Whose perception of principal instructional leadership? Principal teacher perceptual (dis)agreement and its influence on teacher collaboration
This study examines teacher collaboration across three Asia Pacific countries (Australia, Malaysia, and South Korea) focusing on the possibility that principal teacher perceptual disagreement regarding principal instructional leadership performance may impede progress toward a school organizational condition conducive to collaborative teacher interactions. Data for this study were taken from the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey 2008. Overall, the results from a series of hierarchical linear modelling analyses appear to give credence to the hypothesis that the degree to which a principal's self evaluation of her/his instructional leadership diverges from teachers' perception of the leadership is likely to negatively influence teachers' engagement in collaborative activities and collegial interactions; in other words, teachers become more likely to establish collegial relationships with other teachers in a situation where there is little principal teacher disagreement regarding principal leadership performance. The significant effect of principal teacher perceptual disagreement found in this study was fairly consistent across all three countries examined despite the substantial differences among the countries in terms of socio cultural background. This finding sheds light on the need for paying close analytic attention to principal teacher perceptual agreement as it may constitute an important aspect of school capacity.