Research On The Impact Of Principals' Teaching Leadership On Teachers' Professional Learning Community

Since the concept of professional learning community emerged in the 1990 s,scholars have enthusiastically discussed it,and subsequently it has been widely studied as a new model of teacher professional development.In China's Ministry of Education Standards(2013)for the professional practice of principals,whether the principal can “lead the course teaching” is an important criterion for hiring and assessing the principal.This means that the principal instructional leadership has entered the national education policy level.In China,the principal responsibility system is implemented in primary and secondary schools.As the core leader of school,the principal's leadership style and effectiveness will not only affect the school climate,but also affect the thinking and behavior of the organization members.This research is based on the social exchange theory to explore the relationship between principal instructional leadership,school climate,and teacher professional learning community,the following three issues are specifically discussed: First,whether there are differences between teacher professional learning communities in different background variables of teachers.Second,whether the principal instructional leadership has an effect on the school climate and the teacher professional learning community.Third,whether the school climate plays an mediating role between the principal instructional leadership and the teacher professional learning community.First of all,through literature review,this study constructs a theoretical model about the effect of principal instructional leadership on teacher professional learning community,and puts forward five hypotheses.Then,on the basis of using foreign questionnaires for reference,a questionnaire was developed,and 600 primary and secondary school teachers in four cities of Shandong Province were investigated,and560 valid sample data were obtained.Finally,the study uses SPSS 17.0 and AMOS23.0 statistical software to explore the status and differences in the development of teacher professional learning communities,analyze the relationship between principal instructional leadership and teacher professional learning communities,and test the mediating role of school climate between the two variables.These are mainly done through Independent t-test,One-way ANOVA,structural equation model,and bootstrap mediation analysis method.The study draws the following conclusions: First,there are significant differences in the development level of teachers' professional learning communities in terms ofteacher education background,teaching section,teaching subject,school location,and school level;Second,the principal instructional leadership has a significant positive effect on the development of teacher professional learning communities;Third,the school climate has a significant positive effect on the development of teacher professional learning communities;Fourth,the principal instructional leadership has a significant positive effect on the school climate;Fifth,the school climate plays a partial mediating role in the effect of principal instructional leadership on teacher professional learning communities.According to the conclusions of the study,specific countermeasures are proposed from the perspectives of principals,middle and grassroots leaders,and teachers: First,improving instructional leadership of principals;Second,school leaders should focus on exerting indirect effects through the school climate.Third,they must cultivate a good school climate and make use of the hidden effects of the school climate.Finally,teachers must continue to carry out cooperative professional learning to improve their professional qualities.