Principal's Leadership Style and Teacher Job Satisfaction: A Case Study in China

Principal's Leadership Style and Teacher Job Satisfaction: A Case Study in China Huang Hui 1, HashemSalarzadeh Jenatabadi 2,Noor Azina Ismail 3, Che Wan Jasimahbt Wan Mohamed Radzi 4 1 Ph.D candidate, Research Assistant, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia; 2 Ph.D, Research Fellow, Applied Statistics Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia; 3 Ph.D, Professor, Applied Statistics Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia; 4 Ph.D, Senior Lecturer, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Malaysia; Correspondence: Huang Hui, Science and Technology studies Department, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Abstract This article is to verify the relationship among teacher job satisfaction, principal's leadership style, and principal's decision making style. Based on samples randomly chosen from among primary, secondary and high schools in Chinese educational systems in China, the required data were gathered through a mail survey.the results confirmed that the principal s decision making plays the role of a mediator between teacher job satisfaction and leadership style. Keywords: Principal s leadership style, principal s decision making style, teacher job satisfaction 1. Introduction Teachers who are satisfied with their job are more enthusiastic and interested in devoting more energy and time to student achievement (Nguni et al., 2006). Therefore, understanding the important factors affecting teacher job satisfaction is vital to attain the required information to support an educational system to succeed in its objectives(perie et al., 1997). Since the principal s leadership behavior is one of the positive factors that have a direct relationship with job satisfaction(bogler, 2001, Miears, 2004), considerable research has been carried out on the influence and impact of leadership behavior on job satisfaction (Stockard and Lehman, 2004, Griffith, 2004). Furthermore, the principal s decision making style also affects teacher job satisfaction. Working with a principal who encourages teachers to get involved in decision making tasks has a positive influence on teachers involvement and commitment to their teaching duties and classes(bogler, 2001). Teachers who work with principals who share information with them, and involve them more in management decisions are more satisfied COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 175

(Bogler, 2001).Therefore, the present research focuses on the relationship among teacher job satisfaction (TJS), principal's leadership style (PLS), and principal's decision making style (PDMS) in one comprehensive model. 2. Literature review and hypotheses The focal point of a major portion of leadership theory is on the question of style, especially on transformational and transactional leadership styles, providing the basis for the study of leadership in different fields over the last twenty years (McWhinney, 1997, Vance and Larson, 2002). Transformational leadership refers to a leadership that boosts the enhancement of the consciousness of the members of an organization through the creation of a collective interest and assisting them in its achievement. In contrast, transactional leadership concentrates on increasing the leader s and the staff s individual interests in attempting to gain the satisfaction of actual or implied obligations contracted between them via aims establishment, performance monitoring, and controlling results (Bass and Avolio, 2000). The decision-making style can be described as the academic, knowledgeable, regular, and habitual response and reaction pattern returned by an individual facing a decision making situation (Scott and Bruce, 1995). Four different kinds of decision-making styles have been suggested by Scott and Bruce (1995): a) rational decision-making, based on a thorough investigation and research for a logical assessment of the alternatives, b) intuitive decision-making, relying on hunches, c) dependent decision-making, based on advice and directions received from others, and d) avoidant decision-making, achievable through avoiding making decisions. Vroom (2000) believes that the style a leader employs for making decisions is considered as an important element of effective leadership, which is acknowledged as a method used for improvement of the decision making process. Therefore, the first hypothesis of this study is: H 1 : The principal's leadership style affects the principal's decision making style. Numerous research projects have focused on the study of the relationship between job satisfaction and the employed leadership style since the 1960s (Miles, 2010). The outcome of some of these studies is the discovery of a positive relationship between job satisfaction and leadership style (Cheng and Yang, 1977, Holdnak et al., 1993, Stogdill, 1963, Skinner, 1969). Therefore, the second hypothesis of this research focuses on the theoretical findings and arguments of empirical research. H 2 : The principal's leadership style relates positively to teacher job satisfaction COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 176

