How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration

Erhan Dolapcı; Feyzi Uluğ

doi:10.30828/real.1865188

How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration

Abstract

This study investigates how principals’ instructional leadership influences teachers’ innovative work behavior, with teacher commitment and teacher professional collaboration as mediating mechanisms. Drawing on a cross-sectional survey of 812 teachers working in public schools in Türkiye, structural equation modelling with bootstrapping was employed to examine the direct and indirect effects of instructional leadership. The results indicate that instructional leadership has significant positive effects on both teacher commitment and teacher professional collaboration, which in turn enhance teachers’ innovative work behavior. Furthermore, the findings show that the mediating effects of teacher commitment and teacher professional collaboration are stronger than the direct effect of instructional leadership, underscoring their central role in linking school leadership practices with teachers’ innovative work behavior. By providing empirical evidence from a centralized education system, this study extends the international literature on instructional leadership and teacher innovation. The findings contribute theoretically by clarifying the mechanisms through which principals foster teachers’ innovative work behavior, and practically by offering insights for school leaders and policymakers seeking to cultivate teacher collaboration, strengthen commitment, and stimulate innovative work behavior in schools.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

All ethical guidelines were followed and ethics approval for the study was obtained from Gazi University Ethics Committee (Approval No: 490042).

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Leadership in Education

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Erhan Dolapcı ^*
0000-0003-2257-768X
Türkiye

Feyzi Uluğ
0000-0002-4159-6440
Türkiye

Publication Date

September 27, 2026

Submission Date

January 16, 2026

Acceptance Date

June 22, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 11 Number: 3

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1865188

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA34JG47WZ

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Dolapcı, E., & Uluğ, F. (2026). How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 11(3), 576-615. https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1865188

AMA

1.Dolapcı E, Uluğ F. How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration. REAL. 2026;11(3):576-615. doi:10.30828/real.1865188

Chicago

Dolapcı, Erhan, and Feyzi Uluğ. 2026. “How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration”. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership 11 (3): 576-615. https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1865188.

EndNote

Dolapcı E, Uluğ F (September 1, 2026) How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership 11 3 576–615.

IEEE

[1]E. Dolapcı and F. Uluğ, “How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration”, REAL, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 576–615, Sept. 2026, doi: 10.30828/real.1865188.

ISNAD

Dolapcı, Erhan - Uluğ, Feyzi. “How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration”. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership 11/3 (September 1, 2026): 576-615. https://doi.org/10.30828/real.1865188.

JAMA

1.Dolapcı E, Uluğ F. How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration. REAL. 2026;11:576–615.

MLA

Dolapcı, Erhan, and Feyzi Uluğ. “How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration”. Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, vol. 11, no. 3, Sept. 2026, pp. 576-15, doi:10.30828/real.1865188.

Vancouver

1.Erhan Dolapcı, Feyzi Uluğ. How Instructional Leadership Influences Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior: Understanding the Mediating Role of Teacher Commitment and Professional Collaboration. REAL. 2026 Sep. 1;11(3):576-615. doi:10.30828/real.1865188