تأثير القيادة التعليمية للمدير في التعلم المهني والقوة التطويرية للمعلمين في المدارس الحكومية بسلطنة عُمان : نموذج بنائي مقترح
The study aimed to investigate the impact of instructional leadership (IL) of government schools’ principals in the Sultanate of Oman on teacher agency (TA) and teacher professional learning (TPL) and explore the effect of TA on TPL. The study also sought to examine the ability of TA to play a mediating role between IL and TPL and to determine the level and type of the mediation. Moreover, the study sought to demonstrate which of the four dimensions of IL (Building a Learning Vision, Providing Learning Support, Managing the Learning Program, and modeling) has the greatest effect on TPL in the presence of TA as a mediator. Finally, the study aimed to compare the impact of both male and female schools’ principals on TPL in the presence of TA as a mediator. The study used a quantitative research approach to achieve its objectives by designing a hypothetical structural model (based on reviewing educational theories and previous studies) of the causal relationships among the three variables: IL, TA, and TPL. Then, the model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study data was collected from a sample of 574 teachers, using three measures that were translated and adapted to the Omani context. In general, the results showed a positive effect of principal leadership on both TA and PL. Also, it revealed that TA played a full mediating role in the relationship between IL and TPL since there was no direct effect of the principal on TPL. The study also showed that the indirect effect of IL on TPL in the presence of TA came mainly through the dimension of “Managing the Learning Program”. Moreover, there was total effect of IL through the dimensions of “Managing the Learning Program” and “Building a Learning Vision”. The results showed that there was no difference in the structure of the model of the relationships among the variables attributed to the gender of the principals. The study came up with a proposed developmental framework based on empirical findings, and analysis of the Omani context, with set of procedures provided for school principals and those in charge of their professional development in the Ministry of Education to activate the proposed model. These include helping school principals to understand the implications of educational policies and proposed reform in Oman, as well as providing a clear and practical description to school principals on how to activate their influential role as instructional leaders so as to effectively impact non-formal teacher professional learning, and how to maximize the effect of that learning on improving classroom teaching practices. (Author’s abstract)