Transformational Leadership and Collective Efficacy: The Moderating Roles of Collaborative Culture and Teachers' Self-Efficacy.

Problem Statement: Transformational leadership plays an important role in promoting and managing school development by influencing subordinates both directly and indirectly. Previous research has found that transformational leadership contributes to teacher outcomes, including teacher beliefs about their individual and collective capacity and collaborative culture. No previous study has examined the mechanisms through which this influence occurs. This research was designed to specify the direct and indirect relationship of transformational leadership practices with collective teacher efficacy. Purpose of Study: The purpose of this study was to investigate the direct relationship of transformational leadership practices with collective teacher efficacy and the indirect relationship of transformational leadership with collective teacher efficacy via the self-efficacy of teachers and collaborative school culture. Methods: Data were collected from 66 elementary schools in the province of Edirne, Turkey. A total of 218 teachers (97 men and 121 women) participated in the study. The mean experience of the participants was 10.55 years. Four constructs (transformational leadership, collective efficacy, self-efficacy, and collaboration climate) were measured in this study using multiple-item perceptual scales for each. All items were measured using a five-point Likert scale. The model was tested using LISREL 8.3 with maximum likelihood estimation. The model's overall fit with the data was evaluated using common model goodness-of-fit measures. Findings and Results: The model was specified and tested using structural equation modeling and was found to fit the data reasonably. The study findings show that the transformational leadership behaviors of principals explained 35% of the variance of collective teacher efficacy, 49% of the variance of self-efficacy of teachers, and 58% of the variance of collaborative school culture. The self-efficacy of teachers explained 42% of the variance of collective teacher efficacy. Collaborative school culture also explained 18% of the variance of collective teacher efficacy. The transformational leadership behaviors of principals, the self-efficacy of teachers, and collaborative school culture together explained 53% of the variance in collective teacher efficacy. Conclusions and Recommendations: Previous research has demonstrated that transformational leadership contributes to teachers' self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and collaborative culture. This study strengthened these results by finding similar relationships of transformational leadership with teachers' self-efficacy, collective efficacy, and collaborative culture. In addition, this study has provided evidence that teachers' self-efficacy and collaborative school culture moderated the relationship between transformational leaders and collective teacher efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]