On the Differential and Shared Effects of Leadership for Learning on Teachers’ Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction: A Multilevel Perspective

Abstract

Purpose: Over the past years “leadership for learning” (LFL) has become popular among educational scholars. LFL refers to the idea that effective leaders demonstrate a contextually contingent mix of instructional, transformational, and shared leadership practices that may have differential effects at various organizational levels. These assumptions have rarely been investigated within a coherent empirical design. We examine the shared and differential effects of LFL on teachers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment, which are relevant antecedents for learning, improvement, and change on all levels of a school. Method: Drawing on survey data ( nteachers = 3,746, nschools = 126) from Germany and on well-established instruments like the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire or Teaching and Learning International Survey, multilevel associations of LFL and teachers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment were explored. This was done by applying doubly latent structural equation models. Findings: Our results indicate that (1) it is statistically necessary to model perceived leadership practices as a multilevel construct, (2) shared leadership is a strong predictor of individual and shared job satisfaction and organizational commitment of teachers whereas (3) individual consideration only shows significant associations on the individual level (4) that LFL is contextually sensitive. Implications for Research and Practice: Findings make a strong case for studying LFL within a multilevel framework and also for applying complex study and analytical designs, which should take the complexity of the theoretical assumptions into consideration all the way along from questionnaire design, through the process of data collection up to the point of data analysis.