The Effect of Learning-Centred Leadership and Teacher Trust on Teacher Professional Learning: Evidence from a Centralised Education System

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.

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

Educational Management Administration & Leadership ◽

10.1177/17411432211038007 ◽

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.

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

International Journal of Educational Management ◽

10.1108/ijem-11-2018-0372 ◽

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.

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Integrated STEM for Teacher Professional Learning and Development: “I Need Time for Practice”

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci11010021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 21

Author(s):

Andrea C. Burrows ◽

Mike Borowczak ◽

Adam Myers ◽

Andria C. Schwortz ◽

Courtney McKim

Keyword(s):

Professional Learning ◽

Social Constructionism ◽

Teacher Professional Learning ◽

Authentic Science ◽

Learning And Development ◽

Integrated Stem ◽

The Usa ◽

Teacher Professional ◽

And Mathematics ◽

K 12

This study compares three pre-collegiate teacher professional learning and development (PLD) integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences framed in astronomy. The study is set in the western United States (USA) and involves 60 pre-collegiate teachers (in the USA these are K-12 teachers) over the course of three years (June 2014–May 2017). During the PLDs, astronomy acted as a vehicle for pre-collegiate STEM teachers to increase their STEM content knowledge as well as create and implement integrated STEM classroom lessons. The authors collected quantitative and qualitative data to address five research questions and embraced social constructionism as the theoretical framework. Findings show that STEM pre-collegiate teachers are largely engaged with integrated STEM PLD content and embrace astronomy content and authentic science. Importantly, they need time to practice, interpret, translate, and use the integrated STEM content in classroom lessons. Recommendations for PLD STEM teacher support are provided. Implications of this study are vast, as gaps in authentic science, utilizing astronomy, PLD structure, and STEM integration are ripe for exploration.

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