Vertical or shared? When leadership supports team learning for educational change

Abstract

University teacher teams can work toward educational change through the process of team learning behavior, which involves sharing and discussing practices to create new knowledge. However, teachers do not routinely engage in learning behavior when working in such teams and it is unclear how leadership support can overcome this problem. Therefore, this study examines when team leadership behavior supports teacher teams in engaging in learning behavior. We studied 52 university teacher teams (281 respondents) involved in educational change, resulting in two key findings. First, analyses of multiple leadership types showed that team learning behavior was best supported by a shared transformational leadership style that challenges the status quo and stimulates team members’ intellect. Mutual transformational encouragement supported team learning more than the vertical leadership source or empowering and initiating structure styles of leadership. Second, moderator analyses revealed that task complexity influenced the relationship between vertical empowering team leadership behavior and team learning behavior. Specifically, this finding suggests that formal team leaders who empower teamwork only affected team learning behavior when their teams perceived that their task was not complex. These findings indicate how team learning behavior can be supported in university teacher teams responsible for working toward educational change. Moreover, these findings are unique because they originate from relating multiple team leadership types to team learning behavior, examining the influence of task complexity, and studying this in an educational setting.

Theorising pedagogical dimensions of higher education leadership—a non-affirmative approach

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“…Apkarian & Rasmussen, 2021) and team leadership (e.g. Koeslag-Kreunen et al, 2021). If higher education leadership fails to address the critical question of the role of the university in society by treating it as a closed system, leadership and leadership research can be put at the service of virtually any agenda or ideology.…”

Liderazgo en el gobierno universitario e innovaciones en la docencia: una revisión de la literatura

“…A su vez, en relación con los comportamientos de los docentes universitarios bajo este tipo de líderes en el gobierno central, Koeslag-Kreunen et al (2021), examinando una universidad holandesa, subrayan que este estilo de liderazgo es capaz de incentivar de hecho el trabajo en equipo en la institución. A una conclusión similar llegan Lodders y Meijirs (2017), igualmente respecto de las universidades holandesas, señalando que los liderazgos transformacionales favorecen el aprendizaje colectivo y aumentan la capacidad de innovación tanto a nivel de la docencia como de la investigación.…”