THE EFFECT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP ON TEACHERS’ WORK ENGAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF ZHANGQIU MIDDLE SCHOOL

Abstract

This study's objective was to evaluate Zhangqiu Middle School's teachers' work engagement based on the impacts and effects of transformational leadership. With the education landscape evolving, a critical factor of teacher engagement has emerged resulting in a must for there to be quality teaching aligned with sustainable institutional performance. Transformational leadership refers to how teacher motivation, emotional commitment and overall work engagement are all enhanced based on idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration. A quantitative research approach encompassing a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 396 teachers and staff members across Zhangqiu Middle School. The questionnaire consisted of three parts: demographic information, dimensions of transformational leadership, and teacher work engagement components which extended to aspects of dedication, absorption and vigor. The reliability and validity of the instrument were evaluated using item-objective congruence and Cronbach's alpha. The findings revealed that instructors felt a high level of transformative leadership in their institution, and strong overall work engagement. The correlation study found a statistically significant positive link between transformative leadership and work engagement at the 0.01 level. Among the leadership components, inspirational motivation had the most significant association with teacher engagement. The findings of the study indicate that teacher enthusiasm, persistence and engagement in work can be effectively fostered when transformational behaviors are adopted by teachers. This also extends to the need to develop transformational leadership skills across institutions, by also evaluating further applications of such leadership across diverse school settings for more and better comprehensive evaluations.