Role of ethical school leadership in shaping adolescents’ aggressive attitudes: A doubly latent multilevel SEM analysis

Abstract

Based on ethical leadership and authoritative school climate theories, the current study used doubly latent multilevel structural equation modeling (M-SEM) to test links between school principals’ ethical leadership and students’ aggressive attitudes through the mediation of authoritative school and classroom climates. Data included three sources: 317 educators (homeroom teachers), 504 teachers and 6589 students from 64 Arab Israeli middle schools (grades 7–9). Results showed that ethical leaders positively affect educators’ perceptions of authoritative school climate (a disciplinary structure of fairness and justness, and student support), which in turn affect their classroom conditions of fairness, justness and student support, as perceived by their students; this then negatively affects students’ aggressive attitudes. Furthermore, ethical leaders negatively affected students’ aggressive attitudes through the mediation of authoritative school climate and educators’ work reflected in classroom climate. Classroom climate was directly and negatively related to aggressive attitudes; however, school climate was not directly related. Further examination of the dimensions of climate separately demonstrated that only classroom fairness and student support (students’ willingness to seek help and teachers’ respect) negatively affect students’ aggressive attitudes. Finally, only a school climate of justness was directly related to students’ aggressive attitudes.