Does Principal Instructional Leadership Promote Teacher Instructional Engagement? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22047288 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xuelai Li (Beijing Normal University), Yuki Gong (0009-0001-3598-4789, Georgia Institute of Technology), Junzuo Zhou (0009-0000-3929-7399, Guangzhou University), Ping Zhao (0000-0003-2484-1341, Beijing Normal University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 429 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-11 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Education Sciences (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2227-7102 • E-ISSN: 2227-7102 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/educsci16030429 |
| OpenAlex | W7135041505 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 15 |
Teacher teaching engagement is a critical factor influencing teacher development and school quality. Based on survey data from 15,931 high school teachers and 1072 school principals from China, this study explores the impact of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement and its underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that principals’ instructional leadership significantly enhances teacher teaching engagement, but the strength of its impact varies across different dimensions of teacher teaching engagement. Among these, the influence on teachers’ “differentiated teaching ability” is the most significant. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effect of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement is stronger in private schools than in public schools, and stronger in non-key schools than in key schools. However, the impact of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement shows little difference between urban and non-urban (county, township, and rural) schools. Mechanism analysis further reveals that school cultural climate plays a significant mediating role between principals’ instructional leadership and teacher teaching engagement. Based on these findings, relevant policy recommendations are provided
China · Educational leadership · Instructional leadership · Survey data collection · Teacher Leadership · Teaching method · Early Childhood Education and Development · Educational Environments and Student Outcomes · Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
Measuring Teacher Engagement
The Impact of Leadership on Student Outcomes
Teacher efficacy
Collaborative leadership and school improvement
Assessing the Instructional Management Behavior of Principals
Seven strong claims about successful school leadership revisited
Examining principal leadership effects on teacher professional learning in China
School leadership and teacher stress
Ethical climate in higher education
| Highly cited | No |
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