Promoting teacher collective efficacy and organizational resilience : investigating the influence of middle-leaders' transformational leadership in a moderated mediation model

Over the past decades, the one-and-only model of the leader has been steadily eroding (Day et al., 2016). Principals now face multifaceted roles, collaboration with staff is central to a leader's and a school's success and growth (Benoliel, 2020; Leithwood et al., 2020). 1Middle-leaders, such as grade-level coordinators and department heads, have been identified as crucial in promoting pedagogy and scholastic achievement (Bush & Glover, 2014; Liu & Hallinger, 2018). Yet, few studies have focused on the relationship between middle-leaders’ leadership and school effectiveness. This research proposes to focus on middle-leaders' leadership as a central agent for school improvement. The leadership style of middle-leaders is crucial for school effectiveness. Based on Burns' (1978) dichotomy of leaders being either transformational or transactional, Bass and Avolio (1994) introduced the full-range leadership model. Transformational middle-leaders motivate followers towards a unified vision, encourage innovation, and foster leadership through mentoring and challenges (Bass & Riggio, 2006). It is comprising four dimensions: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and intellectual stimulation (Boies et al., 2015). Research highlights its positive impact on school outcomes (Thomas et al., 2020). This research seeks to investigate the antecedents and consequences of middle-leaders’ transformational leadership (TL) on school effectiveness measured by the indicators: teachers' collective efficacy and organizational resilience (OR). Under the social identity theory (SIT), leaders are seen as prototypes that followers emulate, shaping group behavior and identity (Barreto & Hogg, 2017). This suggests that middle-leaders' TL could bolster teachers’ collective efficacy (CTE) and OR. However, the contingency leadership theory posits that leadership efficacy is context-dependent (Vroom & Jago, 2007). Thus, the impact of middle-leaders' TL on teacher attitudes and school success might hinge on school organizational health (OH). The purpose of this research is threefold and reflected in three studies. The first study goal is to examine the mediating role of middle-leaders’ TL and its sub-dimensions in the relationship between middle-leaders’ personality traits from the Big Five typology, namely, extroversion, conscientiousness, openness to experience (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and CTE. The focus on both TL and its sub-dimensions is based on current research (Deinert et al., 2015; Tepper et al., 2018), emphasizing the differential correlation of sub-dimensions to employee work-related outcomes. The second study goal is to investigate the relationship between school middle-leaders' personality traits and in promoting collective teacher efficacy (CTE). Specifically, the study seeks to understand how RS moderates the influence of middle-leaders' Big Five personality traits (extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness) on CTE in contemporary educational contexts. The study employs Trait Activation Theory (TAT) as its theoretical framework, positing that the availability of resource support (RS) can activate or deactivate certain personality traits of middle-leaders, thus influencing their impact on CTE (Tett et al., 2021). The third study goal is to investigate the role of academic emphasis (AE - one of seven sub-dimensions of OH) in moderating the impact of middle-leaders’ TL on OR within school settings. The study is grounded in understanding the significance of middle-leaders, their influence through TL (Benoliel, 2020; De Nobile, 2019), and the effect of emphasizing academic excellence in influencing the relationship between TL and OR. AE in schools refers to the prioritization of academic excellence in teaching and learning, encompassing the curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment methods (Yüner, 2022), and RS which refers to the availability and accessibility of physical and human resources that support the educational process (Torphy et al., 2020). As for the method used in the present research: Overall the research sample included a total of 609 participants, comprising 103 middle-leaders and 506 teachers who worked under their leadership, randomly selected from 103 secondary schools in Israel. On average, each school had approximately six teachers working under the leadership of the middle-leader, with a mean of 6.16 (SD=2.95). The size of the schools ranged from small to large, with an average of 674.21 students (SD=471.18) per school based on the number of enrolled students. To avoid issues related to same-source bias, data were collected from three different sources, including self-report and non-self-report data, as Avolio et al. (1991) recommended. The middle-leaders and the teachers completed validated questionnaires. The middle-leaders filled questionnaires: Big-Five typology - an abbreviated version of the NEO-PI (NEO-FFI; Costa & McCrae, 1992). The teachers filled out questionnaires: Transformational leadership - Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ), Form 5X-Short (MLQ 5X) (Bass & Avolio, 1994), Collective teacher efficacy questionnaire (Schechter & Tschannen-Moran, 2006), and Organizational Resilience Questionnaire - School Mindfulness Scale (M-Scale) (Hoy, Gage & Tarter, 2004). Both, middle-leaders, and teachers filled out the Resource Support (RS) questionnaire, and Academic Emphasis (AE) questionnaire - subscales adapted from The Organizational Health Inventory-Secondary form (Hoy et al., 1991). In addition, both middle-leaders and teachers provided demographic information. The participants were assured of maintaining the anonymity of the answers and confidentiality so that the results would be reported only as group averages, and it would not be possible to identify any individual school or employee. School socioeconomic status (SES) was provided by the National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education. As for the level of analysis, generally, the school was identified as the unit of analysis, with student achievement serving as a school-level variable. This implies that each school was assigned an average score. The transactional and TL, CTE, OR, and OH of the middle-leader were determined as aggregates of the responses from individual teachers' ratings. Therefore, each school was assigned a single TL measure, as well as a single CTE, OR, and OH measure, based on average ratings (an average of 6 teachers per school) within the school. As for the data analysis, to test the first study proposed