Teachers' efficacy is directly linked to how strongly they believe they can influence students' learning as well as how hard and persistent they work to make sure that happens. Some research suggests that principals' instructional leadership plays an important role in improving teacher efficacy, but empirical research in the Chinese context is still lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between principals’ instructional leadership and teachers’ efficacy in junior high schools in Xuzhou, China. This is a quantitative descriptive and correlational study using the Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS) constructed by Hallinger (1983) and the Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) constructed by Megan Tschannen - Moran and Anita Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The study sample consisted of 180 teachers from four secondary schools in Xuzhou, China. Results were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations, and Pearson correlation analysis. The study's main findings showed that the efficacy of teachers was significantly positively correlated with the instructional leadership of principals. This study also discovered that both principals' instructional leadership and teachers' efficacy were high. Therefore, this study supports other findings that the more principals practice instructional leadership behaviors, the more they will improve teacher efficacy.
Al-Mahdy, Y. F. H., Emam, M. M., & Hallinger, P. (2018). Assessing the contribution of principal instructional leadership and collective teacher efficacy to teacher commitment in Oman. Teaching and Teacher Education, 69, 191–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2017.10.007
Andrews, R., & Soder, R. (1987). Principal leadership and student achievement. Educational leadership, 44(6), 9-11.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived Self-Efficacy in Cognitive Development and Functioning. Educational Psychologist, 28(2), 117–148. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2802_3
Chen, C. (2017). Teachers’ Teaching Efficacy on the International Perspective: Evidences from TALIS Survey. Global Education, (4), 11-22.
Cohen, S. (1988). Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States.
Cravens, X. C. (2014). The cross-cultural validity of the Learning-Centered Leadership framework and its assessment instrument for principals. Journal of Educational Administration.
Fathi, J., Greenier, V., and Derakhshan, A. (2021). Self-efficacy, reflection, and burnout among Iranian EFL teachers: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Iran. J. Lang. Teach. Res. 9, 13–37. doi: 10.30466/IJLTR.2021.121043
Gall, M.D., Gall, J.P., & Borg, W.R. (2014). Applying educational research: How to read, do, and use research to solve problems of practice. Pearson Higher Ed.
Hallinger, P. (1982). Principal instructional management rating scale. Sarasota, FL: Leading Development Associates.
Hallinger, P. (2011). Leadership for learning: lessons from 40 years of empirical research. Journal of Educational Administration, 49(2), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231111116699
Hallinger, P. (2020). Science mapping the knowledge base on educational leadership and management from the emerging regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, 1965–2018. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 48(2), 209-230.
Hallinger, P., & Murphy, J. (1985). Assessing the Instructional Management Behavior of Principals. The Elementary School Journal, 86(2), 217–247. https://doi.org/10.1086/461445
Hallinger, P., & Wang, W. C. (2013). Measurement properties of the principal instructional management rating scale. Sarasota, FL: Leading Development Associates.
Hallinger, P., Hosseingholizadeh, R., Hashemi, N., & Kouhsari, M. (2017). Do beliefs make a difference? Exploring how principal self-efficacy and instructional leadership impact teacher efficacy and commitment in Iran. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 46(5), 800–819. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143217700283
Han, Y., & Wang, Y. (2021). Investigating the Correlation Among Chinese EFL Teachers’ Self-efficacy, Work Engagement, and Reflection. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763234
Harris, A., Jones, M., Cheah, K. S. L., Devadason, E., & Adams, D. (2017). Exploring principals’ instructional leadership practices in Malaysia: insights and implications. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(2), 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-05-2016-0051
Hopkins, D. (2013). Instructional leadership and school improvement. In Effective leadership for school improvement (pp. 65-81). Routledge.
Jiang, M., J. Chen, and P. Lyu. 2010. Cultivating Principal Leadership within School Context and Culture: A Study of 331 Principals in Pudong District, Shanghai. Global Education, 39 (8): 78–83.
