Exploring the impact of principals' emotional intelligence on teaching strategy mediated by principals' instructional leadership

Research purpose. Emotional intelligence is the cornerstone of every decision a principal makes. The study examined the impact of school principals' emotional intelligence on their teachers' instructional strategies mediated by principals' instructional leadership. Method. A sample of 534 primary teachers from 54 primary schools in China was approached to respond a questionnaire. The original models of the three constructs failed to fit the data, but using factor analysis, alternative models were identified. Structural equation modelling identified the relationships between the three constructs and between the dimensional levels. Results. This study confirmed from the theoretical proposition that principals' El is an influential factor on their instructional leadership behavior and through that on teachers' instructional strategy through the eyes of teachers. Implications. The findings are informative for principal preparation and principals' daily leadership practice. It is proposed that standards for educational administration might need to include the element of emotional intelligence for evaluating principal effectiveness and for teaching improvement. Copyright © 2018 The Education University of Hong Kong.