A Model to Explain Teacher Leadership: The Effects of Distributed Leadership, Organizational Learning and Teachers' Sense of Self-Efficacy on Teacher Leadership

Abstract

This study aims to analyze a model to explain teacher leadership. In this conceptual model, distributed leadership, organizational learning and self-efficacy perceptions of teachers were treated as the variables accounting for the three sub-dimensions of teacher leadership; namely organizational development, professional development and collaboration among colleagues. The model was set on the foundation of Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1986) and administrative, organizational and personal attributes that account for teacher leadership were treated in unison. The study was conducted with the participation of 360 teachers posted in the elementary schools within seven districts of Ankara city. In the collection of data, Teacher Leadership Scale (Beycioğlu & Aslan, 2010), Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (Marsick & Watkins, 2003), Scale for Leadership Capacity in Schools (Lambert, 2003) and Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998) were utilized. The data collected within the scope of this research were tested via path analysis technique with the observed variables. The findings of the analysis manifested that the model proved to have good fitness values and thus validated. These findings prove that distributed leadership directly affects teacher leadership whereas it also has an indirect effect on organizational learning and self-efficacy perception of teacher. The results of the research evidence that to ensure the development of teacher leadership at schools administrative, organizational and personal components demand to be holistically treated and organizational and personal
components are equally vital as the leadership itself.