Perceived School Leadership and EFL Teacher Outcomes in Tehran: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study

Shamsi  Samavi Aghdam; Roya Ranjbar Mohammadi; Hassan  Asadollahfam

Authors

Shamsi Samavi Aghdam Department of English Language Teaching, Bon.C., Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6007-9633
Roya Ranjbar Mohammadi Department of English Language Teaching, Bon.C., Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0093-4834
Hassan Asadollahfam Department of English Language Teaching, Bon.C., Islamic Azad University, Bonab, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1643-3372

Keywords:

perceived school leadership, teacher professional agency, perceived collective capacity, academic optimism, professional development, EFL teachers, explanatory sequential mixed methods

Abstract

Research on school leadership seldom examines professional agency, collective efficacy-related capacity, academic optimism, and professional learning within one construct-sensitive account. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study addressed that gap in formal EFL schools in District 22 of Tehran. The quantitative phase analyzed an accessible sample of 205 teacher questionnaires through partial least squares structural equation modeling; all constructs were teacher-level self-reports. Persian-language interviews with 12 purposefully selected teachers and three school leaders then explained and qualified the statistical pattern. Perceived school leadership was positively associated with professional-development engagement (β = .63, p < .001, R² = .40), professional agency (β = .61, p < .001, R² = .37), teacher-perceived academic optimism (β = .58, p < .001, R² = .34), and perceived collective capacity (β = .56, p < .001, R² = .31). Interviews associated these relationships with trust, responsible autonomy, consequential teacher voice, organized collaboration, credible expectations, mentoring, and improvement-oriented feedback. Workload, curricular rigidity, bureaucracy, and resource constraints limited the practical use of these supports. The study contributes an integrated account that distinguishes teacher perceptions from school-level properties and collective efficacy beliefs from collective action. Because the design was cross-sectional, single-source, and teacher-level, the results are associative rather than causal and are not evidence of homogeneous school effects.

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