Abstract
Teacher information literacy is an important aspect of teachers' professional development and is affected by the school environment. From the perspective of principals, this study discusses the impact of principals' information leadership (PIL), organizational climate (OC), and ICT implementation strategies (IMS) on teachers' information literacy (TIL) and further analyzes the complex system of TIL and the relationship between these factors. Through chain intermediary analysis, this study shows that teachers' information literacy is not only directly affected by their principals' information leadership but also indirectly affected by the chain intermediary effect of organizational climate and ICT implementation strategies. It provides insights into how to cultivate teachers' information literacy in the school system and puts forward some optimization paths to create the best conditions for improving teachers' information literacy.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to personal privacy information related to principals and teachers, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Addison, C., & Meyers, E. (2013). Perspectives on information literacy: A framework for conceptual understanding. Information Research: An International Electronic Journal, 18(3), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1040638711416966
Albidewi, I. (2014). E-leadership system: A futuristic vision. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 2(2), 91–101.
Alwidi, I. T., & Cooper, M. (2015). Using management procedure gaps to enhance e-learning implementation in Arica. Computers & Education, 90, 64–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.08.003
Anderson, R., & Dexter, S. (2005). School technology leadership: An empirical investigation of prevalence and effect. Educational Administration Quarterly, 41(1), 49–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X04269517
Apsorn, A., Sisan, B., & Tungkunanan, P. (2019). Information and communication technology leadership of school administrators in Thailand. International Journal of Instruction, 12(2), 639–650. https://doi.org/10.29333/iji.2019.12240a
Bari, M. W., Abrar, M., Bashir, M., Baig, S. A., & Fanchen, M. (2019). Soft issues during cross-border mergers and acquisitions and industry performance, China-Pakistan economic corridor based view. SAGE Open, 9(2), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019845180
Benţea, C. C. (2013). Investigation of the organizational school climate and attitudes towards change: A study on a sample of in-service Romanian teachers. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 76, 100–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.04.081
Celep, C., & Tülübaş, T. (2014). Effect of principals’ technological leadership on teachers’ attitude towards the use of educational technologies. In IFIP Conference on Information Technology in Educational Management (pp. 247–258). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45770-2_21
Chang, I. H. (2012). The effect of principals’ technological leadership on teachers’ technological literacy and teaching effectiveness in Taiwanese elementary schools. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(2), 328–340.
Chang, I. H., Chin, J. M., & Hsu, C. M. (2008). Teachers’ perceptions of the dimensions and implementation of technology leadership of principals in Taiwanese elementary schools. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 11(4), 229–245.
Chen, M., Zhou, C., & Wu, D. (2020). Research on the information literacy evaluation indicator system for primary and secondary school teachers. China Educational Technology, 8, 78–85. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-9860.2020.08.012
Chou, C. M., Shen, C. H., Hsiao, H. C., & Shen, T. C. (2019). Factors influencing teachers’ innovative teaching behaviour with information and communication technology (ICT): The mediator role of organisational innovation climate. Educational Psychology, 39(1), 65–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2018.1520201
Chua, Y. P., & Chua, Y. P. (2017). How are e-leadership practices in implementing a school virtual learning environment enhanced? A grounded model study. Computers & Education, 109, 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2017.02.012
Cohen, J., McCabe, L., Michelli, N. M., & Pickeral, T. (2009). School climate: Research, policy, practice, and teacher education. The Teachers College Record, 111, 180–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810911100108
Dinham, S. (2005). Principal leadership for outstanding educational outcomes. Journal of Educational Administration, 43(4), 338–356. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230510605405
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and statistics. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(3), 382–388. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224378101800313
Ghavifekr, S., & Pillai, N. S. (2016). The relationship between school’s organizational climate and teacher’s job satisfaction: Malaysian experience. Asia Pacific Education Review, 17(1), 87–106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-015-9411-8
Gürfidan, H., & Koç, M. (2016). The impact of school culture, technology leadership, and support services on teachers’ technology integration: A structural equation modeling. Education and Science, 41(188), 99–116. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2016.6722
Habibu, T., Abdullah-al-mamun, M., & Clement, C. K. (2012). Difficulties faced by teachers in using ict in teaching-learning at technical and higher educational institutions of Uganda. International Journal of Engineering, 1(7), 1–10.
