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Motivating teachers’ commitment to change through transformational school leadership in Chinese urban upper secondary schools

Peng Liu (Department of Education Policy and Leadership, Hong Kong Institute of Education, Hong Kong, China)

Journal of Educational Administration

ISSN: 0957-8234

Article publication date: 7 September 2015

2701

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change and the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perception of transformational school leadership in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper mainly uses quantitative methods to explore the relationships between different constructs. The author asks: to what extent can transformational school leadership practices in the urban upper secondary schools of a particular Chinese city explain the variation in teachers’ commitment to change during curriculum reform? What are the effects of organizational and teachers’ factors on teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership?

Findings

The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the effect of transformational school leadership was moderate when transformational school leadership and teachers’ commitment to change were treated as single variables. Four dimensions of transformational leadership practice together explained the moderate effects on four dimensions of teachers’ commitment to change, among which the effect of managing the instructional program was the most prominent. The results of multiple regression analysis also revealed that variables like culture, strategy, environment, and teachers’ age had significant relationships with teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership. Culture, environment, strategy, structure, and teachers’ factors such as age and grade taught had moderate effects on different dimensions of teachers’ perceptions of transformational school leadership.

Originality/value

This study is one of the first to explore the effects of transformational school leadership on teachers’ commitment to change in the Chinese urban upper secondary school context. The findings contribute to educational management in China and similar contexts, and this study advances knowledge and furthers the understandings of the transferability of theories to different contexts.

Keywords

Citation

Liu, P. (2015), "Motivating teachers’ commitment to change through transformational school leadership in Chinese urban upper secondary schools", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 53 No. 6, pp. 735-754. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEA-02-2014-0026

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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