Supporting teacher professional learning in Oman: The effects of principal leadership, teacher trust, and teacher agency

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110644
Author(s):  
Yasser F. Hendawy Al-Mahdy ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Mahmoud Emam ◽  
Waheed Hammad ◽  
Khalaf Marhoun Alabri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Performance ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Factor ◽  
Learning Centered ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teacher Trust

Lagging student performance in the Sultanate of Oman has, in recent years, led the Ministry of Education to target teachers’ professional learning as a key strategic pillar in its efforts to reform the education system. While international evidence finds principal leadership can make a meaningful difference in teacher engagement in professional learning, this has yet to be studied in Arab societies. The current study collected data from 887 teachers in 78 Omani middle schools with the aim of understanding if and how their principals’ learning-centered leadership influences teacher agency, teacher trust and teacher professional learning. Factor analysis, structural equation modelling, and bootstrapping were used to explore both partial and full mediation models of these relationships. Results validated a partial mediation model in which learning-centered leadership had moderate direct and indirect effects on teacher professional learning. The validated model also highlights the important role that principals can play in creating a climate of trust where teachers believe that investing their time and effort in professional learning will be beneficial for themselves and their schools. The results from Oman are compared with findings from other Asian societies and implications discussed.

Modeling the relationship between principal leadership and teacher professional learning in Kuwait: The mediating effects of Trust and Teacher Agency

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110380
Author(s):  
Ayeshah A Alazmi ◽  
Waheed Hammad
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Learning ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Learning Centered ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teacher Trust ◽  
The Relationship

Research has revealed that appropriate school leadership practices can positively support and promote teacher learning. This study examines the influences of Learning-Centered Leadership upon Teacher Agency, Trust and professional learning in a Kuwaiti context. Following results from recent empirical research, this study tested a model of principal leadership effects upon teacher learning via the mediators of Teacher Trust and Agency. The researchers collected data from 1060 teachers working at 64 Kuwaiti public schools and analyzed this data using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Results validated this model, showing that Learning-Centered Leadership affects teacher professional development via Teacher Trust and Agency. This improves our understanding of the relationship between school leadership and teacher professional learning both in Kuwait and internationally; relevant recommendations are listed.

Exploring the relationship between school leadership and teacher professional learning through structural equation modeling

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 1237-1251
Author(s):  
Jarrent Tayag ◽  
Nunilon Ayuyao
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Teacher Trust ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationship between leadership and teacher professional learning considering two mediating variables – teacher trust and teacher agency.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized structural equation modeling in analyzing the responses from 1,654 secondary public teachers from 43 schools in the Philippines.FindingsLeadership does not have a direct relationship with teacher professional learning. The established relationship of leadership and professional learning from literature exists through the mediation of teacher trust and teacher agency.Originality/valueThe results point out that school leaders must affect teacher trust and teacher agency to influence the engagement of teachers to professional learning. Contrary to what has been accepted in educational management that leaders can directly impact teachers, the findings of this study dictate that the full effects of leadership are coursed through mediating pathways.

Addressing the achievement gap

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patnaree Piyaman ◽  
Philip Hallinger ◽  
Pongsin Viseshsiri
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Centered ◽  
Teacher Professional

Purpose Developing countries in many parts of the world have experienced a disturbing trend in the differential pace of economic development among urban and rural communities. These inequities have been observed in education systems in Asia, Africa, and Latin America where researchers have documented differences not only in resource allocation but also in the academic performance among students in urban and rural schools. Recently researchers have shifted their focus from examining financial and physical resources to investigating the nature and impact of differences in human resources. The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in school organization processes associated with learning-centered leadership and teacher learning among urban and rural primary schools in Thailand. Teacher trust and teacher agency were proposed as possible mediators of leadership effects on teacher learning. Design/methodology/approach This study employed a cross-sectional survey design. The authors collected survey data from 1,011 teachers and 60 principals in 30 urban and 30 rural primary schools in Thailand. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping were used to analyze the proposed model of leadership and teacher professional learning. More specifically, data analysis was aimed at determining the nature of relationships among the constructs in the conceptual model and whether patterns of leadership and teacher learning differed in urban and rural primary schools. Findings The results affirmed a model whereby school leadership exerted significant indirect effects on teacher learning in both urban and rural primary schools. Data analyses determined that the path of leadership effects moved through trust to agency and then to teacher professional learning. Thus, while the authors found a strong direct effect of leadership on teacher trust, there were only small direct effects of leadership on teacher agency and no meaningful direct effects of leadership on teacher professional learning. Thus, the research affirmed a full mediation model of leadership effects on teacher learning. Finally, the study also affirmed that the measured variables were perceived as significantly stronger in the urban schools than in the rural schools. Social implications The research expands on prior research on the “achievement gap” in Thailand by demonstrating the existence of a similar “human resource gap” when comparing urban and rural school leaders and teachers. This study implies that addressing the gap in student achievement will require action aimed at building the capacity of the principals and teachers who work with the rural pupils. Originality/value These results suggest differences in the quality of human resources between urban and rural primary schools in Thailand. There may be potential benefit to be gained from providing training focused on “learning-centered leadership” for principals and middle level leaders, as well as expanding access to quality professional development opportunities for rural teachers.

scholarly journals Modeling the Influence of Principal’s Leadership on Teachers’ Professional Learning in Governmental Schools in the Sultanate of Oman

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. `131-157
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation Modeling ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Sultanate Of Oman ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Learning Centered ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
High Level

The study aimed to identify the degree of principals' learning-centered leadership (PLCL) and teachers' professional learning (TPL) in governmental schools in Oman, then to modeling the effects of (PLCL) on (TPL) in governmental schools in Oman, through identify the level of this influence and compare the effects of the different dimensions of (PLCL) on (TPL). The study employed the quantitative approach using the structural equation modeling to analyze the data collected from a convenient sample of teachers (n=574) from government schools in the Sultanate of Oman. The study found that the practices of (PLCL) were at the high level for all its dimensions; while the "modeling" dimension came as the most practiced dimension, the "managing of learning program" dimension was the least. For the teacher’s professional learning also showed at high level for all dimensions (reflection, experimentation, collaboration and reach out to the knowledge base); while the experimentation dimension was the highest, reach out to the knowledge base was the least one. On the other hand, the study found a positive influence of the principal leadership on teacher professional learning; The source of that influence was from the two dimensions: “managing the learning program” and “building a learning vision”. The study presents a set of recommendations, such as recommending the implementation of structured programs to develop the skills of the school principal in support of teachers’ professional learning. Keywords: Learning-centered leadership, teacher professional learning, structural equation modeling, The Sultanate of Oman

Examining principal leadership effects on teacher professional learning in China: A multilevel analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 174114322110416
Author(s):  
Liang Huang ◽  
Yating Huang ◽  
Shike Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Collaborative Learning ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Principal Leadership ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Teacher Professional Learning ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Teacher Professional

While principal leadership has been exercised in day-to-day practices to address the needs of teachers as professional learners, empirical studies regarding its effects on teacher professional learning have not increased proportionally. Using a sample of 255 secondary school principals and 2756 teachers from four provinces of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong in China (B-S-J-G-China) who participated in the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA 2015), this study employed a two-level hierarchical linear modeling to examine principal leadership effects on teacher professional learning. Results showed that principal leadership practices explained a large proportion of between-school variance in teacher learning. Principals’ developing people had positive effects on both personal and collaborative learning. Principals’ instructional improvement had a positive effect on collaborative learning, while principals’ facilitating teacher participation had a negative effect on collaborative learning. The implications for improving principals’ role in promoting teacher learning are also discussed.

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