Hadjithoma, C., & Karagiorgi, Y. (2009). The use of ICT in primary schools within emerging communities of implementation. Computers & Education, 52(1), 83–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2008.06.010
Hadjithoma-Garstka, C. (2011). The role of the principal’s leadership style in the implementation of ICT policy. British Journal of Educational Technology, 42(2), 311–326. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2009.01014.x
Han, C. (2002). Leadership roles of a pre-school principal in the use of information and communication technology: A Hong Kong experience. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 3(2), 293–297. https://doi.org/10.2304/ciec.2002.3.2.10
Hart, P. M., Wearing, A. J., Conn, M., Carter, N. L., & Dingle, A. R. K. (2000). Development of the school organisational health questionnaire: A measure for assessing teacher morale and school organisational climate. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(2), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709900158065
Hatlevik, I., & Hatlevik, O. (2018). Examining the relationship between teachers’ ICT self-efficacy for educational purposes, collegial collaboration, lack of facilitation and the use of ICT in teaching practice. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 935. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00935
Hennessy, S., Ruthven, K., & Brindley, S. U. E. (2005). Teacher perspectives on integrating ICT into subject teaching: Commitment, constraints, caution, and change. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 37(2), 155–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027032000276961
Herring, M., Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (Eds.). (2016). Handbook of technological pedagogical content knowledge (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Hong, J. C., Hwang, M. Y., Tsai, C. M., Liu, M. C., & Lee, Y. F. (2020). Exploring teachers’ attitudes toward implementing new ICT educational policies. Interactive Learning Environments, 1, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820.2020.1752740
Howard, S. K., Tondeur, J., Ma, J., & Yang, J. (2021). What to teach? Strategies for developing digital competency in preservice teacher training. Computers & Education, 165(4), 104149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104149
Hoy, W. K., Smith, P. A., & Sweetland, S. R. (2002). The development of the organizational climate index for high schools: Its measure and relationship to faculty trust. The High School Journal, 86(2), 38–49.
Huang, F., & Teo, T. (2020). Influence of teacher-perceived organisational culture and school policy on Chinese teachers’ intention to use technology: An extension of technology acceptance model. Educational Technology Research and Development, 68(3), 1547–1567. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09722-y
Huang, M., Li, X., & Zhang, J. (2021). Examining individual demographic and school support factors regarding teachers’ intention to use technology: A hierarchical regression analysis. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 16(12), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v16i12.22625
Huang, R. H., & Hu, Y. B. (2012). ICT leadership and construction of ICT in elementary and secondary schools. Open Education Research, 18(5), 11–17.
Huang, X., & Wang, C. (2021). Factors affecting teachers’ informal workplace learning: The effects of school climate and psychological capital. Teaching and Teacher Education, 103, 103363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2021.103363
ISTE. (2017). “ISTE standards for educators”, available at: https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators (Accessed 26 Oct 2019).
James, L. R. (1982). Aggregation bias in estimates of perceptual agreement. Journal of Applied Psychology, 67(2), 219–229.
JRC. (2017). “European framework for the digital competence of educators: DigCompEdu”, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/publication/eur-scientific-and-technical-research-reports/European-framework-digital-competence-educators-digcompedu (Accessed 26 Oct 2019).
Kashif, M. N. U., & Ali, M. Q. (2019). E-Leadership: Secondary school heads and contemporary needs. International Journal of Distance Education and E-Learning, 4(2), 18–25. https://doi.org/10.36261/ijdeel.v4i2.575
Kumar, R. (2015). Impact of organizational climate on job satisfaction: A study of Bharti Airtel India limited in Shimla zonal office. International Journal of Development Research, 4(5), 958–964.
Li, Y., Zhou, C., Wu, D. and Chen, M. (2021), Evaluation of teachers’ information literacy based on information of behavioral data in online learning and teaching platforms: an empirical study of China. Library Hi Tech, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-01-2021-0034
Lim, S., & Eo, S. (2014). The mediating roles of collective teacher efficacy in the relations of teachers’ perceptions of school organizational climate to their burnout. Teaching and Teacher Education, 44, 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.08.007
Lorenz, R., Endberg, M., & Bos, W. (2019). Predictors of fostering students’ computer and information literacy – analysis based on a representative sample of secondary school teachers in Germany. Education and Information Technologies, 24(1), 911–928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-018-9809-0
Lucas, M., Bem-Haja, P., Siddiq, F., Moreira, A., & Redecker, C. (2021). The relation between in-service teachers’ digital competence and personal and contextual factors: What matters most? Computers & Education, 160, 104052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.104052
Marks, H. M., & Printy, S. M. (2003). Principal leadership and school performance: An integration of transformational and instructional leadership. Educational Administration Quarterly, 39(3), 370–397. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013161X03253412
Martin, C., & Bush, A. (2006). Psychological climate, empowerment, leadership style, and customer-oriented selling: An analysis of the sales manager-salesperson dyad. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 34, 419–438. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070306286205
McGuigan, L., & Hoy, W. K. (2006). Principal leadership: Creating a culture of academic optimism to improve achievement for all students. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 5(3), 203–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/15700760600805816
Nieuwoudt, A. M. (2011). Confirmatory factor analysis of the organisational climate measure: A South African perspective. University of Pretoria.
Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). The theory of measurement error. Psychometric Theory, 3, 209–247.
Özdemir, S., Çoban, Ö., & Bozkurt, S. (2020). Examination of the relationship between school principals’ 21st century skills and their strategic leadership according to teachers’ opinions. Pegem Eğitim ve Öğretim Dergisi, 10(2), 399–426. https://doi.org/10.14527/pegegog.2020.014
Papanastasiou, E. C., & Angeli, C. (2008). Evaluating the use of ICT in education: Psychometric properties of the survey of factors affecting teachers teaching with technology (SFA-T3). Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 11(1), 69–86.
