UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEADTEACHERS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SELF- EFFICACY WITH

UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUSUNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCESDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES

INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEADTEACHERS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SELF-

EFFICACY WITH TEACHERS’ SELF- AND COLLECTIVE EFFICACY: A MIXED METHODS APPROACH

Paper presented at the 2008 CCEAM Conference"Think Globally Act Locally: A Challenge to Education Leaders"

ICC Durban, 8-12 September 2008

Ioannis Savvides & Petros PashiardisIoannis Savvides & Petros Pashiardis

CCEAM 2008 ConferenceCCEAM 2008 Conference 22

Presentation outlinePresentation outline

Introduction Literature review Aim of the study-Research questions Theoretical model Methodology Discussion and conclusions


IntroductionIntroduction

Which aspects of the individual determine

work and other behaviours of headteachers and teachers in schools?

What motivates such behaviours?


Multiple answers can be given to these questions because

individuals are complex personalities and human behaviour is multidimensional and can

be the object of multidisciplinary study


Exploration of their beliefs and motivations

"If I have the belief that I can do it,I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it

even if I may not have it at the beginning." (Mahatma Gandhi)


It is argued that teachers’ beliefs are more important than their directly observed behaviours have been linked with high student achievementare the key in every effort for change and school improvement


Importance of efficacy beliefs


Introduction: DefinitionsIntroduction: Definitions

Self-efficacyA person’s belief in his/her capabilities to carry out certain tasks successfully

Collective efficacyAn individual’s judgment on the collective capabilities of a group (e.g. faculty of a school) to structure a particular course of action in order to produce desired outcomes (in their schools)


Efficacy beliefs are decisive for the goals set by individuals, the effort they expend, the length of their perseverance in the face

of difficulties and their resilience to failure.

Efficacy beliefs determine the level of motivation

.

IntroductionIntroductionWhy efficacy?Why efficacy?


Literature reviewLiterature review

So far, research on self-efficacy has shown its importance on teachers’ performance and student

achievementthe important role that school headteachers can play

in creating the necessary conditions for increased levels of self-efficacy

judgment of personal efficacy affects one’s choice of activities

beliefs about self-efficacy determine the level of motivation


Literature reviewLiterature review Self-efficacy and collective efficacy: important

constructs for the study of organizational behaviour. Inadequately addressed within the context of educational organizations

Prior research focused on teachers’ and students’ efficacy beliefs.

Just a few attempts to explore the issue of headteachers’ self-efficacy

Studies that examine the relationship between headteachers’ self-efficacy and their leadership behaviours are totally absent from the literature


Literature reviewLiterature review

A RESEARCH GAP STILL REMAINSA RESEARCH GAP STILL REMAINS

Do leadership behaviours of headteachers determined by their own efficacy beliefs, contribute to the formation of self-efficacy and collective efficacy beliefs of teachers in their schools?


Aim of the studyAim of the study

To investigate the relationship between headteachers’ leadership styles and self-efficacy with teachers’ self- and collective efficacy

•by developing and testing a theoretical model •by quantifying the relationships among its constituent variables

Research questions

1. Are there valid and reliable instruments for assessing headteachers’ leadership styles, headteachers’ and teachers’ self and collective efficacy beliefs within the specific context of public primary schools in Cyprus?

2. Which multilevel structural equation model can be developed and validated in order to map the relationship between headteachers’ leadership styles and self-efficacy with teachers’ self- and collective efficacy?

3. What relationships exist among headteachers’ leadership styles and self-efficacy with teachers’ self- and collective efficacy within each level and across levels?



The theoretical modelThe theoretical model

structuralstyle

human style

political style

symbolic style

teachers’ self-efficacy

teachers’ collective efficacy

headteachers’ self-efficacy

School level

Teacher level

Leadership stylesLeadership styles


Sequential Explanatory Strategy (Creswell, 2003 )

Collection and analysis of quantitative

data

Collection and analysis of

qualitative data

1 2

Interpretation of results

3

Straightforward design, easy implementation, description and reporting of

results

MethodologyMethodology


Stages Actions

1st Development and validation of heads’ and teachers’ self and collective efficacy instrument

Development of interview (heads and teachers) and observation protocols

2nd Formulation of two questionnaires (one for headteachers, one for teachers)

Face and content validity checksPilot administration of questionnaires- Generalizability

and construct validity checksPilot test of interview (heads and teachers) and

observation protocols

3rd Finalization of questionnaires, administration and data collection



Stages Actions

4th Statistical analysis of quantitative data for reliability checks of the questionnaires and the development of structural equation models

