Teacher well-being plays an important role in education reform because it marks teachers’ positive evaluation of and healthy functioning in their work environment. However, there has been insufficient research on the relationship between distributed leadership and teacher well-being and on how organisational trust works as a mediator between these two constructs. Based on responses from 587 teachers in primary schools in southwest China, this study examined how distributed leadership contributes to teacher well-being with attention to the mediating role of organisational trust. Using structural equation modelling and bootstrapping tests, the analysis showed a nonsignificant direct effect between distributed leadership and teacher well-being. Organisational trust and its two dimensions, namely trust in the working team and trust in the principal, had significant mediating effects on the relationship between distributed leadership and teacher well-being. However, the dimension of trust in the work setting did not appear to be a significant mediator. This study contributes to a better understanding of the transferability of leadership theories across cultures and to a deepening comprehension of strategies for improving teacher well-being in Chinese schools and similar contexts. Implications of the study and future research direction are presented.

Purpose: Teacher well-being has been a concern, but there has been a lack of research on how teacher leadership can contribute to teacher well-being in a high-accountability context and a hierarchical education system such as that of China, particularly through the meditating roles of trust in the leader and teacher efficacy. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being while exploring the mediating roles of trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in this relationship.Design/methodology/approach: Using structural equation modeling (SEM) and bootstrap methods with valid answers from 1,144 teachers in 25 primary schools in 1 Chinese city, this study mainly answered three questions: Is there a significant relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of trust in leaders on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being? Is there a significant mediating effect of teacher efficacy on the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being?Findings: This study reported a positive relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being. This study also found positive mediating roles for trust in leaders and teacher efficacy in the relationship between teacher leadership and teacher well-being in a high-accountability and hierarchical system like that of China.Originality/value: This study provides an understanding of the transferability of teacher leadership theories across cultures and has practical significance for educational practice in high-accountability and hierarchical education contexts similar to that of China.

This review paper describes the development of turnaround leadership research in educational settings to understand its trends and future directions. The review uses an established research process to make sense of the turnaround leadership literature. It identifies the continuities and discontinuities in this research area, which have strong implications for researchers in different fields. This study contributes to the research on school turnaround and provides practical guidance.

The purpose of this article is to understand the relationship between transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy in the Chinese primary school context using quantitative research methods. This article also examines the transferability of transformational leadership and its effects in a high power distance culture. The main research question is, ‘To what extent can transformational leadership explain the variance in collective teacher efficacy in Chinese primary schools?’ The results of path analysis show that managing the instructional program has a significant effect on group competence (a dimension of collective efficacy) and that setting direction affects another dimension of collective efficacy, task analysis. When collective teacher efficacy is treated as a single variable, setting direction and managing the instructional program have relatively significant effects on collective teacher efficacy. This study adds to the literature on the relationship between transformational leadership and collective teacher efficacy in the Chinese primary school context. It advances knowledge of educational management and facilitates the understanding of cross-cultural leadership phenomena.