(Re)Investigating the pathways between instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher commitment: a multilevel analysis

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the direct and indirect relationships among principal instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher commitment using multilevel analysis.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed quantitative cross-sectional research design. Data were collected from 1,328 teachers selected from 71 Malaysian primary schools.FindingsThe direct relationship between instructional leadership and teacher commitment was significant at the school level. Similarly, instructional leadership exhibits a significant direct effect on collective teacher efficacy. Collective teacher efficacy also has a significant direct effect on teacher commitment. The results also indicate a significant indirect effect at school level between instructional leadership and teacher commitment through collective teacher efficacy.Research limitations/implicationsThe multilevel analysis among instructional leadership, collective teacher efficacy, and teacher commitment warrant further investigations with larger sample sizes at both group and individual levels.Originality/valueThis study supplements previous findings by contributing more rigorous empirical evidence using multilevel analysis. The findings extend current knowledge in the principal instructional leadership literature in the context of a Southeast Asian country.