The Effect of Teacher Psychological and School Organizational and Leadership Factors on Teachers' Professional Learning in Dutch Schools

Abstract

In this study we examined the relative importance of teachers' psychological states, school organizational conditions (teacher collaboration and participative decision making), and the leadership practices (vision, individual consideration, and intellectual stimulation) of principals at their schools in explaining variation in teachers' professional learning. We examined teachers' learning by focusing on their participation in the following professional learning activities: keeping up to date (or collecting new knowledge and information), experimentation, reflective practice, and innovation. The data we used came from the Dutch School Improvement Questionnaire consisting of 54 items administered to teachers from 18 Dutch primary schools (grades 1–8). To test our theoretical model, data from 328 teachers were analyzed using structural equation modeling. As expected, results showed that psychological factors (teachers' sense of self-efficacy and internalization of school goals into personal goals) had strong effects on teachers' participation in the professional learning activities. Furthermore, differential effects of leadership practices and organizational conditions on the 2 psychological factors and the professional learning activities were found. To better understand change mechanisms in schools and based on our findings, we stress the need to conduct research using models that contain factors at both the school and teacher levels.