The principal s perception of teachers involvement in decision making tasks is more important than the teachers perception of their own participation in such responsibilities(goodlad, 1984). These two variables, i.e., teacher job satisfaction and the principal s decision making style are interrelated (Lynch, 2010), in that, teachers who are encouraged to get involved in their principal s decision making tasks tend to commit themselves more to their teaching job (Bogler, 2001). Nevertheless, the literatures confirm the existence of a positive relationship between these two variables. Therefore, the third hypothesis can be formed as follows: H 3 : The principal's decision making style relates positively to teacher job satisfaction. The previous studies support the existence of a positive relationship between job satisfaction and the two variables of participative decision making and transformational leadership (Maeroff, 1988, Rossmiller, 1992). Other researchers have also examined the relationships among teacher satisfaction and teacher s performance, and the principal s leadership style and the decision-making process (Kirby et al., 1992, Koh et al., 1995, Silins, 1992). However, the current study intends to illustrate that, in these relationships, the principal's decision making style plays the role of a mediator between teacher job satisfaction and the principal's leadership style. Therefore, the fourth proposed hypothesis can be: H 4 : The principal's decision making style is a mediator between the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction. 3. Method The approach employed by this study to develop a research model is structural equation modeling (SEM). The developed model represents the relationships existing among the three variables dealt with in this study principal's leadership style, principal's decision making style, and teacher job satisfaction. The required data were gathered through a survey to gain reliable demographic information, and the answers of the respondents to multiple items embedded in the questionnaire were supposed to gauge the size of each construct reflected in the model (Figure 1). COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 177

Principal's Decision Making H 1 H 3 Principal's Leadership Style H 2 Teacher Job Satisfaction Figure 1: Research framework SEM recently been employed widely in different fields including knowledge management(nejatian et al., 2011, Hui et al., 2013b), organizational learning(hui et al., 2013a), total quality management (Vranakis and Chatzoglou, 2011), Enterprise resource planning (Qutaishat et al., 2012), supply chain management (Jenatabadi et al., 2013, Ruteri, 2009, Deshpande, 2012), and airline performance modeling(jenatabadi, 2013a, Jenatabadi, 2013b). 3.1 Sample and Data Collection A total of 539 copies of the questionnaire were posted to teachers in 180 elementary schools, 172 secondary schools, and 187 high schools situated within the province of Xinjiang in China. Of the total questionnaires delivered only 210 copies were completed and returned, which make up 38% of the total posted questionnaires. 3.2 Measures This study is a quantitative research in which a survey, specifically prepared for this topic, was employed to collect the required data for analysis. The questionnaire prepared and employed for the current research consists of four sections. The first section contains some general questions about the respondent s, principal s or teacher s, demographic background. The second part contains some questions related to the employed leadership style. This section was prepared in accordance with the researches and conclusions achieved by Bass and Avolio(1995). According to Bass and Avolio s definition, the two dimensions in leadership style are transactional and transformational leadership styles. The third section includes questions about the principal's decision making style COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 178

based on the researches conducted by Scott and Bruce (1995)who define five dimensions in decision making style, namely: rational, dependent, intuitive, avoidant, and spontaneous. The last section concerns job satisfaction based on the teacher job satisfaction questionnaire (TJSQ) suggested by Lester (1983). The two significant factors explored in TJSQ are: supervision and working conditions. 4. Results For assessment of the strength and the outcomes and the model stability, structural equation modeling of the AMOS 16 was employed, of which the estimated parameter and suitability of indicators have been illustrated in Figure 2 and Table 1. As the results support, this structure suits the data satisfactorily: λ 2 (23, n = 210) = 91.166, p<0.01, [CFI]=0.943, [TLI]=0.911, [IFI]=0.944, [NFI]=0.926, [RMSEA]=0.019. The results displayed in Table 1 further support Hypothesis 1. Therefore, there is a significant positive relationship between the principal's leadership style and the principal's decision making style: β 1 =0.51, C.R. = 6.480, p <0.01. The data in Table 1 also provides sufficient support for Hypotheses 2 and 3. Therefore, the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction are significantly and positively related to each other: β 2 =0.17, C.R. = 2.195, p <0.05. A further significant and positive relationship exists between the principal's decision making style and teacher job satisfaction: β 3 =0.60, C.R. = 7.058, p <.01. Figure 2: Theoretical model. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 179

