A Multilevel Moderation Analysis of the Relationship among Teachers’ Perceptions of the Principal’s Leadership Occupational Competency and the School’s Organizational Culture on the School’s Effectiveness in State-run Experimental Elementary Schools
Author: Chien-Chih Chen (Department of Educational Management, National Taipei University of Education), Chung-Yi Li (Yunlin County Government), Joseph Meng-Chun Chin (Yunlin County Government)
Vol.&No.：Vol. 70, No. 4
Date：December 2025
Pages：225-257
DOI：https://doi.org/10.6209/JORIES.202512_70(4).0008
Abstract：
Research Motivation and Purpose
The rise of experimental education in Taiwan reflects a broader global trend emphasizing diverse and inclusive educational reforms. These reforms aim to meet the growing demand for personalized learning paths that cater to students’ varied needs and parental expectations. In 2014, Taiwan took a significant step forward by enacting the “Three Acts of Experimental Education,” which aimed to institutionalize innovation and diversity within its educational framework. This progressive legislation has encouraged the proliferation of experimental schools, fostering educational creativity and flexibility. However, the rapid expansion of experimental education schools has also brought significant challenges, especially in achieving effective school performance within these unique and less traditional frameworks. One critical factor in addressing these challenges is the principal’s occupational competency (OC) in leadership. Effective leadership directly impacts school effectiveness (SE) and interacts with the school’s organizational culture to either amplify or mitigate this impact. In the distinctive environment of experimental schools, where organizational culture varies widely– ranging from highly innovative practices to consensus-driven approaches– these cultural differences may significantly influence the relationship between leadership occupational competency (LOC) and school outcomes. This study investigates these complex relationships, providing a deeper understanding of how principals’ leadership skills and cultural factors shape SE in experimental education.
Literature Review
OC is a comprehensive concept that integrates knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes, serving as a crucial predictor of job performance. Within the educational context, transformational, transactional, distributed, and positive leadership styles– have consistently positively affected school outcomes. For instance, transformational leadership inspires teachers and students, transactional leadership ensures goal attainment, and distributed leadership promotes stakeholder collaboration. Despite the extensive research on these leadership styles, the specific examination of principals’ LOC in experimental education settings remains limited. Simultaneously, school organizational culture (SOC) is pivotal in shaping leadership effectiveness. Innovative learning within an organizational culture encourages creative teaching practices and collaborative problem-solving, while organizational consensus fosters unity and effective communication among stakeholders. By hypothesizing that these cultural dimensions moderate the relationship between LOC and SE, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of how these factors interact and influence each other.
Research Methodology
This study employed a quantitative survey methodology to explore the relationships among principals’ LOC, SOC, and SE in state-run experimental elementary schools in Taiwan. During the 2022 academic year, the study began with a pilot phase in which 160 questionnaires were distributed, yielding 158 valid responses. These data were analyzed using SmartPLS4 to validate the research instruments. The main survey phase expanded to 30 schools, collecting 6-12 valid responses per school, ensuring a robust multilevel dataset for analysis. The data were subsequently analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), allowing for the exploration of direct effects and multilevel interactions among variables. This comprehensive approach enabled the study to test its hypotheses and gain in-depth insights into the factors influencing SE.
Research Findings
1. Direct Impact of Teachers’ Perceptions of the Principal’s LOC on Aspects of SE
The study demonstrated that principals’ LOC significantly influences multiple dimensions of SE. Specifically, innovation, integration, and marketing competency positively affected administrative leadership, teacher performance, student learning, community recognition, and environmental infrastructure. These results highlight the importance of principals’ ability to integrate resources and implement strategic initiatives. Conversely, planning and execution competency, while beneficial for teacher performance, negatively impacted student learning, likely due to a misalignment between strategic priorities and student needs. Communication competency stood out for its role in enhancing community engagement and recognition, while global awareness competency introduced valuable international perspectives and resources, contributing to improved facilities and broader recognition. Self-management competency was particularly impactful for administrative leadership and student learning, underscoring the importance of principals’ professional growth and self-regulation. However, the effects of strategic operational and teamwork competency was less pronounced, indicating the need for a balanced leadership approach.
2. Direct Impact of Innovative Learning in SOC on SE
Innovative learning emerged as a critical cultural dimension, significantly enhancing administrative leadership, teacher teaching, student learning, and community recognition. However, it did not significantly affect environmental infrastructure, suggesting that its benefits are more pronounced in human-centered aspects of SE. While theoretically significant, organizational consensus did not directly influence SE in the sampled schools.
3. Moderating Effects of SOC
(1) Innovative learning positively moderated the relationship between innovation, integration, marketing competency, and administrative leadership, indicating that schools with an innovative culture directly enhance SE and amplify the impact of the principal’s LOC on SE.
(2) Innovative learning negatively moderates the relationship between global awareness competency and environmental infrastructure, suggesting that when school culture strongly emphasizes innovation, an excessive focus on global perspectives may detract from resource allocation toward ecological facilities.
(3) Organizational consensus positively moderated the relationships between strategic operational competency and administrative leadership, as well as teamwork competency and community recognition, demonstrating that a consensus-driven culture facilitates collaboration among school members and promotes school development.
Discussion and Recommendations
The findings underscore the pivotal role of a principal’s LOC in driving SE within state-run experimental elementary schools. Additionally, the innovative and consensus-driven aspects of SOC are critical factors that directly enhance SE and strengthen the impact of LOC. Based on these findings, the following recommendations are proposed:
1. Developing Leadership Competencies
Educational administrators should prioritize cultivating and developing LOC, which is pivotal in achieving comprehensive SE.
2. Fostering Supportive School Cultures
Efforts should be made to cultivate school cultures that encourage innovation and consensus. These cultural traits can significantly amplify the positive effects of leadership competencies on school performance.
3. Balanced Resource Allocation
It is essential to ensure balanced resource allocation, avoiding overemphasizing specific LOC or cultural traits at the expense of other critical dimensions. A holistic approach to leadership and culture will help maximize SE.
By integrating these strategies, schools can enhance their capacity to address the unique challenges of experimental education and foster environments conducive to innovation and effectiveness.
Keywords：state-run experimental elementary school, principals’ leadership occupational competency, school effectiveness, school’s organizational culture, experimental education