Abstract
Teacher work engagement is essential for schools to achieve their educational objectives and student learning outcomes. Among all the influencing factors, supportive workplace resources from diverse sources such as distributed leadership, trust, and self-efficacy have been cited as important factors affecting teachers’ engagement in their work. Conservation of resources theory proposes a theoretical mechanism of how supportive resources can facilitate employee engagement; this study aims to further examine and investigate the ways in which teacher work engagement is enhanced by distributed leadership and the role of teacher efficacy and trust in this relationship. The findings of a survey involving 577 Chinese primary school teachers reveal that teacher efficacy completely mediates the positive relationship between distributed leadership and teacher work engagement. Distributed leadership also leads to increased teacher efficacy owing to higher levels of trust. These results suggest that distributed leadership is a highly effective approach that school administrators can adopt and that a workplace climate with a high level of interpersonal trust should be considered to further improve the effectiveness of school leadership and management.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amels, J., Krüger, M. L., Suhre, C. J. M., & van Veen, K. (2020). The effects of distributed leadership and inquiry-based work on primary teachers’ capacity to change: Testing a model. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 31(3), 468–485. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243453.2020.1746363
Aron, A., Lewandowski Jr, G. W., Mashek, D., & Aron, E. N. (2001). The self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in close relationships. In G. J. O. Fletcher & M. S. Clark (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of social psychology: interpersonal processes (pp. 478–501). London: Blackwell publishers.
Aron, A., Aron, E. N., Tudor, M., & Nelson, G. (1991). Close relationships as including other in the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60(2), 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.60.2.241
Aron, A., Mashek, D., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., Wright, S., Lewandowski, G., & Aron, E. N. (2005). Including close others in the cognitive structure of the self. In M. W. Baldwin (Ed.), Interpersonal cognition (pp. 206–232). Guilford Press.
Ashton, P. (1985). Motivation and teacher’s sense of efficacy. Research on Motivation in Education, 2, 141–174.
Bakker, A. B., & Bal, M. P. (2010). Weekly work engagement and performance: A study among starting teachers. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(1), 189–206. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317909X402596
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2008). Towards a model of work engagement. Career Development International, 13(3), 209–223. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430810870476
Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. I. (2014). Burnout and work engagement: The JD–R approach. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 1(1), 389–411. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-031413-091235
Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2005). The crossover of burnout and work engagement among working couples. Human Relations, 58(5), 661–689. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726705055967
Bandura, A. (2010). Self-efficacy. In I. B. Weiner & W. E. Craighead (Eds.), The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology (pp. 1–3). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
Bektaş, F., Kılınç, A. Ç., & Gümüş, S. (2020). The effects of distributed leadership on teacher professional learning: Mediating roles of teacher trust in principal and teacher motivation. Educational Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/03055698.2020.1793301
Blau, P. (1964). Power and exchange in social life. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Bolger, N., DeLongis, A., Kessler, R. C., & Wethington, E. (1989). The contagion of stress across multiple roles. Journal of Marriage and Family, 51(1), 175–183. https://doi.org/10.2307/352378
Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., Demerouti, E., Olsen, O. K., & Espevik, R. (2014). Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 87(1), 138–157. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12041
Burić, I., & Macuka, I. (2018). Self-efficacy, emotions and work engagement among teachers: A two wave cross-lagged analysis. Journal of Happiness Studies, 19(7), 1917–1933. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-017-9903-9
Byrne, Z. S., Peters, J. M., & Weston, J. W. (2016). The struggle with employee engagement: Measures and construct clarification using five samples. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(9), 1201–1227. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000124
Chang, I. H. (2011). A study of the relationships between distributed leadership, teacher academic optimism and student achievement in Taiwanese elementary schools. School Leadership & Management, 31(5), 491–515. https://doi.org/10.1080/13632434.2011.614945
Chen, L., Luo, F., Zhu, X., Huang, X., & Liu, Y. (2020). Inclusive leadership promotes challenge-oriented organizational citizenship behavior through the mediation of work engagement and moderation of organizational innovative atmosphere. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 560594. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560594
Cole, M. S., Walter, F., Bedeian, A. G., & O’Boyle, E. H. (2012). Job burnout and employee engagement: A meta-analytic examination of construct proliferation. Journal of Management, 38(5), 1550–1581. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311415252
Crawford, E. R., LePine, J. A., & Rich, B. L. (2010). Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: A theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), 834–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019364
Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
Elmore, R. F. (2000). Building a new structure for school leadership. Washington, DC: The Albert Shanker Institute.