mediation model: personality traits of middle-leaders from the Big Five typology, namely, extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience serve to enhance CTE through the mechanism of TL, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM; AMOS software 23.0), was performed. Also, to ascertain the presence of mediating effects, the Bootstrap procedure was employed. To test the second study's proposed model investigating the moderating role of RS on the relationship between middle-leaders' personality traits and CTE, hierarchical regression analyses were used, using the SPSS macro process. Finally, to investigate the third study moderating the role of AE on the relationship between middle-leaders' TL and OR, hierarchical regression analyses were used, using the SPSS macro process. School size (number of enrolled students), school SES, teacher education, and teacher seniority were chosen as control variables in the three studies models. Overall, the results of the proposed studies provide comprehensive insights into the relationship between leadership, personality traits, job attitudes, and organizational outcomes in educational settings. The findings highlight the interplay between TL behaviors and personality traits, with conscientiousness positively associated with individualized consideration, while extraversion and openness to experience negatively correlated with certain TL sub-dimensions. This emphasizes the importance of considering TL behaviors and personality traits as interdependent factors that influence CTE. Additionally, the studies examine the role of RS and AE as moderating factors. RS moderates the relationship between personality traits and CTE, indicating that middle-leaders with low extraversion/openness to experience levels have higher CTE in schools with low resources. AE moderates the relationship between TL sub-dimensions and OR, with TL behaviors being more beneficial for the principal's OR in schools with low AE. Specifically, these studies pointed to three main results. The findings of the first study, "Teacher-Leaders’ Personality Traits of Extraversion, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience and Transformational Leadership: The Implications for Collective Teachers Efficacy" examined the relationship between middle-leaders' TL behaviors, personality traits from the Big Five typology, and collective teachers' efficacy (CTE). The findings revealed that TL behaviors mediate the association between extraversion, conscientiousness, and openness to experience with CTE. The study also highlighted the differential relationships between TL sub-dimensions and teacher work-related outcomes, emphasizing the importance of examining these sub-dimensions individually. Furthermore, significant correlations were found between middle-leader personality traits and TL sub-dimensions. The study demonstrated both positive and negative relationships between TL sub-dimensions and CTE, indicating the need for middle-leaders to balance their behaviors to create a positive work environment. The findings suggest practical implications for teacher training programs and the selection of middle-leaders in educational organizations. The findings of the second study, "School Middle-Leaders’ personality traits and Resource Support in a Moderated Model for Collective Teachers Efficacy" examined the relationship between middle-leaders' personality traits and collective teachers' efficacy (CTE), with a focus on the moderating role of RS. The findings indicate that RS plays a significant role in moderating the relationship between extraversion/openness to experience and CTE. In schools with low RS, middle-leaders with lower levels of extraversion/openness to experience demonstrated higher levels of CTE than those with higher levels. However, this difference disappeared in schools with high RS. No significant interactions were found between conscientiousness and RS on CTE. The study suggests that extroverted middle-leaders in resource-constrained schools may reduce CTE due to factors such as dominance of communication, limited input from teachers, focus on external relations, and neglect of individual differences. Similarly, middle-leaders with high openness to experience in low-resource schools may hinder CTE due to risk-taking behavior, lack of focus on practical solutions, distraction by new ideas, and mismatched expectations. The study emphasizes the importance of considering RS as a moderating factor and provides theoretical and practical implications for educational institutions and policymakers to enhance teacher outcomes and promote a positive school environment. Finally, the findings of the third study, "School middle leaders' transformational leadership and organizational resilience: The moderating role of academic emphasis" examined the relationship between middle-leaders' TL, AE, and OR in schools. The findings revealed that AE moderates the relationship between TL sub-dimensions and principal organizational resilience (POR), but not faculty organizational resilience (FOR). The study suggested that TL behaviors may be more impactful in schools with low AE, while other leadership behaviors or organizational factors may play a more important role in schools with high AE. The findings have theoretical implications for understanding the interplay between TL, AE, and OR, and practical implications for school leaders in adapting their leadership practices based on the academic focus of their schools. Overall, this investigation can make several important contributions to the research literature. These findings have practical implications for teacher training, leadership development, and creating positive work environments in educational organizations, emphasizing the need for balanced leadership behaviors and considering contextual factors to enhance job attitudes and organizational outcomes. First, despite the educational field’s growing complexities, which call for systemic perspectives in managing schools (Kruse, 2018), existing research on middle-leaders’ TL remains limited (Gurr, 2019). Second, despite the increasing contribution of middle-leaders (Benoliel et al., 2019) in improving teacher outcomes, few studies have examined their impact on school effectiveness, focusing exclusively on the principal's TL (Berkovich, 2018). However, focusing on middle-leader–teacher relationships is important because their role facilitates the ability of teachers to accomplish their roles and is related to healthy schoolwork environments (Mazerolle et al., 2018). Third, by focusing on the sub-dimensions of TL, the present research will hopefully contribute to the debate over whether TL is a one-dimensional or multi-dimensional factor (Berkovich, 