Future-ready school leadership and teacher innovative advice networks: exploring relational patterns of innovation

Grounded in the network theory, this study investigates how teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s future-ready school leadership (FRSL) – including strategic foresight, attention to diversity, technology leadership, and systems thinking – predict the structure and dynamics of innovative advice-seeking relations (ASRs). Using exponential random graph modelling (ERGM) in social network analysis, the study reveals that innovative ASRs are sparse yet reciprocal, circulating within subgroups that facilitate localised idea exchange. Gender is significantly relevant to network formation, with same-gender pairs more active in innovative advice exchanges. Teachers who perceive their principal to have stronger strategic foresight are more likely to be sought out for innovative advice. Additionally, shared perceptions of the principal’s technology leadership foster homophily, encouraging exchanges of innovative advice among like-minded teachers. The findings underscore the importance of school leaders strategically cultivating inclusive, cross-cutting professional networks to enhance the scalability of innovation across the school. Overall, the study contributes to understanding how relational structures and leadership perceptions are jointly related to teachers’ innovation-oriented professional relations in school settings.