Teachers’ Self-Leadership and Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy in China High Schools

Abstract

This research investigates the impact of teachers' self-leadership skills (TSLS) on their organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), with teacher self-efficacy (TSE) serving as a mediator in the context of star-rated high schools in Guangxi Province, China. The primary objective was to assess the impact of self-leadership on Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) and investigate the role of teacher self-efficacy as a mediator in this relationship. This study employs a quantitative method involving 588 samples collected through a questionnaire survey. The Data Analysis was done using structural equation modeling with AMOS 26.0 (SEM-AMOS). From this analysis, significant evidence has been found in the interconnectedness of variables. Teachers' self-leadership competencies have a positive and substantial contribution to self-efficacy (standardized estimate = 0.413, p < 0.001), supporting Hypothesis H1. Additionally, the self-leadership skill has a significant positive correlation with OCB (standardized estimate = 0.302, p < 0.001), supporting Hypothesis H2. Teacher self-efficacy plays a strong role in OCB (standardized estimate = 0.423, p < 0.001), supporting Hypothesis H3. Finally, the mediating effect of self-efficacy was significant, and the indirect effect of self-leadership on OCB via self-efficacy was 0.175 (p < 0.001), which explained 36.65% of the total effect. The total effect of TSLS on OCB was 0.477 (p < 0.001), with 63.35% of this effect being due to the direct effect. This means that teachers' self-leadership capacity not only affects their organizational citizenship behavior directly but also indirectly through the consolidation of their self-efficacy. This research, thus, concludes that the development of teachers' self-leadership capacity can enhance their value contributions to schools. It would be ideal for schools to launch programs that build teachers' self-leadership competence, thereby fostering organizational citizenship behavior and overall school effectiveness.