Principals' Technology Leadership and Teachers' ICT Integration: A Systematic Review on Capacity Building for Quality Improvement and Sustainable Education

This study conducts a systematic review to examine the impact of principals’ technological leadership on teachers’ integration of information and communication technology (ICT), with a particular focus on the mediating role of capacity building. Drawing on 26 empirical and conceptual studies published between 2021 and 2025, the findings indicated that principals’ leadership behaviors—such as articulating a clear vision, allocating resources, modeling technology use, and organizing professional development—play a pivotal role in facilitating ICT integration. Capacity-building mechanisms, including teachers’ technological self-efficacy, pedagogical beliefs, and engagement in collaborative cultures, mediate the relationship between leadership and integration depth. The study revealed that ICT integration follows a developmental trajectory from surface-level use to deep instructional integration, with school support systems and cultural context influencing its sustainability. A theoretical framework is proposed to conceptualize how technological leadership drives ICT integration through capacity-building processes, while also accounting for environmental constraints and enablers such as infrastructure, resource equity, and institutional culture. The study offers practical recommendations for educational leadership and provides a foundation for future research on technology-enabled school transformation.