enačb, pri čemer smo uporabili pet raziskovalnih orodij za zbiranje podatkov: ocenjevalno lestvico usmerjanja pouka, ki ga je izvajal ravnatelj, anketo o šolski kulturi, anketo o poklicni diagnostiki, vprašalnik o psihološkemopolnomočenju, in vprašalnik o poklicnem udejstvovanju. Preiskovanciso bili izbrani z metodo stratificiranega vzorčenja. Zanesljivost je bilaocenjena s Cronbachovo alfo. Izsledki so pokazali, da model ustreza podatkom ter da je bilo razmerje med ravnateljevim usmerjanjem pouka in zaposlovanjem v celoti ugotovljeno s šolsko kulturo, z opolnomočenjemin s poklicnimi značilnostmi učiteljev. Ravnateljem se predlaga, da uporabijo pristop, v katerem določijo učni načrt in usmerjajo pouk. Ti lahko prispevajo k razvoju pozitivne in sodelovalne šolske kulture, in sicertako, da pomagajo učiteljem pri njihovem medsebojnem sodelovanju, da vzbudijo kolektivno vodenje in sporočijo skupno vizijo. Ključne besede: določitev učnega načrta in usmerjanje pouka, delovnavnema, šolska kultura, opolnomočenje, značilnosti poklica Introduction Leadership is one of the most studied topics in the organisation sci

FAQs

Does principals’ instructional leadership directly affect teachers’ work engagement?

No direct effects were found between principals’ instructional leadership and work engagement.

How does instructional leadership influence work engagement if direct effects are absent?

It affects work engagement indirectly through school culture, psychological empowerment, and teachers’ job characteristics.

What research method and data-collection tools were used?

The study uses structural equation modelling and five tools: Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale, School Culture Survey, Job Diagnostic Survey, Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire, and Job Engagement Questionnaire.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by kopisore