The Role of Intellectual Humility in the Development of Leadership Skills for Language Teachers

Research suggests that effective teacher leaders should develop specific qualities associated with effective leadership ( Christison & Murray, 2009a , 2009b , 2023 ). For instance, intellectual humility is the ability to recognize one’s intellectual limitations and value others’ intellectual strengths ( Porter et al., 2022 ). This skill has proven beneficial in teacher education leadership ( Oyer, 2015 ; Qu et al., 2024 ), but how this concept is perceived by language teachers in the development of their leadership skills has not been investigated. Therefore, this study sought to answer three research questions: (1) How do language teachers perceive the importance of intellectual humility in their teaching leadership?, (2) What is the relationship between teacher characteristics and teacher perceptions of the importance of intellectual humility in language teacher leadership?, and (3) To what extent do teachers’ perceptions of intellectual humility in language teacher leadership align with their experiences of being leaders? Ninety-four language teachers who were currently teaching or had taught a second or foreign language in various countries responded to an online questionnaire about their perceptions of intellectual humility and their leadership experiences. This study showed that teachers perceived intellectual humility as a crucial attribute of effective leaders, which was closely reflected in their reported leadership experiences. Professional development was found to be a factor that correlated positively with teachers’ perceptions. This article informs language teachers and leaders of the role of intellectual humility in the development of leadership skills in language teacher education.