Gibson, S., & Dembo, M. H. (1984). Teacher efficacy: A construct validation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76(4), 569–582. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.76.4.569
Graen, G. B., & Uhl-Bien, M. (1995). Relationship-based approach to leadership: Development of leader-member exchange (LMX) theory of leadership over 25 years: Applying a multi-level multi-domain perspective. The Leadership Quarterly, 6(2), 219–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/1048-9843(95)90036-5
Hakanen, J. J., Bakker, A. B., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2006). Burnout and work engagement among teachers. Journal of School Psychology, 43(6), 495–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2005.11.001
Halbesleben, J. R. (2010). A meta-analysis of work engagement: Relationships with burnout, demands, resources, and consequences. In A. Bakker, & M. Leiter (Eds.), Work engagement: A handbook of essential theory and research (Vol. 8, pp. 102–117). Psychology Press.
Han, J., Perron, B. E., Yin, H., & Liu, Y. (2021). Faculty stressors and their relations to teacher efficacy, engagement and teaching satisfaction. Higher Education Research & Development, 40(2), 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1756747
Harris, A. (2014). Distributed leadership matters: Perspectives, practicalities, and potential. Sage: Corwin Press.
Heck, R. H., & Hallinger, P. (2009). Assessing the contribution of distributed leadership to school improvement and growth in math achievement. American Educational Research Journal, 46(3), 659–689. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831209340042
Hobfoll, S. E., Halbesleben, J., Neveu, J.-P., & Westman, M. (2018). Conservation of resources in the organizational context: The reality of resources and their consequences. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 5(1), 103–128. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-032117-104640
Hoy, W. (2012). School characteristics that make a difference for the achievement of all students. Journal of Educational Administration, 50(1), 76–97. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578231211196078
Hulpia, H., Devos, G., Rosseel, Y., & Vlerick, P. (2012). Dimensions of Distributed Leadership and the Impact on Teachers’ Organizational Commitment: A Study in Secondary Education. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42(7), 1745–1784. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.00917.x
Hutchins, E. (1995). Cognition in the wild. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Johnston, M. P. (2015). Distributed leadership theory for investigating teacher librarian leadership. School Libraries Worldwide, 21(2), 39–57.
Kahn, W. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692–724. https://doi.org/10.5465/256287
Knight, C., Patterson, M., & Dawson, J. (2017). Building work engagement: A systematic review and meta-analysis investigating the effectiveness of work engagement interventions. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(6), 792–812. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.2167
Kulophas, D., Hallinger, P., Ruengtrakul, A., & Wongwanich, S. (2018). Exploring the effects of authentic leadership on academic optimism and teacher engagement in Thailand. International Journal of Educational Management, 32(1), 27–45. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-10-2016-0233
Leithwood, K., Day, C., Sammons, P., Harris, A., & Hopkins, D. (2006). Successful school leadership: What it is and how it influences pupil learning (Research Report). London, UK: Department for Education.
Leithwood, K., Mascall, B., & Strauss, T. (2009). Distributed leadership according to the evidence. Routledge.
Liu, Y., Bellibaş, M. Ş, & Gümüş, S. (2020). The effect of instructional leadership and distributed leadership on teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction: Mediating roles of supportive school culture and teacher collaboration. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 49(3), 430–453. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220910438
Lu, M., Hao, L., Chen, X., & Potměšilc, M. (2018). Teacher efficacy, work engagement, and social support among Chinese special education school teachers [original research]. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 648. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00648
MacBeath, J. (2005). Leadership as distributed: A matter of practice. School Leadership & Management, 25(4), 349–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/13634230500197165
Macey, W. H., & Schneider, B. (2008). The meaning of employee engagement. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.0002.x
Mascall, B., Leithwood, K., Strauss, T., & Sacks, R. (2009). The relationship between distributed leadership and teachers’ academic optimism. In A. Harris (Ed.), Distributed leadership: Different perspectives (pp. 81–100). Dordrecht: Springer, Netherlands.
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass.
