Motivating teachers’ commitment to change through distributed leadership in Chinese urban primary schools

Abstract

PurposeUnderstanding the relationship between distributed leadership and teachers commitment to change in the Chinese urban primary school context was the purpose of this study.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research method is used in this study. For ensuring comprehensiveness, this research employed a random sampling method. This study took place in Chinese urban primary schools. A total of 350 questionnaires were circulated, 318 questionnaires were returned, and 291 questionnaires were valid, with a response rate of 90.9 per cent and a validity rate of 91.5 per cent.FindingsThe results of path analysis indicated that various dimensions of distributed leadership, including collaboration and cooperation, responsibility and accountability, and values and beliefs, had significant effects on group competence. Collaboration and cooperation and decision making had significant relationships with task analysis. Collaboration and cooperation, responsibility and accountability, and values and beliefs had significant effects on collective teacher efficacy as a single variable.Originality/valueThese findings contribute to the understanding of educational management in the Chinese context and advance knowledge about distributed leadership theories in an East Asian context.

Leadership practices of school principal through a distributed leadership lens: a case study of a secondary school in urban Pakistan

“…These practices include: maintaining a focus on instruction, monitoring instruction in classrooms, structures to promote collaboration, and supporting leadership development for teachers. Similarly, Liu (2020) identifies three main dimensions of distributed leadership, namely, collaboration and cooperation, responsibility and accountability, and values and beliefs having significant relationship to teachers' commitment to change.…”

Research on the Influence, Value, and Development Strategy of Chinese University Teachers’ Leadership—Based on the Perspective of Distributed Leadership Theory

“…Distributed leadership can help that leaders are no longer equivalent to a position or role, but can be regarded as a collection of organizational members (Liu, 2020). Pingping & Huang (2019) point out that although principals and other managers will have certain value and role in school efficiency and improvement, the education reform movements in many countries, such as Europe and the United States, have proved that it is difficult for schools to successfully respond to the challenges and changes of the external environment if they only want to rely on the leadership of principals.…”

Teachers' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as mediators of the effect of principals' perceived distributed leadership on organizational learning capability

“…One of the dominant theories is that of distributed leadership (Berkovich, 2018;Tian et al, 2016). Distributed leadership is defined as one in which leadership functions are distributed between several employees who carry out tasks by interacting with each other through leadership teams or groups (Liu, 2020). The concept of distributed leadership emerged in the late 1990s to overcome the limitations of a single leader handling the complexities of organizations.…”

“…Transformational school leadership can increase the teachers' motivation by promoting a shared vision and providing support and feedback for teachers (Berkovich and Eyal, 2017;Eyal and Roth, 2011). Distributed school leadership can also increase teachers' motivation (Bektas ¸et al, 2022;Liu, 2020;Wahab et al, 2013). These studies, however, assumed that motivation is a cohesive phenomenon.…”

“…A recent review of 39 studies on distributed leadership in post-primary schools, published in 2009-2019, revealed the following distribution: 30.8% of the studies did not incorporate supplementary constructs; 15.4% explored organizational commitment; 10.2% examined the concept of school improvement; 20.4% were evenly divided between topics such as female leadership, trust, self-efficacy and job satisfaction; and the remaining studies covered about a dozen different topics (Hickey et al, 2022). There is a paucity of studies conducted on the relationship between principals' distributed leadership and teachers' motivation (notable studies are Bektas ¸et al, 2022;Liu, 2020;Wahab et al, 2013). The literature supports a mediation model in this relationship.…”