The Mediating Role of Spiritual Intelligence and Teaching Experience in Perceived Leadership Styles of EFL Teachers: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

Abstract

As a less-attended area in the research context of Iran, the predictive power of teachers’ Spiritual Intelligence (SI), as an inner element, and teaching experience for their perceived Leadership Styles (LS), as an external element, was investigated in this study. Moreover, the perceptions of EFL teachers with high and low level of SI regarding LS and its components were explored. To this end, a structural model was designed and two questionnaires of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ, Avolio, & Bass, 2004) and Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI, King, 2008) were distributed among 236 Iranian EFL teachers. To complement the quantitative data, 10 EFL teachers from both high and low SI groups were requested to partake in a semi-structured interview. The results of quantitative analysis, using regression analysis, revealed that the components of spiritual intelligence and teaching experience significantly predicted the perceptions of leadership styles. Likewise, through Path Analysis, it was evinced that the suggested model, in this study, had a proper fit with the data. Additionally, the content analysis of the data showed that teachers with various levels of SI pointed to the typical characteristics of a teacher leader differently. The results of this study can raise Iranian EFL teachers’ knowledge and awareness of SI and LS and provide an in-depth understanding of the concepts and their relevant components.