Driving Innovation: Exploring the Effect of Distributed Leadership on Collective Teacher Innovativeness in Chinese Schools

In this ever-changing era, the innovativeness of teachers as a collective is increasingly vital to the success of educational change. The study examined the relationship between distributed leadership and collective teacher innovativeness in the context of mainland China. Anchored in social exchange theory and social cognitive theory, the study specifically probed the mediating role of teachers’ trust in colleagues and collective efficacy. Using a sample of 869 teachers, the results in the study revealed that distributed leadership had a strong positive effect on collective teacher innovativeness. The findings further demonstrated that teachers’ trust in colleagues and collective efficacy significantly mediated the effect of distributed leadership on collective teacher innovativeness. Implications for school leadership and school innovations are discussed.