Relationships between Principals' Self-efficacy related to Work and Transformational Leadership

Abstract

According to the Conseil Supérieur de l'Éducation (1999) of Quebec’s jurisdiction, school principals have different responsibilities: educational, political, community and administrative. They must manage the resources at their disposal, and exercise the functions and powers delegated to them by the School board (Gouvernement du Quebec, 2024). According to Sergiovanni (2001), they could be considered as the most influential person within their school.

In school administration, leadership can be conceived as all the practices and behaviors of principals that influence the members of the school (Legendre, 2005). Leadership influences the implementation of change (Bateh et al., 2013) and the commitment of students and teachers (Leithwood et al., 2008). As far as leadership is concerned, Bass' transformative leadership is one of the most widely used theories in education. He defines leadership as an interaction during which an individual increases the motivation or skills of his group (Bass & Bass, 2009). The effect of this leadership is to provide creative and productive working conditions that encourage teachers (Leithwood et al., 2008).

McCormick et al. (2002) mention that Bandura (2007) describes an individual with a high self-efficacy in the same way that Bass (Bass & Bass, 2009) describes an effective transformative leader. They explain that the effective leader is characterized by commitment, determination, and effectiveness in solving difficulties. Bandura (2007) defines self-efficacy as an individual's belief in his ability to perform a certain task. He specifies that it’s the individual's belief in his ability to organize and execute the course of action required to produce desired results. Self-efficacy is influenced by the complexity and specificity of the profession. It must therefore be defined and studied in relation to jobs or individuals who share a common denominator (Cherniss, 1993). Tschannen-Moran and Gareis (2004) consider that principals’ self-efficacy related to work is a judgment on their own ability to structure a particular course of action in order to produce the desired results in the school they lead.

The aim of this study is to examine the relation between self-efficacy related to work and the transformative leadership of Quebec school principals. Research exists on the relation between these variables among principals, mostly in the USA. Daly et al. (2011) indicates some positive and negative relationships between certain self-efficacy dimensions and different factors in the transformational and transactional dimensions, as well as the laissez-faire dimension. However, not all relationships are significant. Marín's research (2013) indicates that certain self-efficacy dimensions explain up to 74% of the variance in transformational leadership practices. He mentions that principals who report a high self-efficacy seem to be more engaged in transformational leadership practices. However, no research seems to focus specifically on the population under study, namely Quebec’s French speaking school principals. Moreover, the results of previous studies seem to lack clarity of the relation (positive or negative) between the variables. Consequently, the research problem lies in the lack of understanding of the relation between self-efficacy and leadership among Quebec’s French speaking school principals.

One hundred and twenty-six Quebec French speaking principals responded to the self-efficacy school principal scale (Fernet et al., 2009) and the self-reported leadership scale by Dussault et al. (2013). The results reveal that there is relation between some dimensions of the self-efficacy related to work and different factors of the transformational and transactional dimensions of transformational leadership, with correlations ranging from 0.22 to 0.46. The results also indicate that the dimensions of self-efficacy related to work were not related to the laissez-faire dimension of transformational leadership. These results are discussed in light of Bandura's (2007) self-efficacy and Bass' transformational leadership theories (Bass & Bass, 2009) as well as previous studies.

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The present research aims to examine the relation between self-efficacy related to work and transformational leadership in principals. A correlational design is used. The chosen sampling method is non-probabilistic. Quebec’s French speaking school principals were invited, via an online survey platform, to complete a questionnaire comprising, among other things, sociodemographic questions, the school principal self-efficacy scale (Fernet et al., 2009) and the self-reported leadership scale of Dussault et al. (2013). One hundred and twenty-six questionnaires were completed. The sample consisted of 77 principals (61%) and 47 assistant principals (37%), with two respondents not indicating their professional status (2%). Eighty-seven respondents were women (69%), while 37 were men (29.4%). Two respondents indicated that they belonged to an "Other" gender (1.6%). Their ages ranged from 32 to 66 (M = 47.54). For the Fernet et al. 2009 scale, the internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) is .76 for the administrative management dimension, .81 for the personnel management and pedagogical leadership dimension, .76 for the external relations management dimension. As for the self-reported leadership scale of Dussault et al. (2013) concerning the transformational dimension, the internal consistency is .78 for charisma, .75 for intellectual stimulation and .77 for personal recognition. For the transactional dimension, the internal consistency is .83 for the contingent reward factor and .80 for management by exception. Finally, the laissez-faire dimension has an internal consistency of .66. The results consists of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviations, kurtosis, skewness) and correlation. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings This research indicates that self-efficacy is, among others, one of the potential causes that can influence the transformational leadership of Quebec’s French speaking school principals. These results contribute to the importance of training principals through a university program. Indeed, it would be advisable to emphasize professional integration to reinforce peer training, mentoring and networking. As Cattonar et al. (2007) indicate, this would enable principals to develop their self-efficacy related to work through various sources, including their vicarious experiences (Bandura, 2007). Similarly, leadership training remains a must. Bass and Avolio (1990) indicate that leadership skills can be acquired. It therefore seems appropriate to encourage transformational and transactional leadership practices that can lead to an effective school. (Marzano et al., 2016). The study has certain limitations relate to the lack of available empirical literature, the research design, the sample, and the self-reported measurement of concepts. In terms of future research, it would seem worthwhile to plan repeated-measures research and to verify the factor structure of the different questionnaires to overcome certain limitations of this study. Finally to avoid social desirability bias, it would seem appropriate to carry out this research with teachers and principals. This would enable us to observe principal leadership from a teacher's perspective. References Bandura, A. (2007). Auto-efficacité : le sentiment d’efficacité personnelle (2nd ed.). De Boeck.

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