Supporting teacher knowledge sharing in China: The effect of principal authentic leadership, teacher psychological empowerment and interactional justice

Abstract

Teacher knowledge sharing plays a critical role in teacher professional development and education reforms, and principal leadership acts as a facilitator in this process. The current study investigates how and under what conditions principal authentic leadership contributes to teacher knowledge sharing. Data collected from 890 teachers in 29 primary schools in mainland China were analysed using regression analysis and bootstrapping tests. This research tested a moderated mediation model of principal authentic leadership effects on teacher knowledge sharing in which teacher psychological empowerment was included as the mediator and interactional justice as the moderator. The results affirmed the partial mediation model and found significant direct and indirect effects of principal authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing. Moreover, interactional justice positively moderated the relationship between authentic leadership and psychological empowerment and further strengthened the whole mediating mechanism. When teachers perceived higher interactional justice, the effects of principal authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing were stronger than on counterparts who perceived low interactional justice. Our discussion highlights the benefits of understanding the roles of psychological empowerment and interactional justice involved in the effectiveness of authentic leadership on teacher knowledge sharing and offers recommendations for school leadership practices.