Does Principal Instructional Leadership Promote Teacher Instructional Engagement? Evidence from a Large-Scale Survey in China

Teacher teaching engagement is a critical factor influencing teacher development and school quality. Based on survey data from 15,931 high school teachers and 1072 school principals from China, this study explores the impact of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement and its underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that principals’ instructional leadership significantly enhances teacher teaching engagement, but the strength of its impact varies across different dimensions of teacher teaching engagement. Among these, the influence on teachers’ “differentiated teaching ability” is the most significant. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effect of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement is stronger in private schools than in public schools, and stronger in non-key schools than in key schools. However, the impact of principals’ instructional leadership on teacher teaching engagement shows little difference between urban and non-urban (county, township, and rural) schools. Mechanism analysis further reveals that school cultural climate plays a significant mediating role between principals’ instructional leadership and teacher teaching engagement. Based on these findings, relevant policy recommendations are provided.