Unpacking Chinese teacher job satisfaction: multilevel mediation and moderation of collaborative professional learning, efficacy, and innovation support

Abstract Understanding the factors contributing to teacher job satisfaction is crucial for improving educational outcomes and teacher retention. Drawing on data from the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in Shanghai, China, this study investigates how teacher collaborative professional learning is related to job satisfaction, with a focus on the mediating role of self-efficacy and the moderating effect of school leaders’ support for innovation. The results of multilevel mediation and moderation models indicate that effective collaborative professional learning is associated with greater job satisfaction both directly and indirectly through teachers’ self-efficacy. The mediating effect of collaborative professional learning at the school level is stronger than at individual-level, suggesting that when collective professional learning are embedded in the organizational structure and climate and becomes a shared practice of a school, its impacts on teachers’ job satisfaction are larger than when it is practiced as an individual practice. Furthermore, in schools where leaders actively encourage innovation in teaching, the impacts of collaborative professional learning are stronger.