The Impact of School Leadership on Inclusive Education Literacy: Examining the Sequential Mediation of Job Stress and Teacher Agency

TL;DR

This study explores how school leadership affects teachers' inclusive education literacy through job stress and empowerment, suggesting combined leadership strategies to improve inclusivity in classrooms.

Contribution

The study introduces a sequential mediation model linking school leadership to inclusive education literacy via job stress and teacher agency.

Findings

School leadership directly enhances inclusive education literacy.

Job stress and teacher agency act as parallel mediators in the leadership-literacy relationship.

A sequential mediation pathway shows stress reduction followed by empowerment improves inclusivity.

Abstract

Based on the Job Demands-Resources model theory, this study examines how school leadership affects inclusive education literacy among teachers in regular classrooms, focusing on the mediating roles of job stress and teacher agency. Using validated scales measuring school leadership, job stress, teacher agency, and inclusive education literacy, data from 751 inclusive education teachers in Sichuan, China, using a combined cluster and stratified sampling method, were analyzed via structural equation modeling. Results indicate school leadership directly enhances inclusive education literacy while also operating through job stress and teacher agency as parallel mediators. A significant chain mediation pathway further reveals a sequential stress reduction-empowerment process. We recommend that principals implement dual leadership strategies combining burden alleviation with empowerment: applying distributed leadership to optimize workflows alongside transformational leadership to foster collaboration and activate teacher agency, thereby systematically improving inclusive education quality.

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