Modeling the role of school principals’ instructional leadership in teacher job engagement through school culture

ThThe purpose of this study was to investigate the role of primary school principals’ instructional leadership in teacher job engagement through school culture. Three survey instruments, the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale developed by Philip Hallinger and Wang (2015) with Alpha coefficient of 0.97, the School Culture Survey developed by Steven Gruenert (1998) with alpha coefficient of 0.98 and work engagement Questionnaire developed by Schaufeli and Bakker (2003) with alpha coefficient of 0.89 were implemented to collect data from elementary school teachers in Urmia, Iran. A total of 310 teachers in 56 schools participated in the study. Structural equational modelling was utilized to analyze the research hypothesis. Results showed the model fits the data. Data analysis showed no direct effects of principal instructional leadership on teachers’ work engagement. The results did, however, support the belief that a principal can have an indirect effect on work engagement through mediating variable of school culture, suggesting the importance of principals using an instructional leadership approach. As instructional leaders, principals can help teachers collaborate, instilling collective leadership, and communicating a shared vision, principals can contribute to developing a positive and collaborative school culture.