5th Four case studies (observation and semi-structured interviews)

6th Qualitative data analysis

7th Comparison of quantitative and qualitative data analysis for interpretation purposes




Headteachers’ Questionnaire: Headteachers’ Questionnaire:

Headteacher demographics (sex, years of headship, years at present school, qualifications, number of students, number of non-native speaking students, availability of educational materials, quality of school infrastructure, parent support, staff support, in-service training satisfaction)

Headteacher self-efficacy (14 items, interval scale 1-7)


Teachers’ Questionnaire: Teachers’ Questionnaire:

Teacher demographics (sex, years of service, years at present school, qualifications, number of students, number of non-native speaking students, availability of educational materials, quality of school infrastructure, support by others, job satisfaction)

Teacher self-efficacy (9 items, 1-7 interval scale)

Teacher collective efficacy (9 items, 1-7 interval scale)

Headteacher’s leadership style (6 questions X 4 items [one for each leadership style], ordinal scale)



Methodology: SamplingMethodology: Sampling

Teachers and headteachers of public primary schools (with

10+ teachers) in Cyprus

Stratified sampling (quantitative data)114 (113) heads

1697 (1177) teachers

Purposeful sampling for the selection of cases(qualitative data)

4 primary schools- Case studies


Methodology: Data analysisMethodology: Data analysis

Quantitative data analysis: Quantitative data analysis:

Descriptive and inferential statistics (Mean, Standard deviation, correlations, t-test, ANOVA, Kendall’s W, Factor Analysis: Exploratory- Confirmatory)

Multilevel SEM

Qualitative data analysis: Qualitative data analysis:

Constant comparative method

Within-case & cross-case analysis


Aim Method

Validation of questionnaires (generalizability, construct validity and reliability)

One-way ANOVA, Kendall’s W, Exploratory - Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Cronbach alpha (SPSS , EQS)

Test of the theoretical model Multilevel SEM(EQS, MPLUS)

Methodology: QUAN data analysisMethodology: QUAN data analysis


Scale psychometric propertiesScale psychometric properties

Variables MM SDCronbach

AlphaNo. of items

Headteachers’ self-efficacy * (single factor)

5.21 .76 .90 12

Teachers’ self-efficacy *(single factor)

4.89 .79 .80 7

Teachers’ collective efficacy *(single factor)

4.88 .82 .83 8

Structural leadership style** 2.75 .43 .86 4

Human leadership style** 2.73 .47 .91 5

Political leadership style** 2.42 .36 .82 4

Symbolic leadership style** 2.05 .41 .86 4

* Scale 1-7 **Scale 1-4


.13

.76

.74

-.65

-.32

-.23-.38

-.45

.59

structuralstyle

human style

political style

symbolic style

School level

Teacher level

teachers’ self-efficacy

headteachers’ self-efficacy

teachers’ collective efficacy

Leadership stylesLeadership styles

Results: Parameter estimates for the multilevel structural model

x2 =4.55

df = 13x2/df =0.35

p =0.55

RMSEA = .007

CFI = 0.992


Discussion and conclusionsDiscussion and conclusions

A high, positive correlation between teachers self and collective efficacy. Finding in line with the result of previous research (Goddard & Goddard, 2001)

A significant positive relationship between teacher and collective efficacy was expected. Teachers ‘‘are not social isolates immune to the influence of those around them’’ (Bandura 1997, p. 469).

Teachers in schools with high collective efficacy set more challenging goals, are more persisting in their efforts to achieve them, are more resilient in cases of failure and they hold themselves more responsible for student achievement. In this way powerful collective efficacy beliefs improve teachers’ performance and influences the shared beliefs of teachers.



Headteachers’ self-efficacy has nothing to do with teachers collective efficacy

The context of the Cyprus Educational System

Small variance- absence of a self- evaluation culture (Kyriakides & Campbell, 2004)

The negative relationships among the four leadership styles : A “competing styles” approach


Structural and political style: effect on headteachers’ self-efficacy.

Symbolic style and collective efficacy

Transformational leaders use symbolic actions to emphasize key values (Yukl, 2002).- Collective efficacy (Ross & Gray, 2006)

Further interpretation: results of QUAL analysis in progress



Self- efficacy in action!Self- efficacy in action!

Thanks for being attentive …Thanks for being attentive …

Contact at: [email protected]

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UNIVERSITY OF CYPRUS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HEADTEACHERS’ LEADERSHIP STYLES AND SELF- EFFICACY WITH