Toward effective inclusive practices: dynamics among school leadership, academic optimism, and teacher collaboration

Abstract

An effective whole-school transformation toward inclusion must be led by school principals and their teachers. Principals should encourage their teachers to collaborate by creating a school structure that supports inclusion, and effective school leaders cultivate teacher academic optimism. However, limited studies have investigated the differential effects of inclusive school leadership on teacher academic optimism and teacher collaboration. Thus, this study intends to investigate the relationships between inclusive school leadership and teacher collaboration with teacher academic optimism as a mediator in the inclusive school context. The sample was 604 teachers from schools in Kuala Lumpur. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Inclusive school leadership was positively related to teacher collaboration and teacher academic optimism. Teacher academic optimism was found to be positively related to teacher collaboration. Teacher academic optimism was found to mediate the relationship between the principal’s inclusive school leadership and teacher collaboration. Implications and suggestions for further research are presented.