Does Principal Relational Leadership Buffer Digital Resource Disadvantage? A Cross-National Analysis of Teacher Digital Practice in TALIS 2024

Schools face growing expectations to expand teachers’ digital practice despite uneven access to digital resources. Although supportive school leadership is often viewed as a way to mitigate these inequalities, whether it can offset digital resource disadvantage remains unclear. Drawing on the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024 data from 100,913 lower secondary teachers in 9,531 schools across 46 education systems, this study examined the associations of principal relational leadership and digital resource shortage with teacher digital practice, and whether leadership moderates the shortage–practice relationship. Multilevel analyses showed that digital resource shortage was negatively associated with teacher digital practice, whereas principal relational leadership was positively associated with it. Contrary to the hypothesised buffering effect, the interaction was negative across the primary model and 17 robustness specifications, although it did not reach statistical significance in the primary model (p = .077). The findings distinguish leadership’s positive average association with digital practice from its unconfirmed capacity to offset resource disadvantage. For digital equity policy, the findings caution against relying on supportive leadership as a substitute for adequate digital resources.