McAllister, D. J. (1995). Affect- and cognition-based trust as foundations for interpersonal cooperation in organizations. Academy of Management Journal, 38(1), 24–59. https://doi.org/10.5465/256727
Meyer, J. P. (2014). Employee commitment, motivation, and engagement: Exploring the links. The Oxford handbook of work engagement, motivation, and self-determination theory (pp. 33–49). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moreira-Fontán, E., García-Señorán, M., Conde-Rodríguez, Á., & González, A. (2019). Teachers’ ICT-related self-efficacy, job resources, and positive emotions: Their structural relations with autonomous motivation and work engagement. Computers & Education, 134, 63–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.02.007
Neff, A., Sonnentag, S., Niessen, C., & Unger, D. (2012). What’s mine is yours: The crossover of day-specific self-esteem. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(3), 385–394. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.10.002
Ozyilmaz, A., Erdogan, B., & Karaeminogullari, A. (2018). Trust in organization as a moderator of the relationship between self-efficacy and workplace outcomes: A social cognitive theory-based examination. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 91(1), 181–204. https://doi.org/10.1111/joop.12189
Park, C. K., Lim, D. H., & Ju, B. (2016). Transformational leadership and teacher engagement in an international context. In K. Jared, G. M. Justus, & O. Grace (Eds.), Handbook of research on global issues in next-generation teacher education (pp. 22–42). IGI Global.
Pas, E. T., Bradshaw, C. P., & Hershfeldt, P. A. (2012). Teacher- and school-level predictors of teacher efficacy and burnout: Identifying potential areas for support. Journal of School Psychology, 50(1), 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2011.07.003
Podsakoff, P. M., MacKenzie, S. B., Lee, J.-Y., & Podsakoff, N. P. (2003). Common method biases in behavioral research: A critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(5), 879–903. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.5.879
Ross, L., Lutfi, G. A., & Hope, W. C. (2016). Distributed leadership and teachers’ affective commitment. NASSP Bulletin, 100(3), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636516681842
Rousseau, D. M., Sitkin, S. B., Burt, R. S., & Camerer, C. (1998). Not so different after all: A cross-discipline view of trust. Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 393–404. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1998.926617
Saari, T., Melin, H., Balabanova, E., & Efendiev, A. (2018). Better leadership, higher work engagement? Comparative study on Finnish and Russian private sector employees. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 38(11/12), 922–943. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-12-2017-0181
Saks, A. M. (2006). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21(7), 600–619. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610690169
Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). Job demands, job resources, and their relationship with burnout and engagement: A multi-sample study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 293–315. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.248
Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies, 3(1), 71–92. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015630930326
Simbula, S., Guglielmi, D., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2011). A three-wave study of job resources, self-efficacy, and work engagement among Italian schoolteachers. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 20(3), 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1080/13594320903513916
Skaalvik, E. M., & Skaalvik, S. (2010). Teacher self-efficacy and teacher burnout: A study of relations. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(4), 1059–1069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.11.001
Spillane, J. P. (2006). Distributed leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Spillane, J. P., & Sherer, J. Z. (2004). A distributed perspective on school leadership: Leadership practice as stretched over people and place. San Diego, CA: Annual Meeting of the American education association.
Sun, A., & Xia, J. (2018). Teacher-perceived distributed leadership, teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction: A multilevel SEM approach using the 2013 TALIS data. International Journal of Educational Research, 92, 86–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2018.09.006
Tschannen-Moran, M. (2014). Trust matters: Leadership for successful schools. Jossey-Bass.
Van Knippenberg, D., & Sitkin, S. B. (2013). A critical assessment of charismatic—transformational leadership research: Back to the drawing board? Academy of Management Annals, 7(1), 1–60. https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2013.759433
Westman, M. (2001). Stress and Strain Crossover. Human Relations, 54(6), 717–751. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726701546002
Yin, H., Xie, C., Hu, H., & Wang, M. (2020). Demystifying and sustaining the resilience of teacher educators: The perspectives of teaching-research officers in China. Asia Pacific Education Review, 21(2), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-020-09626-0
Zheng, X., Yin, H., & Liu, Y. (2019). The relationship between distributed leadership and teacher efficacy in China: The mediation of satisfaction and trust. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 28(6), 509–518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-019-00451-7
Acknowledgements
We thank the school supervisors and teachers who participated in our study.
Funding
This work was supported by the Beijing Social Science Funding Project, Office of Beijing Philosophy and Social Science Project [Grant 18JYA004].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
YC: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, funding acquisition, writing—review & editing. RT: formal analysis, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing. PL: writing—original draft, writing—review & editing. YB: writing—original draft, writing—review & editing.
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that we do not have any possible conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Cai, Y., Liu, P., Tang, R. et al. Distributed leadership and teacher work engagement: the mediating role of teacher efficacy and the moderating role of interpersonal trust. Asia Pacific Educ. Rev. 24, 383–397 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-022-09760-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-022-09760-x