2016). Fourth, previous research has shown that leadership behavior or effectiveness outcomes such as employee performance are influenced by leaders’ personality traits (Tepper et al., 2018). Yet, in the educational context, there are almost no studies on this subject, and it is unclear how leadership traits and behaviors complement one another in a more integrative model of leadership. Finally, focusing on OH as a boundary condition for implications of middle-leaders' TL on school effectiveness, the current research seeks to shed light on the appropriate conditions and the implications of middle-leaders' TL on school effectiveness outcomes. Additionally, the present research may inform researchers and policymakers regarding the complex dynamics of leadership, personality traits, RS, AE, and their impact on teacher outcomes and OR in educational settings. The findings contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the mediating role of TL behaviors in the relationship between personality traits and collective teachers' efficacy (CTE), the moderating role of RS in the association between personality traits and CTE, and the moderating role of AE in the relationship between TL and OR. The implications include the need for a nuanced understanding of TL sub-dimensions and their differential effects on teacher work-related outcomes, the importance of considering RS in maximizing the effectiveness of middle-leaders with extraversion and openness to experience, and the significance of aligning leadership practices with the AE of schools to promote OR. Specifically, the findings of the first study have both theoretical and practical implications. The study expands the existing literature by highlighting the impact of middle-leaders' TL behaviors and personality traits on collective teachers' efficacy (CTE). The differential relationships between TL sub-dimensions and teacher work-related outcomes emphasize the need for a nuanced understanding of TL in educational settings. Practical implications include the importance of fostering positive relationships between middle-leaders and teachers, designing training programs to enhance TL behaviors, and selecting middle-leaders who can positively impact CTE. The second study contributes to the literature by examining the relationship between middle-leaders' personality traits, RS, and CTE. The study highlights the moderating role of RS and provides insights into how extraversion and openness to experience can influence CTE in different resource contexts. The implications include the need for schools to provide adequate RS to maximize the effectiveness of extroverted middle-leaders, and for leaders to balance openness to experience with practical considerations in resource-constrained settings. Finally, the findings of the third study have theoretical and practical implications related to the interplay between TL, AE, and OR. The study emphasizes the importance of considering AE when implementing TL practices and suggests that TL may have a stronger impact on OR in schools with low AE. Practical implications include the need for school leaders to assess the AE of their schools and adapt their leadership practices, accordingly, considering the AE and creating a supportive organizational culture. Policymakers can use these findings to allocate resources and develop initiatives to improve academic outcomes and enhance OR. Several limitations of the research require further attention in future research. Despite the significant contributions these three studies have made to the field of educational systems management, a few common and distinct challenges have emerged. In each case, the data were largely self-reported and retrospective, which, despite their asserted validity (Alper et al., 1998), poses a potential risk of bias that must be considered in subsequent research. The research designs of all studies were unable to establish direct causal relationships among the variables studied, implying that future studies should use longitudinal designs to better validate causal conclusions. In addition, the generalizability of the findings may be limited by the focus on secondary middle-leaders. Therefore, further research with different demographic samples is needed to extend the applicability of the findings to different levels of education and sectors. Finally, the focused examination of selected outcomes in these studies underscores the need for more holistic investigations that incorporate a broader range of variables and outcomes. Addressing these limitations will strengthen the depth and breadth of future research and lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of TL, CTE, and OR in education. Regarding the first study, the reliability of self-report and retrospective data may be a potential source of bias despite their acceptance by Alper et al (1998), which requires a cautious interpretation of results. In addition, the study design is unable to establish a causal relationship between middle-leaders' personality traits, TL, and CTE, leaving room for possible reverse or reciprocal causality. The focus on secondary teachers and middle-leaders raises questions about the generalizability of the findings to other sectors with different staff demographics. The study also provides a limited perspective by examining selected outcomes, so future research will need to consider other personality traits from the Big Five typology on TL. Regarding the second study, the primary use of self-report and retrospective data poses a similar risk of bias. The inability of the study design to provide direct causal evidence between personality traits and CTE underscores the need for future research to use longitudinal studies. The focus on middle-leaders and teachers from secondary schools limits the generalizability of the findings to the elementary school system. Because the study examined only selected outcomes and ignored other potential CTE influencing factors, such as organizational commitment and external pressures, a more comprehensive examination of factors affecting CTE is needed in future research. Similarly, the third study encounters potential bias from self-reported data. The study design does not provide direct evidence of causal relationships between TL and OR, highlighting the need for longitudinal studies in future research. The study's demographic focus on secondary teachers and middle-leaders presents a limitation that restricts the extrapolation of findings to the elementary school system and other sectors. Finally, the study's focus on selected outcomes suggests that future research should address the impact of integrating multiple subdimensions of school OH on TL, given the complexity of the AE and its role in the educational milieu.