Table 1: Parameter estimated and goodness of fit indices Hypotheses Path Standardized coefficient C. R. p-value Result H 1 PLS PDMS.51 6.480 <.01 Supported H 2 PLS TJS.17 2.195 <.05 Supported H 3 PDMS TJS.60 7.058 <.01 Supported λ 2 (23) = 91.166 CFI=.943 TLI=.911 RMSEA=.019 IFI=.944 NFI=.926 However, the results of the path analysis, as displayed in Table 2, provide the direct, indirect, and total effects that each construct brings about. As a result of the analysis, the direct effect produced by the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction is achieved: β 2 = 0.17, C.R. = 2.195, p <.05. The produced effect is significant. However, as illustrated in Table 2, the indirect effect is 0.31, which is bigger than the direct effect achieved. Therefore, it can be concluded that the relationship between the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction is mediated by the principal's decision making style which, in turn, provides support for Hypothesis 4. Table 2: Direct, indirect, and total effects of the research model. Outcome Standardized estimates PDMS Direct Indirect Total (R 2 =.26) PLS.51 -.51 TJS (R 2 =.49) PLS.17.31.48 PDMS.60 -.60 As the results of the path analysis reveal, the effects of the principal's leadership style on teacher job satisfaction will be based on the method principal adopted for decision making. Hence, it can be claimed that the relationship between the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction is significantly mediated by the principal's decision making. This is a totally new model compared to previous research. Therefore, if a school wishes to increase teacher job satisfaction, it should strongly consider the significance of the principal's decision making in which the principal's leadership style is an essential input. 5. Discussion The main objective of this study is proposing a more comprehensive model that can successfully and effectively play the role of different important variables and test them. However, in previous research, this model COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 180

was only given partial or marginal attention. In the following section, the major implications and findings are introduced: The first result supports a significant and positive relationship between the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction. This outcome is in line with the studies of (Rad and Yarmohammadian, 2006, Bartolo and Furlonger, 2000). The second finding relating to the structural equation model reveals that the effects of the principal's leadership style on principal's decision making is positive. As per this finding, particular leadership styles, such as transformational and transactional tend to be related to certain decision making styles, such as rational, avoidant, intuitive, dependent, and spontaneous. This result is also in line with the results of the studies by Tatum et al. (2003), who consider the style of leadership as a vital resource that leads to decision making (see Figure 1). The third indication resulting from the findings substantiates the existence of a relationship between teacher job satisfaction and the principal's decision making style. The empirical evidence achieved through this study support the significant effect of decision making style on teacher job satisfaction. This finding is also in accordance with the earlier research carried out by (Bogler, 2001, Ingersoll, 2001, Leithwood, 2006). The studies conducted by these researchers reveal that, based on decision making style and teacher retention, there is a positive and direct relationship between the teacher s involvement in the principal s decision making tasks and the level of teacher satisfaction with and commitment to her/his job, which will definitely positively affect the teacher s decision about his/her retention in the current school. Therefore, the suggestion of this study is involvement of the staff, group members, and teachers in the decision making process, which is expected to be followed by an increase in teacher job satisfaction and improvement of the quality of education in that school. The fourth and the main theoretical contribution of this research is that the principal's leadership style and teacher job satisfaction are mediated by the principal's decision making style. Hence, the main contribution of this study is that the relationship existing between leadership style and teacher job satisfaction is triggered by the employed decision making style. Therefore, leadership style needs to be accompanied by a style of decision making to be able to promote teacher job satisfaction in the school, whereas, in traditional management models, authors mostly combined the styles of leadership and decision making into one style, thereby ignoring the significant role of decision making as an independent process. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 181

5.1 Potential Limitations One of the limitations that could affect the research process in this study is that the cross-sectional data were gathered through the prepared and distributed questionnaires, which can be overcome in future research by employing longitudinal data instead. In addition to the self-report research, the sampling generalizability is considered to be another restriction that the current study encountered. It should be noted that the current research has been conducted in a specific context, i.e., Xinjiang province in China, which only represents a state of a particular region in a country. Therefore, the readers need to be wary about generalizing the results to other cases in other regions with different cultural and politico-geological contexts, which definitely have an indispensable influence on the educational policies. 5.2 Future Works Considering the limitations of this study and the nature of the investigated topic, it is expected that other aspects of the problem can form subjects for further research in future. Therefore, it is suggested that the future studies should take some moderator variables into consideration in their investigations. These variables can include cultural, national, international, private, or governmental schools, and other educational institutes to be examined with the model proposed in this study. Furthermore, a separate study can also be conducted to further investigate the interrelations among decision making and job satisfaction in general and in other career environments. Acknowledgement This research was funded by the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia under project number: PS013-2012A and RP026-2012F. COPY RIGHT 2013 Institute of Interdisciplinary Business Research 182

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