An investigation of the relationship among principal instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy and teacher job satisfaction: A structural equation modeling approach

Although a significant body of research on instructional leadership has been carried out in Western societies, few empirical studies have only recently been carried out in the developing and non-western societies. The present study was carried out to shed more light on leadership research in Iran, in which previous empirical studies on principal instructional leadership are very few. In so doing, the present study was set to explore the relationship between principal instructional leadership, teacher collective efficacy, and job satisfaction in Iranian primary schools. Survey data collected from 292 teachers were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM). The results substantiated the hypothesized conceptual model suggesting positive relationships among principal instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy and teacher job satisfaction. It was also revealed that principal instructional leadership had a positive effect on collective teacher efficacy and teacher job satisfaction. In other words, teachers will have more commitment, professional engagement, and job satisfaction when they find their school managers' educational management behaviors appropriate. The findings of the present study will offer theoretical and pedagogical implications for school leadership in Iran. It also adds to the existing body of research on the effects of principal instructional leadership in non-Western, developing societies.