Exploring the Link between Transformational Leadership and Teacher Innovation

Transformational leadership is a shared belief between academic leaders and their followers. Studies support the significant and progressive influence of transformational leadership behavior on academic followers, especially teachers. The close relationship between transformational leadership in the university and teachers’ organizational commitment paved the way for a proposed theoretical analytical model to understand how university leadership affected teachers’ organizational commitment. The technological demand, the innovation of teachers, and transformative leadership in the educational system are also faced in China. In the university context, Chinese university professors’ innovative work behavior is found to be directly linked to their transformational leadership and trust. For this reason, the study on transformational leadership and innovation was conducted for its influence on the university teachers’ enhancement plan in China. Through quantitative descriptive comparative design, the evaluation, experiences, and behaviors of university teachers across different areas of specialization were compared between transformational leadership and teacher innovation. This study was anchored on the elements of transformational leadership theory specifically the intellectual stimulation element of transformational leadership theory which was focused on innovation. Results revealed that teachers’ assessments regarding perceptions of transformational leadership “expects excellence” was more evident than “respect others.” While teachers’ innovative work behavior was generally average, teaching content was viewed as most favorable, and challenges/issues were the least. Since transformational leadership was positively correlated with the assessment of the innovative work behavior of teachers, recommendations were noted in designing the enhancement plan for university teachers to strengthen the link.