Kim, K. R., & Seo, E. H. (2018). The relationship between teacher efficacy and students’ academic achievement: A meta-analysis. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 46(4), 529–540. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.6554
Li, M., Wang, Z., Gao, J., & You, X. (2017). Proactive personality and job satisfaction: The mediating effects of self-efficacy and work engagement in teachers. Current Psychology, 36(1), 48-55.
Liu, S. N., & Hallinger, P. (2020). Unpacking the effects of culture on school leadership and teacher learning in China. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 174114321989604. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219896042
Liu, S., Hallinger, P., & Feng, D. (2016). Learning-centered leadership and teacher learning in China: Does trust matter? Journal of Educational Administration.
Liu, S., Xu, X., Grant, L., Strong, J., & Fang, Z. (2017). Professional standards and performance evaluation for principals in China: A policy analysis of the development of principal standards. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 45(2), 238–259. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143215587304
Ma, X., & Marion, R. (2019). Exploring how instructional leadership affects teacher efficacy: A multilevel analysis. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 174114321988874. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143219888742
Manaseh, A. M. (2016). Instructional leadership: The role of heads of schools in managing the instructional programme. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 4(1), 30–47. https://doi.org/10.17583/ijelm.2016.1691
Mosoge, M. J., Challens, B. H., & Xaba, M. I. (2018). Perceived collective teacher efficacy in low-performing schools. South African Journal of Education, 38(2), 1-9.
Murphy, J. (1983). Instructional leadership: A conceptual framework. Planning and Changing, 14(3), 137-49.
OECD. (2018). TALIS - The OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey - OECD. Www.oecd.org. https://www.oecd.org/education/talis/
Putwain, D. W., & von der Embse, N. P. (2018). Teacher self-efficacy moderates the relations between imposed pressure from imposed curriculum changes and teacher stress. Educational Psychology, 39(1), 51–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1500681
Qian, H., & Walker, A. (2019). Reconciling top-down policy intent with internal accountability: the role of Chinese school principals. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 31(4), 495–517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-019-09309-4
Qian, H., Walker, A., & Li, X. (2017). The west wind vs the east wind: instructional leadership model in China. Journal of Educational Administration, 55(2), 186–206. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea-08-2016-0083
Savolainen, H., Malinen, O.-P., & Schwab, S. (2020). Teacher efficacy predicts teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion – a longitudinal cross-lagged analysis. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 26(9), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2020.1752826
Shatzer, R. H., Caldarella, P., Hallam, P. R., & Brown, B. L. (2013). Comparing the effects of instructional and transformational leadership on student achievement. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 42(4), 445–459. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143213502192
Silva, J. P., White, G. P., & Yoshida, R. K. (2011). The direct effects of principal–student discussions on eighth-grade students’ gains in reading achievement: An experimental study. Educational Administration Quarterly, 47(5), 772-793.
Tschannen-Moran, M., & Hoy, A. W. (2001). Teacher efficacy: capturing an elusive construct. Teaching and Teacher Education, 17(7), 783–805. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0742-051x(01)00036-1
Wang, Y., & Derakhshan, A. (2021). Review of the book: Investigating dynamic relationships among individual difference variables in learning English as a foreign language in a virtual world, by M. Kruk. System.102531
Woolfolk, A. E., Rosoff, B., & Hoy, W. K. (1990). Teachers’ sense of efficacy and their beliefs about managing students. Teaching and Teacher Education, 6(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/0742-051x(90)90031-y
Zhang, L. F., Fu, M., Li, D. T., & He, Y. (2019). Emotions and teaching styles among academics: the mediating role of research and teaching efficacy. Educational Psychology, 39(3), 370-394.
Zheng, X., Yin, H., & Li, Z. (2019). Exploring the relationships among instructional leadership, professional learning communities, and teacher self-efficacy in China. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 47(6), 843–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143218764176
