The mediating role of formative feedback environment in the relationship between distributed school leadership and teacher job satisfaction in Czechia: Does school size matter?

Abstract

Distributed leadership has been associated with enhanced teacher job satisfaction, particularly through school climate of mutual collaboration and trust, and teacher empowerment. Other school-level conditions have received less research attention. Using data from 2517 lower secondary teachers across 175 schools in Czechia, collected as part of the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey, this study employs structural equation modeling to examine the mediating effect of the school feedback environment on two dimensions of teacher job satisfaction. The results suggest that distributed leadership has a significant direct effect (β = .404, p < .001) on teacher workplace satisfaction, as well as an indirect effect via supportive school climate (β = .181, p < .001). Additionally, a small but significant indirect effect through formative feedback environment was found (β = .017, p < .001). In contrast, teacher satisfaction with the profession is only weakly related to distributed leadership (β = .205, p < .001), and the indirect path through formative feedback environment was not supported. These patterns hold irrespective of school size, suggesting that all school leaders may benefit from implementing formative feedback practices to support teacher workplace satisfaction. However, their options to enhance teacher satisfaction with the profession are limited.