Qian, H., & Walker, A. (2021). Building emotional principal-teacher relationships in chinese schools: Reflecting on paternalistic leadership. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 30, 327–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-021-00563-z
Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.
Romero, R., Riquelme, I., & Halal, C. (2019). Barriers in teacher perception about the use of technology for evaluation in Higher Education. Digital Education Review, 35, 170–185. https://doi.org/10.1344/der.2019.35.170-185
Sang, G., Valcke, M., Van Braak, J., Tondeur, J., & Zhu, C. (2011). Predicting ICT integration into classroom teaching in Chinese primary schools: Exploring the complex interplay of teacher-related variables. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(2), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00383.x
Shen, J., Ma, X., Mansberger, N., Wu, H., Palmer, L. A. B., Poppink, S., & Reeves, P. L. (2021). The relationship between growth in principal leadership and growth in school performance: The teacher perspective. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 70, 101023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2021.101023
Shen, S. S. (2014). The construction of information leadership of primary and secondary school principals. E-Education Research, 35(12), 29–33. https://doi.org/10.13811/j.cnki.eer.2014.12.005
Soomro, K. A., Kale, U., Curtis, R., Akcaoglu, M., & Bernstein, M. (2020). Digital divide among higher education faculty. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 17(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-020-00191-5
TeachThought Staff. (2014). “Respond To Education Technology”, available at: https://www.teachthought.com/technology/pencil-metaphor-how-teachers-respond-to-education-technology/ (Accessed 26 May 2022).
Tondeur, J., van Keer, H., van Braak, J., & Valcke, M. (2008). ICT integration in the classroom: Challenging the potential of a school policy. Computers & Education, 51(1), 212–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2007.05.003
Torre, T., & Sarti, D. (2020). The “way” toward E-leadership: Some evidence from the field. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 2753. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.554253
Umar, I. N., & Hassan, A. S. A. (2015). Malaysian teachers’ levels of ICT Integration and its perceived impact on teaching and learning. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 197, 2015–2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.07.586
Vanderlinde, R., van Braak, J., & Dexter, S. (2012). ICT policy planning in a context of curriculum reform: Disentanglement of ICT policy domains and artifacts. Computers & Education, 58(4), 1339–1350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.12.007
Weng, C. H., & Tang, Y. (2014). The relationship between technology leadership strategies and effectiveness of school administration: An empirical study. Computers & Education, 76, 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2014.03.010
Wong, E. M. L., & Li, S. C. (2008). Framing ICT implementation in a context of educational change: A multilevel analysis. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 19(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/09243450801896809
Wong, E. M. L., & Li, S. C. (2011). Framing ICT implementation in a context of educational change: a structural equation modelling analysis. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 27(2), 361–379. https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.975
Wu, B., Yu, X., & Hu, Y. (2019). How does principal e-leadership affect ICT transformation across different school stages in K-12 education: Perspectives from teachers in Shanghai. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(3), 1210–1225. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12766
Wu, D., Zhou, C., Li, Y., & Chen, M. (2022). Factors associated with teachers’ competence to develop students’ information literacy: A multilevel approach. Computers & Education, 176, 104360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104360
Yalçınkaya, S., Dağlı, G., Aksal, F. A., Gazi, Z. A., & Kalkan, Ü. (2021). The effect of leadership styles and initiative behaviors of school principals on teacher. Motivation Sustainability, 13(5), 2711. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052711
Yee, D. L. (2000). Images of school principals’ information and communications technology leadership. Journal of Information Technology for Teacher Education, 9(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/14759390000200097
Yurdakul, I. K., & Coklar, A. N. (2014). Modeling preservice teachers’ TPACK competencies based on ICT usage. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(4), 363–376. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12049
Zhao, Y., Wang, A., & Sun, Y. (2020). Technological environment, virtual experience, and MOOC continuance: A stimulus–organism–response perspective. Computers and Education, 144, 103721. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103721
Zhou, C., Wang, H., Liang, X., & Chen, M. (2020). Development and application of information literacy assessment tool for primary and secondary school teachers. Proceedings of 2020 Ninth International Conference of Educational Innovation through Technology (EITT), pp. 75–80. https://doi.org/10.1109/EITT50754.2020.00019
Zurkowski, P. G. (1974). The information service environment relationships and priorities” National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to those who contributed to the research at various phases.
Funding
The research has been made possible through the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 61907018 and No. 62177026, and the Central China Normal University National Teacher Development Collaborative Innovation Experimental Base Construction Research Project under Grant No. CCNUTEIII 2021–01.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Declaration of interest
We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and/or company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chen, M., Liu, Y., Li, Z. et al. Promoting teacher information literacy from a principal's perspective based on intermediate chain analysis. Educ Inf Technol 27, 13067–13087 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11157-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-022-11157-7